The More I Read About Her

The more I admire her. Ayaan Hirsi Ali is not just brave, she's downright heroic. She's also apparently a top-notch speaker.

Ayaan spoke of her evolution in thinking about Islam and becoming a politician and activist.  She was raised Muslim, but at some point decided that there was no God.  Once she was free of the fear of God, hell and damnation, she was able to critically look at Islam and ask questions.  After 9/11, she asked, is terrorism linked to Islam or not? Can Islam be refomed? Her answer to the second question: Yes, but it must be reformed by Muslims. And it cannot be reformed without negating (not just ignoring) certain parts of the Koran.  "We must leave in the past that which belongs in the past."

From her experiences as a social worker in Holland, she saw that many immigrant woman and girls were victims of violence, including being beaten, enduring FGM and forced marriages.  Holland, caught up in multiculturalism, didn't protect these women but deferred to the immigrant men.  The females were at the mercy of the religious and cultural practices of their immigrant "collective."  And Holland, like other liberal European states, was sacrificing the individual rights of women and children for the collective rights of the religious minorities. 

From all indications, she is also someone who is not at all likely to lose an argument.

The Q&A afterwards demonstrated the forces that Ayaan is working against.   Most questions were to her were fairly hostile: How can an atheist reform Islam? What is your agenda?  Why are you speaking about Islam when you are not a theologian?  Isn't what you're doing extreme and dangerous and how is it serving the cause?  Why should a Muslim listen to you?  Aren't you setting up a straw man argument, saying that Muslims are either good Muslims or they're Osama bin Laden? Why are you only harping about Islam?  What about the Hindu texts?

Ayaan was unflappable and graceful in her responses."I speak about Islamic texts because that is what I know.  Religion is public, ideas are public.  It is necessary and urgent to review, revise, and discuss Islam as a body of ideas.  It is time to examine the links between reliigon and values."   

Ayaan Hirsi Ali shames her questioners and outright enemies. She has a grace and dignity that they cannot even hope to emulate.

UPDATE: Quite a good writeup at Roger Houston on the speech.

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  By beth, May 10, 2006 @ 1:20 am

  I agree completely. I’ve been reading a lot about her and the more I read the more I admire her.

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  By Gaius, May 10, 2006 @ 4:52 am

  Yeah, she is admirable.

Other Links to this Post

1. Blue Star Chronicles — May 10, 2006 @ 1:22 am

2. chez Diva » Bravery in the Face of Islamofascism — May 10, 2006 @ 6:12 am