Infidel

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Free Press, 2007. 

Ayaan Hirsi Ali was born in Somalia in 1969. Ayaan’s ancestors were desert nomads of the Darod clan living in northern Somalia. If the rains fail, nomads must leave the current camp in search of water. A good nomad must be a good navigator, have skills in finding water, be skilled with animal herding, and be able to build thorn fences to protect ones animals. Female nomads in the desert were not covered and generally did not pray, although the men prayed. 

Somali children are taught to memorize their lineage. When strangers meet, they tell each other their lineages and search for a common ancestor. Some Somali clans: Hawiye clan (farmers), Isaq clan (nomadic), Darod clan (nomadic, includes the Ogaden sub-clan and the Harti sub-clan). Ayaan was an Osman Mahamud, which was inside the Majeerteen sub-clan, which was inside the Harti sub-clan, which was inside the Darod clan. Ayaan had a number of adventuresome, rebellious, and well-educated ancestors, so her apostasy and heroism should not be entirely unexpected. 

Much of the politics of Somalia is about rivalry between clans. To form a modern state, the Somali people needed something that would hold them together and transcend clan distinctions. One solution was a secular Communist government, run by the corrupt and brutal dictator, Siad Barré. Another solution was the Muslim Brotherhood, which was not corrupt, but promoted Islamist fundamentalism. Ayaan’s father, Hirsi Magan Isse, was educated in the West and promoted liberal democracy. 

Muslims are taught not to think for themselves, but rather to obey Islam without questioning it. They are also taught never think about sex. Women are further taught to be obedient and to allow male relatives to make all the decisions for the them. Pious, obedient women are called baarri. Women who bore children out of wedlock were called prostitutes and shunned. Their children were called bastards and teased at school. Unmarried Somali mothers often committed suicide, or became the victims of honor killings. 

Somalis are Muslim, while Ethiopians are Christian. Somalis see Ethiopians as dirty. Ethiopians see Somalis as prudes. The Ogaden are ethnic Somalis living in Ethiopia, and there have been conflicts over them, such as the Ogaden War (1977-78). In Somalia the sexes are mixed in school, even in religious schools. But in Saudi Arabia, the sexes are segregated in school. The Arabs call Somalis abid (slave), because of their dark skin. In Saudi Arabia, everything bad that happens to Arabs is blamed on the Jews.

In 1992 Ayaan ran away to the Netherlands. She made up a story based on the experiences of other Somali refuges in Nairobi in order to gain asylum as a political refugee. Fleeing an arranged marriage is not accepted as sufficient reason to obtain asylum. She also changed her surname, to make it harder for her estranged family to find her. Many Muslim immigrants worked hard and learned Dutch, but many others lived on the dole, associating only with their compatriots.

Ayaan was one of those who worked hard, studied hard, and learned Dutch.  She attended a vocational college (Hogeschool) in Driebergen.  She attended the University of Leiden and graduated in September 2000 with a Master’s degree in Political Science. She worked as a cleaner, packing cookies, and putting letters in envelopes. Later, she worked for the Immigration Service working as interpreter at abortion clinics, police stations, prisons, schools, unemployment offices, and shelters for battered women. Ayaan spoke several languages: Somali, Arabic, Amharic, Swahili, Dutch, English.

Starting in September 2001, Ayaan worked as a junior researcher at the Wiardi Beckman Institute think tank (associated with the Dutch Labor Party). She was elected to the Dutch Parliament in 2003 as a member of the Liberal Party. At public debates she spoke out agains the misogyny of Islam. She also wrote newspaper articles and granted television interviews in which she was critical of Islam’s treatment of women. 

In 2003. Ayaan made a ten-minute film with Theo Van Gogh called Submission: Part One In 2004, Theo Van Gogh was killed by a Moroccan named Muhammad Bouyeri. Pinned to Theo’s chest was a letter threatening Ayaan’s life.