The Caged Virgin - Ayaan Hirsi Ali [45]
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
I mastered the art of lying. But when I no longer needed to lie—there is no God; I don’t have to tell the truth just because God wants me to—I made a conscious choice never to do so again.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.
It depends on what you covet. I would like to write philosophic treatises, like Karl Popper, for example. So, paradoxically, this step—going into politics—is not in line with my ideal. What I would like to do best is become a philosopher and develop my own theories. A place where I can write; someone to do the cleaning; no worries about bread and butter; real debates instead of pointless talk about nothing. Ultimately, that is what will make me happy.
Eight
Bin Laden’s Nightmare
Interview with Irshad Manji
At the age of fourteen the Ugandan-born Canadian writer Irshad Manji was expelled from school for asking critical questions about Islam. But she was undaunted. She continued to study her religion by herself from her room at home. Thus she became, in the eyes of many Muslims, a traitor. For Irshad Manji is a harsh critic of Islam in newspaper articles, books, and lectures. And she openly admits to being a lesbian.
To mark the publication of the Dutch translation of Manji’s The Trouble with Islam, I met with her for an interview.
I notice that in your book you address your “fellow Muslims.” Do you still consider yourself a Muslim?
Yes, I am a Muslim. I want to be one, because I’m convinced that we can reform Islam. Believe me, when I was expelled from school I learned more about Islam on my own than could be learned by all those Muslims on the other side of the school walls. If only more Muslims would do the same—think for themselves, that is—our religion would be very different. I have noticed that many young Muslims are keen to. Whenever I give a talk at a university, students come up to me afterward and say, “Help, we are suffocating; this religion is strangling us.” That is why I wrote the book.
But do you feel you are a Muslim because it’s part of your identity, or is it just that you happened to grow up within the system?
No, it’s not about identity. What I care about are human rights. I can’t keep quiet when I see women who are suffering humiliation in the name of Islam. I constantly urge my fellow Muslims: stop being so selfish. Get up and say something! Women who choose to wear headscarves and face veils always point out to me that it is up to them whether they do or don’t. To which I say, Yes, it is fine for you: you have the choice to wear these garments. But think of your sisters who are living under a tough regime that forces them to wear headscarves and will oppress and abuse them if they don’t. Fight for them. The Prophet Muhammad himself said: religion is the way in which we behave toward others. In other words, if you brush your responsibilities under the carpet, you have no right to call yourself a Muslim.
But Muhammad also married a nine-year-old girl. Don’t you think that’s awful?
Of course I do. I don’t know Muhammad, I never met him. I can’t prove he was a feminist, or a misogynist, for that matter. But the Koran contains a number of very modern-sounding statements by him. I always make a point of asking Muslim men: why is it that you have a beard and dress in seventeenth-century