Infidel
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Recommended By
Kaitlin Nancy and Rebecca Adler.
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the bastard, Dale Brayden, and RobynR.
Book Details
Written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
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($26.00)
Editorial Review (from Amazon.com)
In this profoundly affecting memoir from the internationally renowned author of The Caged Virgin, Ayaan Hirsi Ali tells her astonishing life story, from her traditional Muslim childhood in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, and Kenya, to her intellectual awakening and activism in the Netherlands, and her current life under armed guard in the West.One of today's most admired and controversial political figures, Ayaan Hirsi Ali burst into international headlines following an Islamist's murder of her colleague, Theo van Gogh, with whom she made the movie Submission.
Infidel is the eagerly awaited story of the coming of age of this elegant, distinguished -- and sometimes reviled -- political superstar and champion of free speech. With a gimlet eye and measured, often ironic, voice, Hirsi Ali recounts the evolution of her beliefs, her ironclad will, and her extraordinary resolve to fight injustice done in the name of religion. Raised in a strict Muslim family and extended clan, Hirsi Ali survived civil war, female mutilation, brutal beatings, adolescence as a devout believer during the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, and life in four troubled, unstable countries largely ruled by despots. In her early twenties, she escaped from a forced marriage and sought asylum in the Netherlands, where she earned a college degree in political science, tried to help her tragically depressed sister adjust to the West, and fought for the rights of Muslim immigrant women and the reform of Islam as a member of Parliament. Even though she is under constant threat -- demonized by reactionary Islamists and politicians, disowned by her father, and expelled from her family and clan -- she refuses to be silenced.
Ultimately a celebration of triumph over adversity, Hirsi Ali's story tells how a bright little girl evolved out of dutiful obedience to become an outspoken, pioneering freedom fighter. As Western governments struggle to balance democratic ideals with religious pressures, no story could be timelier or more significant.
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Rebecca Adler thinks this book is Excellent.
I highly recommend this book if you're interested at all in learning more about Islam and the struggle of Muslim women. Ayaan Hirsi Ali grew up a Muslim, living in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Kenya before she finally escaped to Europe in her early twenties. The first half of the book talks about what life was like living in Muslim countries - especially for women. Ali was a strong believer in Islam, even learning with the Muslim Brotherhood for a time before she began questioning why women were not treated equally if Allah was so just. She would often ask questions of her elders, but the answers never seemed, to Ali, to be based in reason.
Ali spent many years searching for answers before her father arranged her marriage to a Canadian man. Ali tried to get out of the marriage but her father wouldn't allow it. At the time it was difficult to get a visa to Canada because of the civil war in Somalia so Ali was sent to Germany, where it was safe, to await her visa. While there she decided to run away to Holland, a country she knew to be sympathetic to refugees. There she began truly to believe that women should be treated equally, and saw that it was possible. This began her struggle to bring to light the brutality of Islam on Muslim women. In the book she talks of her own excision (female genital mutilation, or circumcision). She also describes many other women and the struggles they faced as their countries broke down into civil wars.
Ali is one of the first women to have spoken out about these issues and her life has been legitimately threatened for it. A close friend of hers was murdered in broad daylight by an Islamic fundamentalist because he made a short film with Ali that depicted the plight of Muslim women. When the police arrived they found a letter stabbed into the director's chest. It was addressed to Ali, saying she would be next.
Seriously, this book will help you to understand so much more about Islam, something I fear we are all a little ignorant of, myself included.
Also, if you're interested in checking out the short film (10 minutes long) it's called "Submission" and comes up when the word is googled.