Ayaan Hirsi Ali - The Child

[junaid]

Ayaan Hirsi Ali (2008) 'Infidel', Chapter 5, p. 75 - 77

[Ayaan would be 12 or 13 at this time]

The ma'alim was back, with another man. .....They dragged me inside and the ma'alim blindfolded me with a cloth and started to hit me with all his strength with a sharp stick, to teach me a lesson.

Because I had been washing the floor I was wearing only an undershirt and skirt; my arms and lower legs were bare, and the lashes were really painful. .....

He grabbed my braided hair and pulled my hair back, and then he shoved it against the wall. I distinctly heard a cracking noise.....

My whole body was burning and swollen from the lashes and my nose had begun to bleed.....

The next thing I knew it was Sunday morning.....

She [Ayaan's mother] pulled my hair - on the side where I was hurt -......She bit me and pinched me and caled my grandmother to help her........

At around midnight, she and Grandma finally managed to get me down. They tied me up...... My mother beat me - really beat me - and then she said, "I'm not going to untie you...........

Around three in the morning Ma came back...... and released me......

An Italian doctor ordered X-rays. My skull was fractured, and a huge amount of blood had collected between my head skina nd my skull; ...... I needed immediate operation.

[Ron]

This is culture, through and through.

[lumumba_s]

I know quite a few Somalis and Sudanese. Though physical punishment as a means of correcting behavior is definitely prevent in East African societies (and other places), even to the point of abuse - whether judging by Western or Islamic law - I don't think it is fair to say that at this extreme, it is merely culture. Going from beating to reinforce discipline to this certainly is a logical jump, but an extreme one. What exactly did so do that caused her parents and teachers to react in such an extreme manner?

[Ron]

Salam Lumumba,

I think sometimes in my terse comments I am not clear enough about what I'm trying to say. What is culture in regards to this matter - this is from my understanding of the Middle East - is that there is a degree of violence that is acceptable to correct what is deemed wrong. This violence can be an array of things and would certainly be looked down upon by those who are reasonable in rearing children. What's worse is what is "deemed wrong." The false puritanical and hypocritical nature of some families or societies is the very license to mete out such violent punishments. Maybe some eyebrows are raised at this remark, however, the fact of the matter is that it is true. Why it is falsely puritanical and hypocritical is because it is not usually about the offense that strikes such rage in parents' or other family members' hearts but, in fact, it is the very perception of how others may view them that is behind this sometimes temporary insanity. The above story is not some isolated event but rather a little more common than, maybe, we'd like to believe. I am not saying every child is beaten to a pulp for any given reason but what I am saying is that there is wider threshold for severe beating to correct behavior. Mind you, I am not speaking of spanking. That altogether is another subject.

Why this male teacher felt the need to savagely brutalize this girl is not known to us. Maybe he was releasing his sexual frustration by seeing the way she was dressed when she was cleaning the floor. Maybe he really thought that teaching her was in her best interest. There are a lot of maybes. However, I can also guess that the embarrassment and probably the embellishment of the story fueled their fire in her family's veins. The beatings continued for the show. No, they were really upset no doubt but how can such a shameful thing be wiped out? Unfortunately, in some of these cultures sexuality is the very catalyst that ignites such a passionate reaction. When sexuality, and I'm not speaking of any acts or questionable thing, is suffocated to non-existence it tends to spark the minds of the people. So much so that beatings like this become practically acceptable. I am not making light but the matter is as petty as someone saying: "why did she get beat?" Someone responds, "man, she was showing a whole lot of pinky toe." Another says, "Oh man, that's serious..." They all probably walk away believing the beating was justified.

Regards

[Ramsey]

This woman is a known liar, this is an established fact. She even got into quite a bit of trouble because of this. I would not trust anything she says at all. Besides this she shows (in my observation) a lack of emotional development and a tenuous grasp on logic at best.

Having said that I have little doubts that children get beaten, more in some cultures then others. I myself can name a few examples from people I know in the Netherlands that have been abused heavily. However if we're going to discuss child abuse, perhaps a more trustworthy source would be nice?

[lumumba_s]

Ron: I know quite well that extreme abuse exists in the Muslim world. A friend of mind told me how when he was in Syria studying, they befriended a young Pakistani hafiz who was so afraid of animals, that even the sight of a squirrel would drive him into panic mode. When they finally got him to open up, he told him of the extreme abuse he suffered in his Qur'an school back in Pakistan, recalling one brutal incident where he was beaten so severely, that one of the teachers in the school made him loose consciousness by bashing his head repeatedly into the cement wudu facility... There is indeed a culture of violence and what I believe one of the biggest obstacles that the Muslim world needs to overcome. Were Ayaan Hiris from Pakistan, I probably wouldn't have questioned in the incident. But onto of what Ramsey said that I did not want to bring up, I know many Somalians and Sudanese and I never recalled hearing that extreme form of abuse at the hands of anyone. Beating someone with a stick to reinforce memorization, yes. Hitting a child with a stick to establish discipline, yes. But a savage attack to the degree that she reports? I'm not saying that it didn't happen. All I am saying that saying it is culture insomuch as it is common at that degree, I am yet to be convinced of.

And for the record, Ibn al-Hajj al-Maliki (sahib al-Madhkal) states that the most physical punishment a child can be given is a pinch on the stomach. In case someone tries to make the point that classical Islamic law is again at fault.

[hlatif]

As a pediatrician, I see extreme abuse every day in the US, also in the name of discipline.

Hussein

[junaid]

This woman is a known liar, this is an established fact.

Can you elaborate on this please.

I checked the Muslim website: http://mpacuk.org/content/view/2141/34/

and was aghast at the comments:

Abu Aziz: Quote

Well, well, well! every dog (B****!) has its day! NO matter how much you pandered to islamophobes, in the end of the day Ayaan (or what ever your REAL name is!) you were just another 'dirty MOSLEM'(seems a bit far fetched that that the 'civilised' and 'efficient' Dutch took 14+ years to realise that you were a FR$UD! More like you've done the dirty work, now you've got to be 'flushed' (Like a condom!)

[junaid]

Besides this she shows (in my observation) a lack of emotional development

and a tenuous grasp on logic at best.

and these two as well.

[junaid]

What exactly did so do that caused her parents and teachers to react in such an extreme manner?

Her mother was hardened by her experiences. Her husband away for months and she left alone to fend for herself. She tried to be a good Muslim woman, but the Saudis treated her badly. She would pur out her frustrations on her children especially the two girls - Ayaan and Haweya.

In this incident, Ayaan is fed up with all the chores, school work and Quran teacher who was teaching the old fashioned way. She and her sister locked themselves in the washroom and refused to study the Quran that day. The mother asked the Quran teacher to leave, despite his insistence to teach her a lesson. His ego was hurt.

The mother left the premises, as well as the teacher. But he sneaked back in, and started assaulting her in the absence of her mother.

***********

TAIL PIECE:

Given what I have read so far, she is NOT a liar. We like to demonize people with whom we disagree and that is what is happened here as well. She due to her severe childhood abuse and frustration is venting out against Muslims too.

I think if she lied about immigration to Holland then we must also understand the circumstances she was in.

Her's is a very sad story. We pass judgments and death fatwas on her, but rarely do we try to understand her.

[lumumba_s]

I work in a mental health hospital that treats the severe cases that Hussein referred to. You do not need to lecture me about understanding and I was actually going to comment that if such a recollection were indeed true, I can understand why she is so hostile towards Islam. But her problem with religion is one that goes far beyond the reason and rational she claims to call to. And demonization? We are talking about a woman who referred to Islam as a "cult of death" and Muslim men as inherently violent, amongst other inflammatory things that as a member of parliament, has serious consequences for her fellow Muslim citizens. Be it as it may, "what comes around goes around" is a sunna of the world.

[junaid]

You do not need to lecture me about understanding ....

I wasn't. You are way too old for that That 'TAIL PIECE' was a general comment and was not specifically addressing you. That has raised confusion and I do apologize for that.

....and I was actually going to comment that if such a recollection were indeed true, I can understand why she is so hostile towards Islam.

We agree, yet again

And demonization? We are talking about a woman who referred to Islam as a "cult of death" and Muslim men as inherently violent, amongst other inflammatory things that as a member of parliament, has serious consequences for her fellow Muslim citizens.

I think I did mention that she is venting out her frustrations against Muslims in general. But neither are several (not all) Muslims taking the high road on this one.

Be it as it may, "what comes around goes around" is a sunna of the world.

GENERAL COMMENT: (Not aimed at you specifically)

I think scorn and contempt, atleast from someone with a history of violence and abuse, needs to be met with compassion and a dignified response. Calmly, properly and appropriately.

[lumumba_s]

Indeed it does. And the fact that is a politician and potential parliment member makes the matter is a little more complicated then your average bloke venting private bigotry.

[Al-Boriqi]

I work in a mental health hospital that treats the severe cases that Hussein referred to. You do not need to lecture me about understanding and I was actually going to comment that if such a recollection were indeed true, I can understand why she is so hostile towards Islam. But her problem with religion is one that goes far beyond the reason and rational she claims to call to. And demonization? We are talking about a woman who referred to Islam as a "cult of death" and Muslim men as inherently violent, amongst other inflammatory things that as a member of parliament, has serious consequences for her fellow Muslim citizens. Be it as it may, "what comes around goes around" is a sunna of the world.

amen bro, amen

oh and uh, I was abused before, but at least Allah did not trial me by stripping my brain of all logic and reason by blaming christianity for the abuse i faced with christian members of my family. And in the world of acedemics which she poses herself under, her appeal is beyond fraudulent.

I know muslim arabs and others who were abused before. but they didn;t blame Islam for it. They at least used a speak of their reasoning to understanding that what their paretns did was not in agreement in Islam. Poor Ayaan was unable to put her thinking cap on.

[junaid]

Indeed it does. And the fact that is a politician and potential parliment member makes the matter is a little more complicated then your average bloke venting private bigotry.

That's a fair comment