Ensaf Haidar, a name that gets lost amid billions of stories in the world, manages to move us with her words in this book. This book is an account of her husband’s arrest, Raid Badawi. He is a liberal Saudi Arabian blogger who was arrested because his blogs insulted Islam and were ‘too liberal’.
She takes us on a complete journey about her relationship with Raif Badawi and the struggle for people who dare to question the strict orthodox laws have to go through. They get to know each through an accidental phone call and manage to get married despite great resistance from Ensaf’s family. It was difficult for Raif to apply his liberal ideas in real life and it created a lot of issues in their marriage. With time Raif became more liberal and started an online forum where the liberals of Saudi Arabia can post blogs and have discussions. This grabbed the attention of Saudi authorities as they consider anything liberal to be a threat against their state and religion. He had to take down the forum for the safety of his family as they were repeatedly troubled and threatened. However, later he wanted to fight this power and decided to bring it back online. In the end this resulted in him being arrested and sentenced to a 1000 lashes along with cumbersome fine. He has also been sentenced to death, but it would be foolish to think any man could survive a 1000 lashes before that. Ensaf now lives in Canada with her three children as refugees and has been constantly fighting for the freedom of her husband.
The book shakes you to the core. Somehow you can recognize the passion with which Ensaf Haider writes because you get instantly transported to a different world, it almost feels fictitious considering the depth with which the book has been written. It is hard to understand that these events have transpired in the real world because of its harshness.
The book and their struggles target the non-existence of freedom of speech and expression in Saudi Arabia. The citizens especially women get to exercise very few rights which are based on a very orthodox and religious laws. The author, inspired by her husband’s work believes Saudi Arabia needs a great reformation for the freedom of citizens. There also arises the question of women's rights because she is completely dependent on the men in her life to provide her security and sustenance which comes with a lot of oppression. The state of making people’s lives better feeds into orthodox laws and oppresses them.
I do think the book can be called a milestone work because we have to understand where does this innate need of people in power to oppress people arise from. Why is it so difficult for the state to agree on and provide basic human rights? The major highlight is the expression on digital media that got Raif Badawi into jail which manages to touch a soft spot for writers and activists, because if that is taken away from them, what are they left with?
This book is restricted to her story hence she is still fighting for her family instead of shifting her complete focus on fighting for liberalism. For a person who was not allowed to be educated or read a lot, she has brilliantly managed to write her first book. One beautiful element in this book are the Arabic metaphors that are translated into English. The book holds a gradual pace and is structured surprisingly well with vivid details which makes the reader feel attached to their story and compels them to feel the pain along with them.
As a reader what compels me the most is how it highlights the problem of rigidness and the orthodoxies of a community that turns too toxic because of its extremism. I would recommend this book to my friends who are avid readers and moved by Human rights issues all over the world along with people in the Muslim community itself so that they understand the fine line between religion and state and how extremism can lead to such oppression.
The contemporary relevance of the book is immense because it is situated in the present world. Raif Badawi was arrested in 2012 and his family is still fighting for his freedom in 2019. Later his lawyer and sister were arrested too on accounts of disobedience of the state. The oppression still exists in Saudi Arabia where Human rights such as freedom of expression is a fictional concept unless you want to praise the state. At the global level her work has already gained a lot of recognition with awards and acknowledgments from the liberal world, which it rightfully deserves.
Her main battle remains to fight for the freedom of a liberal blogger, her husband the father of her children. She fights for him as he has done nothing wrong but portray liberal ideas on the internet which sensibly is not a crime, but in Saudi Arabia it is. She asks for world leaders and powerful influencers to unite and put pressure on the government of Saudi Arabia as well their King so that the state is compelled to bring reformations into the law and let go Raif Badawi and other liberals like him.
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