Translating Nouzha Fassi Fihri's La Baroudeuse: A Case Study in ...

"'France was no longer the invincible force that stood up against any
quiver of rebellion. Her defeat on several fronts, her prolonged occupation by
Germany, her defense systems that were relatively weak when measured against
those of other nations, all this brought her back to human dimensions. And then
came the allied forces with their new ideas about human rights, democracy, and
people's sovereignty. Besides, liberal French people, members of the collective
French conscience, wrote scathing editorials in which they criticized the behavior
of soldiers who acted unjustly toward the people in rural areas or the ruthless
racism and discrimination at all levels, in civilian life as well as in the military.
They said this conduct cracked the sanctity of the ruling power.'
"'I started coming to your consciousness-raising meetings. At first, I came
for my own edification, without participating in the debates. I listened carefully
when the leader said, "The return to the Source! It is better to rebuild faith on
empty land than restore ruins. It is better to reconstruct identity in a virgin world,
cleared of false ideology. The first Muslims broke the stone idols that men had
clothed with their fantasies. Let us in turn break the chains of our misconceptions.
We are like the traveler who arrives at his destination after crossing the desert, his
throat dry and his clothes in rags. We would be better off naked. Let us then
return to Islam as it was practiced by the prophet and his caliphs, in the light of
reason, in the logic of change, the first condition of life."'
"'I was a lost traveler and I found an end to my wandering in the return to
the Source. I became a determined advocate of the Salafi movement, our surest
path to knowledge.'"
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