The Rants of Issachar

If you haven't already read Ayaan Hirsi Ali's book Infidel, I really think you should read it. It is a terribly depressing book in a lot of ways, but I really appreciated it. At it's core, it's honest. She's telling the story of her life growing up as a Muslim woman in Somalia, Saudi Arabia and Kenya.

Ms. Ali was the woman who made the short film Submission with Theo van Gogh, who was later murdered by an angry Muslim for making the film.

You might guess that book is a fairly damning endictment on the treatment of women in Islam. (And to an extent on the anti-modern nature of Islam in general). It doesn't say anything about Islam that I didn't already know, but Ali does say it in a very personal and compelling way.












Persepolis is a lot more lighthearted. It is a graphic novel about a girl growing up through the Islamic Revolution in Iran, but it is light-hearted. My favourite line from it is from the part where the (female) teacher is lecturing the parents on how their children are poorly behaved and don't wear their veils properly. "If hair is as stimulating as you say, then you need to shave your mustache!" (Apparently her father actually said this).

Having said it's uplifting, it also has a rather disgusting item about the Iranian government in it. (And I already knew about the plastic keys to heaven for youngsters clearing minefields with their feet). Apparently virgin women who are sentenced to death are first given forced marriages (i.e. (rape) , because virgins apparently go to heaven. I did some googling and it's referenced in Google Scholar at the very least.

I'm going to look for the second one she wrote.