Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Somali-born Dutch-American writer and former politician known for criticizing Islam and advocating women’s rights and secularism.

Theo van Gogh: Theo van Gogh was a Dutch filmmaker murdered in 2004 after directing the short film Submission. Their collaboration on Submission brought her critique of violence against women to Dutch television.
Somalia: Somalia is a country in the Horn of Africa on the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean. She was born in Somalia and has connected her later activism to her early experiences there.
Islamic feminism: Islamic feminism interprets Islamic sources and traditions in support of gender equality and women's rights. Its faith-based approach contrasts with her call for secular criticism of Islamic doctrine.
The New York Times: The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded in 1851. Her 2023 opinion essay there announced her conversion to Christianity and renewed public debate about her beliefs.
Geert Wilders: Geert Wilders is a Dutch politician known for anti-Islam rhetoric and founding the Party for Freedom. Both became prominent critics of Islam in Dutch politics, though their political projects differ.
Female genital mutilation: Female genital mutilation comprises procedures that intentionally alter or injure female genital organs for nonmedical reasons. Her account of undergoing the practice became central to her advocacy against it.
Secularism: Secularism is the principle that government and public institutions should be independent of religious authority. She advocates secular institutions as a safeguard for individual rights.
Infidel (memoir): Infidel is Ayaan Hirsi Ali's 2007 memoir about her upbringing, migration, and political life. It presents her personal history as the background to her criticism of Islam.
Somali diaspora: The Somali diaspora comprises communities formed by migration and displacement from Somalia. Her migration from Somalia to the Netherlands shaped the public story she later told.
Netherlands: The Netherlands is a country in northwestern Europe. She sought asylum there and entered national politics as a Dutch citizen.

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