Infidel - Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Title: Infidel Author: Ayaan Hirsi Ali Genre: Non-fiction, biography, cultural Rating: 9/10 # pages: 414 Date read: May, 2008

Summary: 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.

Review: A very powerful and disturbing book. Hitherto I've been among those who say that Islam is as a whole a peaceful religion and that people who commit attrocities like September 11th in the name of Islam belonged to a violent minority, condemned even by most other Muslims. That may still be the case in the West, but according to Ayaan - a woman who's lived it, devout Muslims would all be like that if they dared.

I feel racist just writing that, but there can be no doubt that this is the message of Ayaan's book, and I have to admit I was appalled to read it. I know it's hardly unbiased, but probably more so, than most other accounts you'd find. It's a very interesting book and one I would highly recommend to everybody as I think the book touches on some important topics where it's necessary to raise an awareness.

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