For those of you that haven't or couldn't attend book club lately, we'll be publishing the previous months' discussion questions here. I hope eventually to post discussion questions for all of the books we've covered since I took over a couple of years ago and beyond, all the way to the beginning over a decade and a half ago. It will take a while. Until then, we will be posting discussion questions on a weekly basis. Here are the questions from a 2010 title, Infidel. We hope these questions spark discussions of your own.
The summary of today's title below is the official publisher's description and the initial questions are from them as well. As the following title is by and about a very controversial individual in regards to Islam and what is and isn't mainstream, I didn't only want to give one side of the debate. I reached out to the Islamic Resource Center, an Islamic library in the Milwaukee area run by a board of highly intelligent professional Muslim women (doctors, lawyers, scientists, etc.) who work under the banner of the Milwaukee Muslim Women's Coalition, for their thoughts on the title. I have included questions given me by the IRC as well as resources for learning more about Islam from mainstream Muslims and their beliefs and values. I hope it helps.
Infidel
by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Summary:
One of today’s most admired and controversial political figures, Ayaan Hirsi Ali burst into international headlines following the murder of Theo van Gogh by an Islamist who threatened that she would be next. She made headlines again when she was stripped of her citizenship and resigned from the Dutch Parliament.
Infidel shows the coming of age of this distinguished political superstar and champion of free speech as well as the development of her beliefs, iron will, and extraordinary determination to fight injustice. Raised in a strict Muslim family, Hirsi Ali survived civil war, female mutilation, brutal beatings, adolescence as a devout believer during the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, and life in four troubled, unstable countries ruled largely by despots. She escaped from a forced marriage and sought asylum in the Netherlands, where she earned a college degree in political science, tried to help her tragically depressed sister adjust to the West, and fought for the rights of Muslim women and the reform of Islam as a member of Parliament. Under constant threat, demonized by reactionary Islamists and politicians, disowned by her father, and expelled from family and clan, she refuses to be silenced.
Ultimately a celebration of triumph over adversity, Hirsi Ali’s story tells how a bright little girl evolves out of dutiful obedience to become an outspoken, pioneering freedom fighter. As Western governments struggle to balance democratic ideals with religious pressures, no other book could be more timely or more significant.
--Publisher's Description
Discussion Questions
Publisher Provided Questions
Hirsi Ali tells us that this book is "the story of what I have experienced, what I have seen, and why I think the way I do" (page xii). Which experiences does she highlight as being integral to forming her current views on Islam?
"No eyes silently accused me of being a whore. No lecherous men called me to bed with them. No Brotherhood members threatened me with hellfire. I felt safe; I could follow my curiosity" (page 185). This passage refers to Hirsi Ali's initial impression of walking the streets in Germany. What other significant differences between the West and Islamic Africa did she observe during her first days in Europe? Upon arriving in Holland, what were her initial impressions of the Dutch people and the Dutch government? Did these change significantly as she lived there
How did Hirsi Ali's immigration experience and integration into Dutch society differ from those of other Somalians?
Discuss the differences that Hirsi Ali noticed between raising children in Muslim countries and raising children in the West. In particular, what did she notice about Johanna's parenting? How were Muslim parents different from Dutch parents in their instructions to their children on the playground? (see page 245).
In Hirsi Ali's words, "a Muslim girl does not make her own decisions or seek control. She is trained to be docile. If you are a Muslim girl, you disappear, until there is almost no you inside you" (page 94). How do the three generations of women in Hirsi Ali's family differ in their willingness to "submit" to this doctrine?
As seen through Hirsi Ali's eyes, what factors contributed to Haweya's death? How might members of her family describe events differently?
Although Hirsi Ali mostly refrains from criticizing her father, she publishes the personal letter he wrote her upon her divorce. Why do you think she included this letter? Were you surprised by any other intimate details of her life that she revealed in the book?
The events of September 11th caused Hirsi Ali to reread sections of the Quran and to evaluate the role of violence in Islam. Consequently, her interpretation of September 11th differs from those around her. What doe she conclude? Do you agree with her analysis?
On page 295, Hirsi Ali lists the three goals she wished to accomplish by joining Parliament. By the book's end has she accomplished all three? How did her views of the Dutch government change over time?
Examine Hirsi Ali's relationship with her brother. How did Mahad's and Abeh's reactions to her political work differ?
Throughout her political career, Hirsi Ali has made several bold statements challenging the Muslim world. In your opinion, were these declarations worth the risk?
Has this book changed the way you view Islam? According to Hirsi Ali, is Islam compatible with Western values and culture? Do you agree with her?
Questions From the Milwaukee Muslim Women's Coalition
Note from the MMWC fact checkers: Ayaan Hirsi Ali was born into a Muslim family but claims she became an atheist. However, she has repeatedly encouraged Muslims to convert to Fundamentalist Christianity.
In her book Infidel, Ali mentions injustices such as forced marriages, female genital mutilation and a lack of womens’ rights. These are all cultural injustices that have no place in Islam. Did she make the distinction between her lived cultural experiences and the religion itself clear?
Ali states, "A Muslim girl does not make her own decisions or seek control. She is trained to be docile. If you are a Muslim girl, you disappear, until there is almost no you inside you" (page 94). Does this match the experience of all Muslim women? Are there any Muslim women from your personal life or from media that you know who don’t fit that narrative? We encourage readers to listen to and read the interviews of Ayaan’s highly accomplished and proudly Muslim sisters.
Ali compares her life in Holland not to specific places that she had lived such as Somalia, Kenya and Saudi Arabia, but to the entire Muslim world. Is it fair to use her lived personal and cultural experiences to represent all Muslims? Have we looked at some facts about Somalia, the supermodel Iman is from Somalia, One of only two Muslim Congresswomen in the US is a refugee from Somalia. Saudi Arabia has more females in post-secondary education than males. Is it possible for people outside the United States to broad brush all Americans? There are also half a dozen predominantly Muslim countries have had Muslim women as heads of state (i.e. Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan, Tansu Çiller of Turkey, Megawati Sukarnoputri of Indonesia, Mame Madior Boye of Senegal, etc.). How does that fit in Ali's narrative?
Ali calls herself a feminist who fights for the rights of Muslim women. Yet why have the majority of Muslim women not considered her an ally?
Are there injustices Ali mentions seeing in her childhood that exist in other cultures as well? Is it fair to label them as Muslim problems?
Ali finds Islamic values to be incompatible with the West. Is such rhetoric dangerous? How has this type of rhetoric been used in the US and by different countries to claim that certain minorities and ethnicities don’t belong?
“There is no compulsion in religion.” (Quran 2:256) This is central to the Islamic faith, Muslims believe that you must freely choose to worship the One God. No one can impact your real belief by forcing a faith. Readers should look into the numbers of Americans and Europeans that freely choose to become Muslims.
Additional Resources
Milwaukee Muslim Women's Coalition (MMWC) is an organization dedicated to furthering understanding of American mainstream Islam through provision of educational materials and resources to promote understanding to schools, universities, businesses, law enforcement agencies, healthcare centers, religious establishments, community organizations and the media. In addition to education/outreach services and the Islamic Resource Center (IRC) (an Islamic library open to the public), they also run the annual Milwaukee Muslim Film Festival, an online Muslim newspaper called the Wisconsin Muslim Journal, and a culturally domestic violence center known as Our Peaceful Home. They are more than happy to schedule a time to sit down with you and answer some questions or send you in the right direction, or get you a card to their library so you can peruse their over 3000 items in a number of formats and age appropriateness on a wide variety of topics all from a Muslim perspective.
Islamic Society of Milwaukee (ISM) is the largest mosque in the area with three locations and a K-High school as well. They are representative of moderate Islam. If you would rather speak with an imam (Muslim version of a pastor / minister / rabbi), you cannot go wrong with talking with them. They even have tours you can sign up for online.
Muslim Student Association (MSA) is the student organization you will find chapters of across the nation. Their focus is on student and teacher relations, networking, commitment to their religion and schooling, and the well being of their members. They do a number of outreach initiatives and might just be able to answer your questions.
According to their mission statement, Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee "is a more than 50-year-old nonprofit organization through which the regional leaders and adherents of 22 member faiths and denominations: 1) Dialogue to build personal relationships 2) Conduct public programming to counter hate and fear while fostering interfaith, intercultural and interracial understanding, tolerance and friendship 3) Work together on hunger, unemployment, environmental challenges and other social issues to create a better society for everyone." They run a number of events and suborganizations all dedicated toward better interfaith dialog and interaction as well as racial, economic and societal equality.
Alternate Suggested Readings as Suggested by the MMWC
All available for free at the Islamic Resource Center:
Oil & Water: Two Faiths: One God by Amir Hussain
Proud: My Fight for an Unlikely American Dream by Olympic medalist Ibtihaj Muhammad
Threading My Prayer Rug by Sabeeha Rahman
Taking Back Islam: American Muslims Reclaim Their Faith by Michael Wolfe
Two Billion Caliphs: A Vision of a Muslim Future by Haroon Moghul
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