Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

Article Images

Line 33:

}}

'''Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Lady Ferguson'''{{efn|English: ({{IPAc-en|ɑː|ˈ|j|ɑː|n|_|ˈ|h|ɪər|s|i|_|ˈ|ɑː|l|i}}; {{respell|ah|YAHN|_|HEER|see|_|AH|lee}}, {{IPA|nl|aːˈjaːn ˈɦiːrsi ˈaːli|lang|Nl-Ayaan Hirsi Ali.ogg|small=no}}; ~~[[Somali language|Somali]]: ''Ayaan Xirsi Cali'':'' Ayān Ḥirsi 'Alī'' ;{{efn|~~{{lang-so|Ayaan Xirsi Cali}} {{IPA|so|ajaːn ħirsi ʕaliː|}} ; {{lang-ar|أيان حرسي علي}}, ~~/ [[~~{{ALA-LC~~]]: ''~~|ar|Ayān Ḥirsī ~~'Alī''~~ ʻAlī}}.}} (born 13 November 1969)<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ayaan-Hirsi-Ali|title=Ayaan Hirsi Ali|encyclopedia=Britannica|access-date=1 January 2018}}</ref> is a [[Somalia|Somali]]-born Dutch-American writer, activist and former politician.<ref>{{Cite news |first=Anne |last=Applebaum |authorlink=Anne Applebaum|date=February 4, 2007 |title=The Fight for Muslim Women A feisty memoir from a controversial champion of female rights. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/2007/02/04/the-fight-for-muslim-women-span-classbankheada-feisty-memoir-from-a-controversial-champion-of-female-rightsspan/064381da-6fb0-4e29-8552-1e6f8b117bb4/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Q&A: the west must stop seeing Muslims only as victims|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/17/ayaan-hirsi-ali-qanda-west-muslims-only-as-victims|access-date=1 December 2016|work=The Guardian|date=16 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Ayaan Hirsi Ali's 'Heretic'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/books/review/ayaan-hirsi-alis-heretic.html|access-date=1 December 2016|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=1 April 2015}}</ref> She is a [[critic of Islam]] and advocate for the rights and self-determination of [[Muslim women]], opposing [[forced marriage]], [[honour killing]], [[child marriage]], and [[female genital mutilation]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Ayaan Hirsi Ali: "You can't change these practices if you don't talk about them"|url=http://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2016/04/10/women-in-islam-you-cant-change-these-practices-if-you-dont-talk-about-them/|access-date=24 February 2017|work=The New York Times|date=24 February 2017}}</ref> At the age of five, following local traditions in Somalia, Ali underwent female genital mutilation organized by her grandmother. Her father—a scholar, intellectual, and a devout Muslim—was against the procedure but could not stop it from happening because he was imprisoned by the Communist government of Somalia at the time.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-03-18 |title=Ayaan Hirsi Ali: 'FGM was done to me at the age of five. Ten years |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/ayaan-hirsi-ali-fgm-was-done-to-me-at-the-age-of-five-ten-years-later-even-20-i-would-not-have-testified-against-my-parents-8534299.html |access-date=2023-11-12 |website=Evening Standard |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=Lynn |date=2010-06-03 |title=Female genital mutilation in the U.S.: No compromise |url=https://www.salon.com/2010/06/02/fgm_genital_nick/ |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=Salon |language=en}}</ref> Her family moved across various countries in Africa and the Middle East, and at 23, she received [[Right of asylum|political asylum]] in the Netherlands, gaining Dutch citizenship five years later.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Somalia-born critic of Islam admits lying to gain asylum |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/somalia-born-critic-of-islam-admits-lying-to-gain-asylum-1.1003537 |access-date=2023-12-07 |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en}}</ref> In her early 30s, Hirsi Ali renounced the Islamic faith of her childhood, began identifying as an atheist, and became involved in Dutch centre-right politics, joining the [[People's Party for Freedom and Democracy]] (VVD).<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Sarah |date=2023-11-29 |title=The Infidel Turned Christian |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/11/ayaan-hirsi-alis-political-conversion.html |access-date=2023-12-05 |website=Intelligencer |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-11-13 |title=Outspoken Atheist Ayaan Hirsi Ali Says She is Now a Christian |url=https://www.ncregister.com/cna/outspoken-atheist-ayaan-hirsi-ali-says-she-is-now-a-christian |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=NCR |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Dutch MP quits over asylum lies |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/5/16/dutch-mp-quits-over-asylum-lies |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref>

In 2003, Ali was elected to the [[lower house]] of the [[States General of the Netherlands]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Anderson |first=John Ward |date=17 May 2006 |title=Discredited Somali Quits Dutch Politics Advocate for Women Is Critic of Islam |work=[[Washington Times]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2006/05/17/discredited-somali-quits-dutch-politics-span-classbankheadadvocate-for-women-is-critic-of-islamspan/c91f33ce-816a-44c4-9b98-ee414374cce3/}}</ref> While serving in parliament, she collaborated on a short film with [[Theo van Gogh (film director)|Theo van Gogh]], titled ''[[Submission (2004 film)|Submission]]'', which depicted the oppression of women under [[fundamentalist Islamic]] law and was critical of the Muslim canon itself.<ref name=":13">{{Cite web |date=2005-03-11 |title=Slaughter And 'Submission' – CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/slaughter-and-submission-11-03-2005/ |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref> The film led to death threats, and Van Gogh was murdered shortly after the film's release by [[Mohammed Bouyeri]], a Moroccan-Dutch [[Islamic terrorist]], driving Hirsi Ali into hiding.<ref name=":13" /> At this time, she became more outspoken as a critic of the Muslim faith. In 2005, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'']] magazine named Ali as one of the [[Time 100|100 most influential people in the world]].<ref name="time" /> Her outspoken criticism of Islam made her a controversial figure in Dutch politics. Following a political crisis related to the validity of her [[Dutch nationality law|Dutch citizenship]], she left Parliament and ultimately the Netherlands.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Controversy Over Dutch Politician Divides The Netherlands – DW – 05/17/2006 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/controversy-over-dutch-politician-divides-the-netherlands/a-2024244 |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=dw.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":14">{{Cite web |date=2017-06-06 |title=Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Tackle Islam or face civil war |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/ayaan-hirsi-ali-tackle-islam-or-face-civil-war/ |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=Politico |language=en}}</ref>

Line 43:

Ali was a central figure in [[New Atheism]] since its beginnings.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gregory |first=Elizabeth |date=17 August 2023 |title=Richard Dawkins: everything you need to know about the world's most famous atheist |work=[[London Evening Standard]] |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/richard-dawkins-professor-atheist-free-speech-b1100953.html}}</ref> She was strongly associated with the movement, along with [[Christopher Hitchens]], who regarded Ali as "the most important public intellectual probably ever to come out of Africa".<ref name=":9" /> Writing in a column in November 2023, Ali announced her conversion to the Christian faith, claiming that in her view the Judeo-Christian tradition is the only answer to the problems of the modern world.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":52">{{cite book |chapter=The New Atheism |date=2017 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/jihad-radicalism-and-the-new-atheism/new-atheism/5971EDDFB153952A0D0C593DE26E074A |title=Jihad, Radicalism, and the New Atheism |pages=95–96 |editor-last=Khalil |editor-first=Mohammad Hassan |access-date=2022-12-24 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/9781108377263.009 |isbn=978-1-108-38512-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Ali |first=Ayaan Hirsi |date=11 November 2023 |title=Why I am now a Christian |work=UnHerd |url=https://unherd.com/2023/11/why-i-am-now-a-christian/}}</ref> She has received several awards, including a free speech award from the centre-right Danish newspaper ''[[Jyllands-Posten]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/Hirsi+wins+rights+award+from+Danish+cartoon+paper/2963014/story.html |agency=[[Agence France-Presse]] |work=[[Montreal Gazette]] |title=Hirsi Ali wins rights award from Danish cartoon paper |year=2010 |access-date=9 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722004847/http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Hirsi%2Bwins%2Brights%2Baward%2Bfrom%2BDanish%2Bcartoon%2Bpaper/2963014/story.html |archive-date=22 July 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> the Swedish conservative [[Liberals (Sweden)|Liberal Party]]'s Democracy Prize,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.smedjan.com/etta.asp?sida=view_comment&entry=147 |title=Varför Vill Hon Fortfarande Vara Muslim? |publisher=Smedjan.com |work=den liberala scenen i svensk debatt |date=30 August 2005 |access-date=27 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313195723/http://www.smedjan.com/etta.asp?sida=view_comment&entry=147 |archive-date=13 March 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and the Moral Courage Award for commitment to conflict resolution, ethics, and world citizenship.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theglobalist.com/AuthorBiography.aspx?AuthorId=947 |title=Biography of Ayaan Hirsi Ali |publisher=The Globalist |access-date=27 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080407213316/http://www.theglobalist.com/AuthorBiography.aspx?AuthorId=947 |archive-date=7 April 2008}}</ref> Critics have accused Ali of being [[Islamophobic]] or [[neo-orientalist]] and question her scholarly credentials "to speak authoritatively about Islam and the Arab world", saying she promotes the notion of a Western "[[civilizing mission]]".<ref name="Mahmood" /><ref name="Yaghi">{{cite journal|last1=Yaghi|first1=Adam|date=18 December 2015|title=Popular Testimonial Literature by American Cultural Conservatives of Arab or Muslim Descent: Narrating the Self, Translating (an)Other|journal=Middle East Critique|volume=25|issue=1|pages=83–98|doi=10.1080/19436149.2015.1107996|s2cid=146227696}}</ref><ref name="Grewal" /> Ali is married to Scottish-American historian [[Niall Ferguson]]. The couple are raising their sons in the United States, where she became a citizen in 2013.<ref name=":14" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-05-17 |title=Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Immigration Reform and Assimilation in Europe |url=https://lithub.com/ayaan-hirsi-ali-on-immigration-reform-and-assimilation-in-europe/ |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=Literary Hub |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Early life ~~in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya~~ ==

Ayaan was born in [[Mogadishu]], Somalia,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pen.org/page.php/prmID/1167|title=Ayaan Hirsi Ali|access-date=7 January 2007|publisher=PEN American Center|quote=Ayaan Hirsi Ali was born in [[Mogadishu]], Somalia on November 13, 1969.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061002133455/http://pen.org/page.php/prmID/1167|archive-date=2 October 2006}}</ref> in 1969.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.asiantribune.com/node/175 |work=Asian Tribune |date=20 May 2006 |first=Sohail |last=Choudhury |access-date=14 July 2011 |title=Controversial Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Muslim turned atheist, to resign from Dutch Parliament |publisher=World Institute For Asian Studies| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110707174839/http://www.asiantribune.com/node/175| archive-date= 7 July 2011 | url-status= live}}</ref> Her father, [[Hirsi Magan Isse]], was a prominent member of the [[Somali Salvation Democratic Front]] and a leading figure in the [[Somali Rebellion|Somali Revolution]]. Shortly after she was born, her father was imprisoned due to his opposition to [[Siad Barre]]’s Communist government.<ref name="dangerwoman">{{cite news|last=Linklater|first=Alexander|title=Danger woman|url=https://www.theguardian.com/g2/story/0,,1485350,00.html|work=The Guardian|date=17 May 2005|access-date =15 June 2008 | location=London}}</ref><ref>[http://www.economist.com/node/8663231 "A critic of Islam: Dark secrets"], ''[[The Economist]]''. Volume 382. Number 8515. ( 10–16 February 2007): p. 87. "The family's troubles began in 1969, the year Ms Hirsi Ali was born. That was also the year that Mohammed Siad Barre, a Somali army commander, seized power in a military coup. Hirsi Magan was descended from the traditional rulers of the [[Darod]], Somalia's second biggest clan. Siad Barre, who hailed from a lesser Darod family, feared and resented Ms Hirsi Ali's father's family, she says. In 1972, Siad Barre had Hirsi Magan put in prison from which he escaped three years later and fled the country."</ref> Hirsi Ali's father was an intellectual, a dissident and a devout Muslim who had studied abroad and he was opposed to [[female genital mutilation]]; while he was imprisoned, Hirsi Ali's grandmother had a man perform the procedure on her, when Hirsi Ali was five years old. According to Hirsi Ali, she was fortunate that her grandmother could not find a woman to do the procedure, as the mutilation was "much milder" when performed by men.<ref name="dangerwoman"/>

Line 97:

=== Dutch citizenship controversy ===

In May 2006, the TV programme ''[[Zembla (TV series)|Zembla]]'' reported that Hirsi Ali had given false information about her name, her age, and her country of residence when originally applying for asylum, in a documentary called "The Holy Ayaan".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbxP8Uys8kc |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/YbxP8Uys8kc |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|title=Christian Right's Favorite Ex-Muslim Ayaan Hirsi Ali Exposed As Fake – Dutch Doc" Holy Ayaan !! "|last=MCDebate|date=7 October 2012|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="a308">{{cite web | last=Broder | first=Henryk M. | title=The Hirsi Ali Case: "Voltaire and Erasmus Are Spinning in their Graves" | website=DER SPIEGEL | date=2006-05-17 | url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/the-hirsi-ali-case-voltaire-and-erasmus-are-spinning-in-their-graves-a-416587.html | access-date=2024-09-15}}</ref> In her asylum application, she had claimed to be fleeing a forced marriage, but the ''Zembla'' coverage featured interviews with her family, who denied that claim.<ref>''The Islamic Challenge: Politics and Religion in Western Europe'', Klausen, J., New York: Oxford University Press, 2005; "She wasn't forced into a marriage. She had an amicable relationship with her husband, as well as with the rest of her family. It was not true that she had to hide from her family for years."</ref> The program alleged that, contrary to Hirsi Ali's claims of having fled a Somali war zone, the MP had been living comfortably in upper middle-class conditions safely in Kenya with her family for at least 12 years before she sought refugee status in the Netherlands in 1992.

In her version of events, she had fled civil war in Somalia, was forced into an arranged marriage with a man whom she had never met and was not present at her own wedding. Upon escaping she was forced into hiding in the Netherlands, for her ex-husband and father's brothers would have been by Somali custom, required to perform an honor killing. The accounts of various witnesses varied greatly from hers. According to them, she left Somalia prior to any mass violence and led a comfortable, upper-middle class life in neighboring Kenya, where she attended a Muslim girls' school and received a full western-style education with a focus on the humanities and science. Further, these witnesses allege that her brother attended a Christian school, that she lied to the Dutch immigration service about coming from Somalia in order not to be sent back to Kenya, and that she met her husband a few days before her wedding. After several meetings with him, they allege she agreed to the marriage, even though her mother said Ayaan should finish her education so she could afford to leave him if the marriage should prove unsuccessful. They also allege that Hirsi Ali was present at the wedding, something her brother later denied, and according to several witnesses appeared to be enjoying herself. Hirsi Ali denies all of this. On her way to Canada, she says she travelled to the Netherlands by train during a stopover in Germany and applied for political asylum. During her stay in the Netherlands, she regularly received letters from her father.<ref>{{cite news|last=Conway|first=Isabel|title=MP may be deported over claims she lied to win asylum|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/mp-may-be-deported-over-claims-she-lied-to-win-asylum-478265.html|newspaper=The Independent|date=15 May 2006}}</ref> The documentary also quoted several native Somalis as saying there is no tradition of honor killing in Somalia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.somaliaonline.com/community/topic/disturbing-news-honor-killings/|title=Disturbing news: honor killings, Somalia Online, 5 January 2006}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Line 207:

After formally renouncing Islam, Ali identified as an atheist. One of her decisions to stop believing in God was after reading the ''[[Atheïstisch manifest]]'' by Dutch philosopher [[Herman Philipse]] a year after the 9/11 attacks<ref>{{cite web |url=https://openlysecular.org/freethinker/ayaan-hirsi-ali/ |title=Ayaan Hirsi Ali |access-date=2023-11-11}}</ref> and that she agreed with arguments put forward by [[Bertrand Russell]], [[Christopher Hitchens]] and [[Richard Dawkins]] on organized religion.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-11-27 |title=The Unlikely Conversion of Ayaan Hirsi Ali |url=https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/the-unlikely-conversion-of-ayaan-hirsi-ali |access-date=2023-12-05 |website=Crisis Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":12" />

In November 2023, Hirsi Ali [[Conversion to Christianity|converted to Christianity]] stating that "atheism can't equip us for [[Culture war|civilisational war]]."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kumar |first=Anugrah |date=2023-11-12 |title=Muslim-turned-atheist rights activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali says she is now a Christian |url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/ayaan-hirsi-ali-says-shes-now-a-christian.html |access-date= |website=[[The Christian Post]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite web |last=Ali |first=Ayaan Hirsi |date=2023-11-13 |title=Why I am now a Christian |url=https://unherd.com/2023/11/why-i-am-now-a-christian/ |access-date=2023-11-13 |website=UnHerd |language=en-GB}}</ref> Explaining her decision in an essay for [[UnHerd]], Ali argued that the West was under threat from "the resurgence of great-power [[authoritarianism]] and [[expansionism]] in the forms of the [[Chinese Communist Party]] and [[Vladimir Putin]]’s's Russia; the rise of global Islamism, which threatens to mobilise a vast population against the West; and the viral spread of [[woke ideology]], which is eating into the [[morality|moral fibre]] of the next generation."<ref name=":8" /> Against such threats, secular approaches, whether they be arguments, technologies, or military force, are, in her view, inadequate.<ref name=":8" /> She concluded that upholding [[Judeo-Christian]] traditions was the most credible answer for the Western society to survive.<ref name=":8" /> The essay generated criticism both from Christians, who interpreted her conversion to Christianity as merely a cultural response, not a spiritual one, and from atheists who were "baffled" that she had not addressed what they considered materialist rebuttals of the Christian faith.<ref name=":11" />

Some commentators, such as Sarah Jones writing for ''[[New York (magazine)|New York]]'' magazine, suggested that for Hirsi Ali, "atheism only ever propped up her career as a culture warrior". Abandoning a New Atheist movement "in terminal decline" for a new vehicle, "she remains on the same crusade, inveighing against Islam and having simply exchanged one banner for another".<ref name=":12" /> However, ~~the~~ columnist [[Ross Douthat]] onin ''[[The New York Times]]'' assessed Hirsi Ali's decision to be the result of "a twofold realization".:<ref name=":11">{{Cite news |last=Douthat |first=Ross |date=15 November 2023 |title=Where Does Religion Come From? |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/15/opinion/religion-christianity-belief.html}}</ref> ~~First~~first, that atheistic [[materialism]] is too weak a base to build Western liberalism upon.; and ~~Second~~second, that while atheism had briefly provided "a sense of liberation from punitive religion", she found the long term sense of life without spiritual [[solace]] to be "unendurable".<ref name=":11" />

=== Feminism ===

Line 265:

== Personal life ==

Hirsi Ali married British–American historian [[Niall Ferguson]] on 10 September 2011.<ref>{{cite news |last=Allen-Mills |first=Tony |date=9 May 2010 |title=In love ... and on an Islamist death list |newspaper=[[The Sunday Times]] |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/non-fiction/article7120478.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624091538/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/non-fiction/article7120478.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 June 2011 |access-date=}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Murray |first=Douglas |author-link= |date=October 2011 |title=Right Wedding |newspaper=[[Standpoint (magazine)|Standpoint]] |url=http://www.standpointmag.co.uk/node/4135/full |url-status=dead |access-date= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180507221743/http://www.standpointmag.co.uk/node/4135/full |archive-date=7 May 2018}}</ref> They have two sons.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Valk |first1=Guus |last2=Theirlynck |first2=Tristan |date=18 February 2021 |title=Ayaan Hirsi Ali: 'Europese landen spelen spelletjes met hun eigen bevolking' |newspaper=[[NRC Handelsblad]] |url=https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2021/02/18/ayaan-hirsi-ali-europese-landen-spelen-spelletjes-met-hun-eigen-bevolking-a4032358}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Van Noorloos |first=Jorieke |date=17 February 2021 |title=Ayaan Hirsi Ali over haar leven in Amerika én haar nieuwe boek |url=https://www.linda.nl/persoonlijk/ayaan-hirsi-ali-amerika-nieuwe-boek-moederschap/ |access-date= |website=Linda |language=nl}}</ref>

In 2023, Hirsi Ali announced that she had become a Christian.<ref>Dissident Dialogues on "YouTube", "'Theological BULLSH*T!' Richard Dawkins Challenges Ayaan Hirsi Ali's New-Found Christianity"(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbjHyz_7fCg, accessed 3 June 2024).</ref><ref>Ali, Ayaan Hirsi (11 November 2023). "Why I am now a Christian". UnHerd. (https://unherd.com/2023/11/why-i-am-now-a-christian/, accessed 24 July 2024).</ref>