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Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Founder, The AHA Foundation

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Dutch-American feminist filmmaker and political writer. She is author of several books, the latest of which is Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now. She is also founder of the AHA Foundation, a former fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and a former member of the Dutch parliament.

Ali is a vocal critic of Islam whose writings often focus on the religion's subjugation of women. Her work is controversial and has resulted in numerous death threats. In 2004 Ayaan gained international attention following the murder of Theo van Gogh. Van Gogh had directed her short film Submission, a film about the oppression of women under Islam. The assassin left a death threat for her pinned to Van Gogh's chest. This tragic event, and Ayaan’s life leading up to it, are all chronicled in her best-selling book, Infidel.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Are Muslims victimized in the West?

Author and activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali says she doesn’t buy into the major worries about Islamophobia.

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Bombs Aren’t Working. Spies Aren’t Working. How Do You Stop Islamic Extremism?

Shifts away from Islamism require grassroots, ground-up approaches to change.

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3 min

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Mohammed: the Anti-Innovator, with Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, author of “Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now,” argues that Mohammed was a creative genius who, upon his death, froze innovation in Islam forever.

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Hey Ben Affleck: Would You Play Mohammed in a Movie? Ayaan Hirsi Ali Wants to Know.

“Islamic extremism is an assault on the ideas of liberalism, on the idea of innovation, on women, on gays, on tolerance, on civilization,” says the author and social activist. She says if American cultural leaders like Ben Affleck can’t see this, it’s because they’re not paying attention.

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Living By the Humanist Narrative

God doesn’t answer back. That’s the problem. Humans can.

Change in the Muslim World Means Emancipation from Allah

Ayaan Hirsi Ali: The change we are talking about for the Muslim world is essentially a change where we hope that Muslim individuals will be emancipated from their own concept of a God, submission to the will of Allah.

Why I Live By Humanism

God doesn’t answer back. That’s the problem. Humans can.

How Do You Change One Billion Minds?

The only thing we can do in our lifetime—those of us who do want change—is to keep pushing for it.

Revolutionaries, Examine Your Own Convictions

People engaged in social and political reform (and sometimes revolution) have to think through what the next step is. It’s not enough to just say no to a bad guy.

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3 min

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Ayaan Hirsi Ali: The Free Market and Morality

The author and American Enterprise Institute Fellow answers the Big Question “Does the free market corrode moral character?”

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7 min

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Nuclear weapons and religious fanaticism is a dangerous combination, Ali says.

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14 min

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Ayaan Hirsi Ali answers the question, “Who are we?”

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6 min

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Ayaan Hirsi Ali on the Industrialization of Africa

Ayaan Hirsi Ali says America should invest in African industries.

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1 min

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali

How would you assess the American response to terror?

The U.S. has failed to identify its enemies clearly.

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3 min

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali

What is human nature?

Our capacity for reason empowers us to overcome the bad side of our characters.

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali

What is the measure of a good life?

It is the ability and willingness to reconsider your beliefs.

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Who is the Muslim woman?

The will of the husband is absolute except when he asks you to forsake Allah, says Hirsi Ali.

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2 min

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Are you afraid of death?

The death threats have made daily life more meaningful.

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Where is the Muslim world today?

Hirsi Ali puts her faith in the young Muslims who are open to Western ideas.

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Iran and the Bomb

Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Iran and the nuclear problem.

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5 min

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali

What is the legacy of colonialism in Africa?

Hirsi Ali recalls the promise of African liberation and the disappointment of backsliding.

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3 min

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali

How has your relationship with Islam changed?

Hirsi Ali remembers Sister Aziza, who introduced her to extremist aspects of Islam.

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9 min

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali

What’s your question?

What three values are you willing to die for?

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali

What’s your counsel?

We must make a distinction between Muslims and Islam, says Hirsi Ali.

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali

What is your outlook?

Hirsi Ali rejects the European tendency toward pessimism.

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Can Islam be saved?

Are you willing to die for your own ideas of freedom as much as the fanatics are willing to die for their own?

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5 min

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali

What do you believe?

Human reason is frail and we live by trial and error.

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4 min

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali

What inspires you?

“I was never meant to be self-reliant.”

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3 min

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali

How do you contribute?

Hirsi Ali does not try to tell all Muslim women, “You should leave Islam.” Rather, she says, they should find their own path.

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2 min

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali

What do you do?

Hirsi Ali, on how the Muslim world can learn from the West.

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4 min

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali