Infidel

Over the last two weeks or so I have been reading the book Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. It's sort of an auto-biography of her childhood being a refugee from Somalia, going to Saudi Arabia and then Kenya, and eventually Holland. Once there she becomes a Dutch citizen and is elected to Parliament. Ayaan became an activist against the radical elements of Islam, such as the inequality for women, ritual killings, and female circumcision. The book was truly moving. She is called an "Infidel" because she refuses to no longer adhere the basic Islamic tenet: to submit.

First of all, it made me thankful that nothing I have experienced comes close to the horrors of this woman's upbringing. To see your home country spiral into civil war, to be married off by her father, to have to live in fear of assassination after expressing your beliefs and exposing the ugly truths of your world.

Second, I knew about female circumcision before reading the book, but I didn't really "get" the significance of what a cruel practice it is. Not just physically, but on a deeper level of what it says about a person, their body, and their freedom. I never really had an opinion on male circumcision either for that matter. But now, I sit here wondering, if we are supposed to be in the image of God, why should we have to physically mutilate our young children? And what message does that send them about who they are?

Next, I am in awe of the message the book had about free speech and the right to question. To not simply "submit". Ayaan grew up in what has got to be one of the most strict cultures out there. Everything you said, did, or wore was adding up to whether you would go to heaven or hell. Everything. To question was to be a heretic, destined to burn. But there is something wrong with a culture or a religion or a country where you can't say "I don't know". Ayaan struggles through the later portion of the book with her own spirituality. She embraces certain aspects of the Koran, but is not allowed to wonder and be subversive to the other passages that promote violence and radical inequality. And I think that is something in America we do with the Bible. We take it so literally and we don't remind ourselves that is a relic of the past, with flaws and certain values that just aren't acceptable. I have always respected the statement about religion "I don't know" because it is sincere and realistic. And we should all have the freedom to not submit and rather, utter those words "I don't know."