Forthcoming Wheeler Centre guest, Ayaan Hirsi Ali has been criticised by Ms. Magazine for failing to see women’s efforts to reform Islam.
The article cites “her refusal to recognise the subjective dimensions of spiritual belief and appreciate a concept of freedom that allows women to define their own paths to empowerment.” It goes on to say Hirsi Ali is “a favorite of certain US conservatives” because she appears to endorse Christianity, because it offers reform movements for women.
The article posits that there are many “Western Muslim women who are refusing to let mullahs define Islam” including the Pray In movement.
For her part, Hirsi Ali wouldn’t claim to speak for Western Muslims with her most recent book Nomad: From Islam to America looking at her personal journey through a series of letters to family members.