It is always difficult to make the transition to a modern world. I moved from the world of faith to the world of reason - from the world of excision and forced marriage to the world of secual emancipation. Having made that journey, I know that one of those worlds is simply better than the other. Not because of its flashy gadgets, but fundamentally, because of its values. The message of this book, if it must have a message, is that we in the West would be wrong to prolong the pain of that transition unnecessarily, by elevating cultures full of bigotry and hatred toward women to the stature of respectable alternative ways of life.

On that day Ayaan Hirsi Ali gave a press conference in which Ayaan Hirsi Ali restated that although Ayaan Hirsi Ali felt it was wrong to be granted asylum under false pretences the facts had been publicly known since 2002 when they had been reported in the media and in one of her publications. The ensuing political upheaval on 29 June ultimately led to the fall of the Second Balkenende cabinet.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali (Dutch pronunciation: [ɑˈjaːn ˈɦirsi ˈaːli] ([Image] listen); full name: Ayaan Hirsi Magan Isse Guleid Ali Wai’ays Muhammad Ali Umar Osman Mahamud; Somali: Ayaan Xirsi Cali; Arabic: أيان حرسي علي‎ / ALA-LC: Ayān Ḥirsī ‘Alī) (born 13 November 1969) is a Somali-Dutch feminist and atheist activist writer and politician who is known for her views critical of Islam. In 2005 Ayaan Hirsi Ali was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2003 Ayaan Hirsi Ali was elected a member of the House of Representatives (the lower house of the Dutch parliament) representing the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD).