A Fall From Grace: Ayan Hersi‎‎

By Mohamed Yabarag, London, UK

The anti-Islamist MP, Ayan Hersi, originally from war-torn Somalia, has finally been shown the door by her adopted country, the Netherlands, after her application for political asylum was found to be littered with lies and inconsistency. Ayan was born, according to her family, as Ayan Hersi Magan to a prominent Somali family, but changed her name to Ayan Hersi Ali upon arrival in Holland. Ayan has also changed her date of birth as well. It was also found that she lied about her journey to Europe and eventually to the Netherlands.

According to the asylum law, prospective applicants should seek asylum from the first save country they arrive, providing that the country is a signatory to the Geneva Convention for protecting refugees. It is now believed that Ayan came to the Netherlands via Kenya and Germany. The latter being a signatory to the said convention.

For someone who fabricated her story in order to get a sanctuary, one would expect her to lead a discreet and modest lifestyle and hence keep a low profile. Despite all the odds, Ayan has achieved a lot within a short period of time by fully integrating into the social system of her adopted country and eventually reaching the highest point of one’s career by becoming a prominent MP in the lower house of parliament. What an achievement! For someone of her background, this was a monumental achievement and I have to confess she was brilliant despite her constant onslaught on Islam and her community.

Instead of helping her struggling community to improve their lives in an alien country, Ayan Hersi began a campaign of defamation and slur against Islam, the religion of her birth, perhaps to gain more friends and popularity among the indigenous community and the Christian groups, both in the Netherlands and the US. All of sudden the poor girl from Somalia has become the toast of the Netherlands and beyond. She appeared on several high profile interviews and chat shows on major news networks, most notably on the CBS. Her beloved subject of discussion became Islam and how, according to her twisted words, it discriminates against women. Many people who observed her believe that Ayan was not conversant in Islam and has little knowledge of her chosen subject. She even went on to badmouth our Prophet Mohamed, peace be upon him (PBUH).

Ayan continued her onslaught on Islam by co-writing with Theo Van Gough, the slain Dutch artist, a short film depicting Islam as a cruel and primitive religion which suppresses women. This has become a turning point of Ayan’s promising political career. Indeed she soon began to fall from grace. The darling of the Liberal camp has now become a target for assassination to the extent that she was given a 24/7 protection by armed security. To the indignation of her opponents, she became another Salman Rushdie, the British author of Satanic Verses and gone into a permanent hiding. It was a matter of time before she was tossed out by the very system that had given her so much. Her protection cost soared and her neighbors started to moan about her presence and the risk associated with it. The rest is history.

For many Moslems, Ayan Hersi was always a controversial figure who abused her high profile position. Instead of bringing together her community and the indigenous community, she put a wedge between them. Now she has fallen into her sword. They are glad to see her back.

Isn’t it the case of “Dheg Dheer Dhimmatoo Dhulkii waa nabadee”, which roughly translates “the monster is dead and there is a peace in the land”

myabarag@yahoo.co.uk

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