Fall of the "Muslim atheist": Hirsi Ali's journey from Dutch politician to failed asylum seeker reveals much about Europe's retreat from multiculturalism.

ON MAY 16, 2006, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Dutch-Somali politician and one of Netherlands' most outspoken critics of Islam, nearly had her citizenship revoked by Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk. Fourteen years earlier, Ali had provided a false name on her asylum application. She also claimed that she traveled to Holland directly from her home country of Somalia. In fact, Ali's father, a prominent member of a Somali liberation party, had resettled his family in Kenya in 1976. It is unclear whether Ali had arrived from Kenya or Germany, where she was reported to have been visiting family members, or elsewhere; however, Ali claims that she falsified her information because she was eluding her family and fleeing a forced marriage to a cousin.

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Many, including Ali herself, were surprised by Verdonk's decision, since Ali had admitted these falsehoods when she initially ran for office with the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) in 2002. Ali is known around the world for her unflinching criticisms of Islam and relentless promotion of Enlightenment and liberal values. She first caught the Netherlands' attention in a televised debate over multiculturalism in early 2002, where as an audience member, she vociferously criticized a Dutch philosopher's sympathetic treatment of Islam and multiculturalism. Since then, the self-described "Muslim atheist" has engaged in numerous public debates and international news shows, championing a muscular liberalism against a monolithic Islam. She helped produce a prominent film with famous Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh that criticized Islamic attitudes toward women. Submission highlighted misogynist Islamic verses on women's naked bodies and became the provocation for Van Gogh's assassination by a radical Muslim and numerous death threats against Ali. Since then, she has been given state-funded round-the-clock security. Through it all, Ali continued her indiscriminate criticism of Islam and all Muslims to the welcoming embraces of Western liberal feminists, scholars, pundits and politicians. Ali's fall from international darling to a stateless former minister of parliament seemed sudden, but it had been fomenting since the attacks of September 11, 2001.

The Netherlands, once the most self-consciously immigrant-friendly European nation, is now one of the most hostile. Holland began to consider increasing restrictions on asylum applications shortly after the 2002 assassination of openly gay Dutch MP Pim Fortuyn (by a non-Muslim animal rights activist), who ran on a gay rights and strident anti-immigrant platform. Most recently, "Iron Rita" Verdonk, a former prison warden and former VVD ally and friend of Ali, called in 2004 for the immediate expulsion of over 26,000 asylum seekers whose applications had been rejected, including those who have resided in the Netherlands for over five years. Potential immigrants must now pass an exam testing their knowledge of "Dutch culture." In an effort to discourage orthodox Muslims from immigrating, they must watch a video showing "quintessential" Dutch images such as topless women sunbathing and a same-sex marriage ceremony.

But the story is much larger than the Netherlands. In the aftermath of 9/11, the United States and much of Europe began promoting increasingly restrictive legislation against immigrants generally, but especially those of Muslim background. In May 2002, Denmark passed a devastating immigration law that set the precedent for Verdonk's call for the immediate expulsion of rejected asylum seekers. It also included a prohibition on welfare benefits for immigrants who had resided in the country for less than seven years; a ban against asylum seekers age 60 older; and stricter conditions for permanent residence, requiring applicants for permanent residence through marriage (and their Danish spouses) to be at least 24 years old. England followed Denmark's lead, with stricter citizenship requirements, including an exam that tests immigrants' knowledge of English history and culture. This exam includes questions concerning trivia, such as how to differentiate between Welsh and Cockney accents, and the proper response to having knocked over a neighbor's beer in a pub (answer: apologize and buy him another drink). Last summer, Trevor Phillips, chair of England's Commission for Racial Equality, made a public call for the repeal of its "official" policy of multiculturalism, charging that England could no longer afford to accommodate all cultures. France passed a law ostensibly banning all conspicuous religious symbols on one's attire, but acknowledged even in France as the "headscarf ban." Italy also prohibits headgarb in photos for its National Identity cards. Germany has expressed a long-standing antipathy towards immigrants, implementing one of the first guest worker systems for Turkish immigrants and rendering it virtually impossible to acquire citizenship even for third-generation residents of non-German descent.

The retreat from multiculturalism began well before 2001--the 9/11 attacks served as a lightning rod to hasten anti-immigration attitudes. Now, Muslims are being attacked much more directly and openly, which begins to explain Ali's fall from Dutch grace. Hirsi Ali emerged in the middle of these battles, offering an unsubtle attack against Islam, especially in regard to women's fates. Along with Verdonk, she has argued against the burqa and written several books describing the oppressive conditions under which some Muslim women must live their lives. But perhaps her most appealing attribute is that, like Michelle Malkin, Dinesh D'Souza and other rightist public intellectuals of color around the world, she offers a moral shield for those harboring xenophobic and anti-Muslim sentiments in the name of Western liberalism and progressive values. In her public speeches and interviews, Ali frequently invokes Voltaire, whose writings espouse the virtues of reason, liberal enlightenment and tolerance. Her popularity stems from the appealing, if misleading, liberal self-deception that "reason" can bring everyone--Muslim or otherwise--to a common culture. It is appealing because it assumes that the causes of cultural and political disagreement are ignorance and misunderstanding--"they just aren't familiar with the rules"--rather than a dominant imperious attitude that insists that the West is reasonable and coerces all others to conform. It is misleading because it elides the larger issue of xenophobia and anti-Muslim bias. Hirsi Ali's presence was welcomed because she reinforced Dutch (and international) concerns over the oppressiveness of Islam. The Dutch embraced her as their very own hope--until overt racism against Muslim immigrants became acceptable. And this is where Hirsi Ali's catbird seat was no longer safe: even the West's most vociferous parvenus are no longer needed to continue an increasing frontal assault against non-white immigrants.

Hirsi Ali made two mistakes from which we should learn. Ali was convinced that the flaws of Islam could be cured with a heavy dose of liberalism. But the liberatory power of any culture emerges from the way the rules are implemented and who gets to play in the game. In this sense, liberalism's promise to value and protect all equally harbors the same flaws as Islam: only those who are recognized and valued are protected. Second, Ali did not regard her own place in the clash of civilizations. As a leading progressive figure who joined a larger debate against Islam, she spoke sensibly. But within the context of Europe's concern over immigrants, her highly visible role as a Muslim critic of Islam in a Western liberal arena was calamitous for herself, as well as for other Muslims. Despite Verdonk's ultimate decision to allow Ali to retain her citizenship, Ali has decided to move to the U.S. She has accepted an offer to join the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank where she will most likely reinforce xenophobic attitudes against Muslims. She would do well to remember that where one stands when speaking is almost as important as the message one conveys.

Falguni A. Sheth is an assistant professor of philosophy and political theory at Hampshire College.