Young Western women inspired to convert to Islam as war rages in Middle East
Hoover Institution research fellow Ayaan Hirsi Ali joined 'America's Newsroom' to discuss why she believes those young women have 'absolutely' no idea what they are getting themselves into.
A growing number of young, progressive Western women are converting to Islam, citing the Israel-Hamas war as motivation for the conversion – and they're documenting their journey on social media.
Hoover Institution research fellow Ayaan Hirsi Ali issued a warning on the new trend during "America's Newsroom," arguing young women are "throwing away" their freedom with the decision.
"You are converting to throwing away your freedoms as a woman," Ali told Dana Perino on Monday. "Islamic scripture, Islamic law, Sharia law and Islamic practice is crystal clear about the position of women, and it's inferior to men. Your testimony is half that of a man. Your husband can beat you. You have absolutely no freedom."
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"Everything is about your guardian having authority over you. First your male father, and then later on your male husband, and if those aren't even available, even your own male son has authority over you," she continued. "So if that's what they want to revert to, good luck with that."
The left-leaning women making the decision to convert have shared their religious diversion on TikTok, with many wearing the hijab, reading the Quran, attending pro-Palestinian protests and even learning Arabic as they accuse Israel of genocide.
One activist, Alex, who is a self-proclaimed "leftist queer gremlin," took her shahada shortly after purchasing the Quran, to officially dedicate herself to the Islamic faith.
She was supposedly inspired by another social media user, Megan Rice, after she detailed the Palestinians' "ironclad faith" in wake of the war. She claimed Israel's retaliation after October 7 spurred her interest in conversion.
Now, she wears a hijab and holds live readings of the Quran after founding the virtual World Religion Book Club.
But even as critics say the trend is a "rebellion" against Western culture, Ali argued the renewed interest in the religion is symbolic of a "confused" generation that is battling "moral dislocation."
"I think that's a manifestation of the moral dislocation of the West that we're going through," Ali said. "I think we've failed these young people… Campuses are politicized. They use the word hate this and safe to death, but it's really the introduction of a political ideology that is anti-Western. It's anti-American. It's all about tearing things down."
"Now you have a generation… the latter numbers, the ones who are born later, the millennials and then the Gen Zs, who are completely and utterly confused about who they are and where they stand," she continued.
War has raged in the Middle East since Hamas massacred more than 1,200 Israelis on October 7. The terrorist group reportedly burned people alive, including children, and raped and paraded women's bodies in the streets of Gaza as part of the heinous attack on the Jewish state.
As a result, many pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters have taken to the streets in major cities and even across college campuses as some universities garner backlash for refusing to condemn antisemitism in wake of the war.
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Ali argued the United Nations failed in standing up for women post-massacre since the institution is "corrupt," and noted how "shocking" it is to see women have converted to the religion following the unprecedented attack.
"I think the United Nations has failed in that because the United Nations is corrupt as an institution and has been so now for many decades," Ali said. "They've been co-opted by the people who want to erase Israel. What happened to young women on the 7th of October wasn't the secret. It's not something that you have to investigate. Hamas paraded these women, the rapes, all of that is on these GoPro cameras, and it's there for the whole world to see."
"It's shocking that women are converting to Islam after they've seen those images," she continued. "The MeToo movement is completely silent on this. All other prominent Western feminists are completely silent on this, but every weekend and every week now, we see hundreds of thousands of people, well-educated, privileged, who call themselves progressives marching – for what? Marching for the… supporters of Hamas to erase the only Democratic nation in the Middle East."
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