2007年VOA标准英语-'Enlightenment Fundamentalist' Ayaan Hirsi Ali,

By Carolyn Weaver¹
New York, NY
30 January 2007
 
watch Ayaan Hirsi Ali report

As a little girl in Somalia, Ayaan Hirsi Ali was subjected by a grandmother to the traditional practice of female genital mutilation.  The daughter of a dissident Somali politician, she spent much of her childhood in Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and Kenya. When her family forced her into an unwanted marriage in 1992, Ayaan Hirsi Ali ran away to the Netherlands, where she claimed asylum². She spoke³ out against Muslim radicalism⁵ following the 9/11 terror attacks, and was elected to the Dutch parliament. It was the beginning of a life as an activist⁶ and author that has resulted in death threats and fatwahs sworn against her by fundamentalist Muslim clerics.  

 
Ayaan Hirsi Ali

In 2004, the broadcast in Holland of the short film, Submission⁷, criticizing the treatment of women in traditional Islam, led to the murder of Dutch director Theo Van Gogh. The Islamic radical⁴ who killed Van Gogh left a note pinned to his body with a knife that named the writer of the film, Somali-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali, as his next intended victim.

Ali was then a member of the Dutch parliament and a critic of fundamentalist Islam, whose books include The Caged Virgin⁸: An Emancipation⁹ Proclamation for Women and Islam. After repeated death threats, Hirsi Ali resigned from the Dutch parliament last year, and moved to the United States. She spoke to VOA recently, explaining how the 9/11 terror attacks led her to become what she calls a Muslim atheist¹⁰.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali: “My response was, this is done in my faith, and my faith is Islam. And I thought I don’t agree with it, and I got into a conflict of conscience. Do I agree with what is done in the name of the Koran, because that is what bin¹¹ Laden¹² and Mohammed Atta quoted? Do I agree with my God, or do I disagree? And if I disagree, I know I’m earning Hell. So I had to work that out first.

Reporter: But many Muslims responded to 9/11 by saying, ‘They did it in the name of the Koran, but they were wrong, this is not Islam.’

 
Body of Theo Van Gogh 
Well, they were wrong, and the act of killing¹³ people indiscriminately is wrong, we agree on all that. But the quotations¹⁴ from the Koran are in there. And my approach is that it doesn’t change anything if you close your eyes to the facts. And we can only prevent other young people from subscribing¹⁵ to the wrong quotations from the Koran, if we accept that those urges towards violence and domination are in the Koran, and try to reform that, and change that. That’s my approach.

However, rather than reform it, you found that you were no longer a believer at all?

I decided¹⁶ -- and it’s a private decision, I am not propagating atheism¹⁷ – but I decided that I do not believe in the existence of a hell and a heaven and a hereafter. Because, honestly, I realized that was the biggest fear I had to face when I got into this conflict of conscience. In order to be in a good place in the hereafter, to go to heaven, I did not dare challenge God. And what I did was, I decided to challenge what is written in the Koran, by saying, I do not wish to be part of a killing spree. I do not wish to be a part of domination. I want to live and I want others to live, and I love life and I love life on earth. So that is something I relinquished¹⁸ for myself, but I do not propagate that every Muslim become an atheist.

You’ve been very critical though of Islam, and even of the Prophet.

Yes, the Prophet Mohammed says he is an example to us throughout, not only in the seventh and eighth centuries, but in the 21st century. Humanity has moved on. We can use the Prophet Mohammed as an example in all the things that I think are morally sound, such as hospitality, such as being kind to the poor and the elderly. But I do not want to follow the Prophet Mohammed as an example when he says, kill the unbelievers, ambush¹⁹ them and take their property. Disobedient wives should be beaten. When he divides the world into believers and unbelievers, I do not want to follow the Prophet Mohammed in that sort of morality.

So you wouldn’t take everything that he says literally²⁰, but rather metaphorically²¹…

You can take it metaphorically. You can also say, I’m going to see some of his conduct, such as marrying a nine-year-old child, in the context of the morality of the 7th century in that part of the world. We’ve moved on now. We can say, we’re not going to judge the Prophet Mohammed’s morality in hindsight, but we’re not going to follow that morality. And if you look at all the Arab countries, the Muslim countries, where little girls are married off to older men, they all justify²² it as ‘that’s the way the Prophet did it, and I am following in the example of the Prophet.’ 

And yet many good people who are Muslims somehow are able to reconcile that, maybe by simply not thinking about the literal fact of a marriage to a nine-year-old. And it would be very painful to them to hear you criticize the person whom they revere²³ more than anything.

I understand that. But let’s empathize with a nine-year-old child living in Saudi Arabia, or in Jordan, or in Sudan, who is being raped²⁴ night-in, night-out, by someone who is 20 or 30 years older than she is, and that man justifies²⁵ his act in the name of the Prophet. I do not want to insult or offend fellow Muslims. I just want to say, if we want to change inhuman²⁶ practices practiced in the name of our faith, then the only way to go about it is to say, we will look at those who are suffering. And it is the young woman who is being raped, it is the Jewish minorities who are being oppressed, or the Christian²⁷ minorities.

We want to stand up for our own rights here, in countries where Christians²⁸ and non-Muslims are a majority. And we are succeeding in that. But when you look at Muslim countries, Arab Muslim countries, look at the way they treat minorities. And that’s all done in the name of our faith. I’m just asking for equal moral standards. Let’s judge ourselves as we judge others

How did you come to write the screenplay for Submission, which led to the death of your director?

 
from Submission
Theo Van Gogh. I was challenged that the Koran says only wonderful things about women. And I was brought up with the Koran, so I know exactly what the Koran says, and I could find those particular verses in which, for example, God tells husbands, ‘When you fear misconduct, warn your wives, leave them alone in bed, and beat them.’ And there were Imams in Spain and in France and in Holland and in England who were preaching from the mosques²⁹ and who were saying beat disobedient wives. And so I took verses like those and had them written on women’s bodies, actresses, who then depicted³⁰ the image of a woman who was beaten, one who was raped.

And that was to show, this is what it looks like. To you it’s a holy verse, but when it’s carried out, this is what it looks like. And the man who killed Theo Van Gogh, killed him because he thought the verse was so holy, these were such holy verses, and so great and so elevated – and they were written on a surface so low: women. And that was such an insult to God and to the Koran, that the man who directed and who made this should be killed. When we talk about a clash of civilizations – it’s not a clash of civilizations. It’s this clash. It’s a clash of values. And it’s this sort of mindset, that says a holy text is far more important than a human life – that I fight.”

 

1 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

2 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

5 radicalism   

n. 急进主义, 根本的改革主义

参考例句：

• His radicalism and refusal to compromise isolated him. 他的激进主义与拒绝妥协使他受到孤立。
• Education produced intellectual ferment and the temptations of radicalism. 教育带来知识界的骚动，促使激进主义具有了吸引力。

6 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

7 submission   

n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出

参考例句：

• The defeated general showed his submission by giving up his sword.战败将军缴剑表示投降。
• No enemy can frighten us into submission.任何敌人的恐吓都不能使我们屈服。

8 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

9 emancipation   

n.（从束缚、支配下）解放

参考例句：

• We must arouse them to fight for their own emancipation. 我们必须唤起他们为其自身的解放而斗争。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They rejoiced over their own emancipation. 他们为自己的解放感到欢欣鼓舞。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 atheist   

n.无神论者

参考例句：

• She was an atheist but now she says she's seen the light.她本来是个无神论者，可是现在她说自己的信仰改变了。
• He is admittedly an atheist.他被公认是位无神论者。

11 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

12 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

13 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

14 quotations   

n.引用( quotation的名词复数 )；[商业]行情（报告）；（货物或股票的）市价；时价

参考例句：

• The insurance company requires three quotations for repairs to the car. 保险公司要修理这辆汽车的三家修理厂的报价单。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These quotations cannot readily be traced to their sources. 这些引语很难查出出自何处。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 subscribing   

v.捐助( subscribe的现在分词 )；签署，题词；订阅；同意

参考例句：

• I am subscribing for some of the books of a book club. 我预订了几本这家书刊俱乐部出版的书。 来自辞典例句
• I am glad to have such a pleasant opportunity of subscribing myself. 今后益望努力前途，为国效力。 来自互联网

16 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

17 atheism   

n.无神论，不信神

参考例句：

• Atheism is the opinion that there is no God.无神论是认为不存在上帝的看法。
• Atheism is a hot topic.无神论是个热门话题。

18 relinquished   

交出，让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 )； 放弃

参考例句：

• She has relinquished the post to her cousin, Sir Edward. 她把职位让给了表弟爱德华爵士。
• The small dog relinquished his bone to the big dog. 小狗把它的骨头让给那只大狗。

19 ambush   

n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击

参考例句：

• Our soldiers lay in ambush in the jungle for the enemy.我方战士埋伏在丛林中等待敌人。
• Four men led by a sergeant lay in ambush at the crossroads.由一名中士率领的四名士兵埋伏在十字路口。

20 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

21 metaphorically   

adv. 用比喻地

参考例句：

• It is context and convention that determine whether a term will be interpreted literally or metaphorically. 对一个词的理解是按字面意思还是隐喻的意思要视乎上下文和习惯。
• Metaphorically it implied a sort of admirable energy. 从比喻来讲，它含有一种令人赞许的能量的意思。

22 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

23 revere   

vt.尊崇，崇敬，敬畏

参考例句：

• Students revere the old professors.学生们十分尊敬那些老教授。
• The Chinese revered corn as a gift from heaven.中国人将谷物奉为上天的恩赐。

24 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

25 justifies   

证明…有理( justify的第三人称单数 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护）

参考例句：

• Their frequency of use both justifies and requires the memorization. 频繁的使用需要记忆，也促进了记忆。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• In my judgement the present end justifies the means. 照我的意见，只要目的正当，手段是可以不计较的。

26 inhuman   

adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的

参考例句：

• We must unite the workers in fighting against inhuman conditions.我们必须使工人们团结起来反对那些难以忍受的工作条件。
• It was inhuman to refuse him permission to see his wife.不容许他去看自己的妻子是太不近人情了。

27 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

28 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

29 mosques   

清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why make us believe that this tunnel runs underneath the mosques? 为什么要让我们相信这条隧洞是在清真寺下？
• The city's three biggest mosques, long fallen into disrepair, have been renovated. 城里最大的三座清真寺，过去年久失修，现在已经修复。

30 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。