Wednesday 31 January 2007

Interview with Hirsi Ali: My life as an infidel

[...] Hirsi Ali was born in Somalia, where aggression was regarded as a survival tactic and your identity revolved around your clan and family. As a Muslim, she learnt too that it was her duty to submit to men, and to Allah.

At the same time, Allah was a mysterious force to which she never entirely related, partly perhaps because of her family’s habit of never explaining things to children. When she was circumcised, at 5 with scissors and no anaesthetic, she was told only that this would keep her pure, and in adolescence she came to believe that submitting to God involved the suppression of her sexuality and the self. She asked questions and argued; this theme is always there and would affect her relationships in adult life. Books, from Jane Austen to crime thrillers, told her of a world of freedom, adventure, individuality and romance and she wanted to fall head over heels in love, but when she was 22 and her father arranged her marriage to a man she regarded as a peabrain, running away was a logical step. Read more

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