I, Nadia, Wife of a Terrorist

At the “Al Azhar” Association in Algiers, Algerian journalist Baya Gacemirecorded the story of a woman displaced by the country’s surge of Islamistviolence during the 1990s. Nadia, widowed, destitute, and alienated fromher community, weaves her own story and those of other women against thebackdrop of a wave of terror instigated by Islamist guerilla groups. Herstory is perhaps the singularly most terrifying story of bastardized religiosityand a testament to the human spirit. Yet despite the hardships that Nadianarrates, she never asks for pity or sympathy; rather, she is wary of herpride, speaks candidly, and retains a dignity that makes her an extraordinaryfigure.Unlike other testimonies from women in the Arab world, Nadia’s storyis different in that it is inclusive of her community and lacks the familiar formulaof journalistic accounts from “stereotypically oppressive” Muslimnations. In her story, the optimistic details of her upbringing and first experienceof love transition into the horror of the Islamic Action Group’s (GIA)germination in the wilderness surrounding her village. She marries her firstlove, Ahmed, a local thug whose sole intention in life is to compensate forhis decided lack of a masculine role model.On the day of their marriage, Nadia engages in bridal rituals that includethe use of cosmetics and henna, much to her husband’s dismay. At thismoment, we see a familiar Islamist tableaux unfold in the microcosm of thehousehold, when Ahmed declares: “From now on, you won’t be going to thehammam anymore, or the hair dressers. And this is the last time I want to seeyou wearing makeup” (p. 32). Their marriage is not consummated on theirwedding night, but rather spent engaged in extensive prayer and recitationof the Qur’an. Married for only a few hours, Ahmed disappears back to hisspiritual brothers in the mountains. At this moment, Nadia begins to realizethat Ahmed has not married her as a wife, but as a GIA (from French GroupeIslamique Armé) investment. Thus begins the cycle of her life as a wife of aGIA terrorist: She cooks meals, waits on her husband’s fellow reprobates,and reaps the material and social benefits of the GIA’s intimidation and thirstfor blood.Although Nadia could continue her story as a series of abuses and a testimonyof her existence at the hands of a husband who abused her, sheinstead constructs the story of the GIA and its abuses as a central part of her ...