Read Online The Caged Virgin: An Emancipation Proclamation for Women and Islam by Ayaan Hirsi Ali - Free Book Online

stand with Voltaire and say, “To think of virginity as a virtue—and not a barrier that separates ignorance from knowledge—is an infantile superstition”? Where is the biting criticism of Islam from within? Or is it the West that should be listening to the critical voice of Voltaire and examining itself and its commitment to its moral principles? As Thomas L. Friedman has written, Westerners should hold Arabs and Muslims to the same high moral standards as Westerners hold for themselves.
    In order to answer the question of compatibility between present-day Islam and Western culture, it makes sense to compare the two worlds.
    Islamic fundamentalism and political Islam have not suddenly appeared out of nowhere. They needed a breeding ground, where they could take root and grow, before they were transformed into the very dangerous forms that have confronted us since September 11. This breeding ground is created by the way Islam is taught, day in day out, to Muslims in the Islamic world. No matter how great the diversity within the Muslim community, it is the teaching of Islam, and the way people apply its doctrines to real life, that prepares the ground for the growth of fundamentalism and, ultimately, terrorism.
    The writer Leon de Winter, best known for his argument that a third World War is going on between the West and terrorists, points to a number of bad practices that take place in some Islamic countries. Although I do not share his opinion of a third World War, his description of the Islamic world is surprisingly accurate. For a start, de Winter gives an excellent description of the ideology that fueled the terrorists of September 11 and their followers. Their religious ideological framework consists of “strength and weakness, dominance and humiliation, eternity and transience, clarity and obscurity,” and they justify their actions and attribute them to divine justice.
    From my own experience, I can confirm that the Islamic world is divided according to a strict hierarchy. Allah is almighty, and man is His slave and must obey His laws. Those who believe what is written in the Koran, who believe in Allah and accept Muhammad as His prophet, are superior to other religious peoples. Practicing Muslims are “tribes of the Scriptures” and are also superior to those whose beliefs have lapsed and to nonbelievers. Men come before women, and children must obey their parents. People who break these rules must be humiliated or murdered in the name of God.
    Life on earth is temporary. It offers believers a chance to prove their fear of God through the strict observation of their duties to Him, which will earn them a place in heaven. Nonbelievers merely serve as examples of how not to lead your life. Halal (that which is permitted) and haram (that which is forbidden) are the two central concepts underlying everyday life. They apply to all Muslims, anywhere in the world, and affect all areas of life. Fixed rules describe exactly how to think, feel, and act, and what to avoid and apply equally to the private and public domains of Muslim life. The Shari’a, or Islamic law, comes before any law or rule instituted by people. And it is every Muslim’s duty to follow the Shari’a as strictly as possible. Fundamentalists take advantage of this expectation by pointing out, again and again, that moderate Muslims do not live their lives according to Islamic doctrine.
    From our early years, we Muslims learn all this from our parents, in the mosques and the madrassas (schools for the study of Koran, which have become in many countries schools for fundamentalist Islamists). In addition, Muslims in Europe and the United States receive special tuition through the writings of people like Yusuf al-Qaradawi, whom some regard as a moderate Muslim theologian and a suitable discussion partner for the West. Actually, al-Qaradawi’s views are far from moderate. In his book The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam —aimed exclusively at Western