For Narayan, Islam, like any other culture is permeable, it is dynamic and the boundaries constantly shift. She criticized Ali for having a generalized portrayal of the Muslim society, and assigning all Muslim cultures as violent and discriminatory. She missed the aspects of cross-cultural similarities, as well as possible internal cultural divisions. According to other authors, Islam, like every religious belief, has been hard wired into the society and it is very difficult to change these beliefs over a short span of time. However, Ali states that these cultural beliefs and ideas are not subject to any change or reform. Other reviewers like Leti Volp criticized Ali for highlighting culture only in some cases throughout the book but not all, which was considered as a political attempt to gain popularity, given her political interest and position at that time. Saba Mahmood wrote that the title of the work is "highly reminiscent of the nineteenth-century literary genre centered on Orientalist fantasies of the harem" and the book itself "full of absurd statements" such as "[Muslim] children learn from their mothers that it pays to lie. Mistrust is everywhere and lies rule". See also Criticism of Islam Women in Islam References 2004 non-fiction books Books by Ayaan Hirsi Ali Books critical of Islam Dutch non-fiction books Free Press (publisher) books Islam in the Netherlands Women's rights in Islam