On February 19th we discussed Ayaan Hirsi Ali's book.
Background reading:
Ayaan Hirsi Ali at the Aspen Ideas Festival, talking about terrorism
The BBC has an interesting profile on Hirsi Ali, briefly describing her arrival in the Netherlands where she was given asylum and then citizenship, her participation in the creation of the film 'Submission' with Theo Van Gogh (van Gogh was murdered in 2004) and her public life in the Netherlands until 2006. In 2006, her citizenship was threatened and she moved to the United States, to work with the conservative think tank, American Enterprise Institute.
You can also watch this interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, which includes a few scenes from the film 'Submission', and listen to Hirsi Ali's claim that there is no Islamophopia. For more detail on her criticism of Islam, listen to this interview from the BBC.
Thanks to Gerda, for sending this link to a book review in the New York Times written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
We had a very lively discussion. The first half of the book describes Hirsi Ali's early years, growing up an living in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, and Kenya. The second half describes a dramatic escape from civil war in Somalia, a dramatic break from an arranged marriage to a Canadian Somali man, and Hirsi Ali's struggle to find a place for herself in the Netherlands, where she got refugee status, attended university, and tried to come to terms with her upbringing.
Several participants in our discussion found the clan structure very striking, and remarked how interesting is was to read about the authors amazement at how people in the West seemed to help each other even if they were not of the same 'clan'.
One major theme in the discussion was the politics of Hirsi Ali's argument about Islam. Some think she was an opportunist; others found that she was simply looking for a space in which to develop her opinions; some people feel that the issues are important, but that Hirsi Ali is too blunt, and ends up playing into the hands of conservatives and fundamentalists.
We also had a good time talking about what made Hirsi Ali strong, and how diverse and complicated Islam is (even in Infidel). Wherever social rules are very strict, there is a lot of 'undercover' or 'quiet' rebellion. Hirsi Ali saw her grandmother, mother, and father challenge certain social rules. We thought that she learned from these family members, but that she also had her own sort of independent spirit. Infidel seemed to be primarily a story of becoming, of self-discovery. While most of us agreed that it has not been the religion itself, but fundamentalist interpretations of Islam that have been most problematic for women, this distinction was not always clear in Hirsi Ali's book. It did facilitate great discussion, however!
