The books I feel most connected to always leave me with strong feelings at the end of its pages. Left feeling enthralled in the world that the author has created through their words, left wanting to research much more on the topic the author has wet my appetite on and finally left with hundreds of questions. The most powerful books are the ones that transform your thinking about the world through their narrative.
Words flow from my mind before I’ve finished reading Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali because I see it as exactly that – a book that has changed my thinking about the world around me. After being passed through the hands of the Huysman family, I can’t thank them enough for passing this book to me, as it has brought to light some deep and challenging questions that I aim to engage with and seek information on.
In the first part of Infidel, Hirsi Ali narrates the story of her upbringing. How she escaped the growing tension in Somalia to seek refuge in other countries, how through time she embraced and drifted from her religion, how she lived within the restrictions and expectations set on her by her family and society and how she grew. Regardless of where she was, her stories detailed the mischief that she would often find herself in. Ali had a unique upbringing, with hardships that few people today can say they’ve faced. Although Hirsi Ali lived through a civil war, female-genital mutilation, brutal beatings, life under strict supervision, an arranged marriage and threats to end her life, her story is far from one of a victim. She recounts her story through authentic and genuine writing, without glorifying her struggle but depicting it as what it was – her reality. Through her writing, it becomes obvious to us that Hirsi Ali is far from the only one who had to endure such traumatic life experiences, and she consciously draws our attention to the fact that many more women continue in similar societies.
Her personal story of struggle and transformation (although far from over) is undeniably gripping. Yet similar to the shock and controversy that she brought to the political atmosphere in the Netherlands, Hirsi Ali challenged poised some of my fundamental thoughts against each other, which is why I wish to spark conversation around these ideas hearing from those with different experiences from me.
Although growing up a devout believer in Islam, when Hirsi Ali made her escape to the Netherlands she began to grow further and further away from her religion when she finds a different way of living. Initially, she is shocked by the indecency of women in their casual relationships and revealing clothing, but more and more she finds liberation and logic in the changes she makes as she assimilates into Dutch society.
I’ve often found myself in a position of preaching tolerance and acceptance in all spaces, giving respect and honour to religion a part of who I am. Yet Hirsi Ali attributes the suffering and oppression of women in Muslim societies to the rigid structure of the Quran and the lack of discourse allowed between believers and their God. How can I remain appreciating and accepting all religions if within them can contain the reasons for gross human rights violations? Female genital mutilation, arranged marriages, submitting to the needs of the husband and the shame that woman must bare from being raped. How do we build an all accepting society that negates the aspects of the cultures that are harmful to members of the community? How do we protect the rights of women in a world it is firmly etched into several religions that state our subordinacy?
Hirsi Ali writes: “The message of this book, if it must have a message, is that we in the West would be wrong to prolong the pain of that transition [to modernity] unnecessarily, by elevating cultures full of bigotry and hatred towards women to the stature of respectable alternative ways of life.” With the surge of globalisation and migration occurring, it is undeniable that religions and cultures are spreading all around the globe. But without proper integration of people into the new communities they occupy and a fuller understanding of what tolerance means there will always remain a fundamental barrier between immigrants and locals. One that we seek to abolish if we are to build more cohesive nations.
I urge anyone with strong opinions or ideas about this to reach out to me via email or social media with responses to this article. In order to reach a better understanding of the topics, I need your opinions, experiences and thoughts which I will compile together in another article to share my findings. As Robert Quillen said: “Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; an argument an exchange of ignorance.”
