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Ayaan Hirsi Ali has, in less than forty years, managed to live the experiences found in ten life spans. This celebrated and controversial public figure has worn the hats of many a trade: that of author, politician, activist, translator, teacher, and secretary. Born in Somalia to a revolutionary-minded father and fierce-willed mother, Ali saw and lived through events most Westerners only dimly remember from ancient evening news stories.
We travel along with her as she recalls the day of her circumcision--which occurred against her father's consent--and the subsequent weeks of pain as her body adjusted. We sit with her in Islamic-studies class, and watch as she initially attempts to imitate the teachings of the chaste Sister Aziza, before then succumbing to doubt. We read with gritted teeth--aware of future events yet powerless to prevent them--as she recounts the sense of pervasive fear on the streets on Mogadishu in the days before full-blown clan slaughter began. We shoulder past thousands of Somalis in an enormous refugee camp, hoping along with Ali that we catch a glimpse of a lost relative among the human morass. We adjust with her as her parents move from Somalia to Saudi Arabia to Ethiopia to Kenya, learning languages and new customs. We share her heartbreak as her family is washed away by a series of tragedies. We lose faith: in our religion, in belief of God, in the possibility of a love marriage, and in independence. Finally, we bear witness as she takes her life into her own hands for the first time, escaping into the Netherlands--out of the grasp of suffocating family, clan, and unwanted spouse, and into the pages of history.
At face value, "Infidel" is a memoir of a captivating woman who defeated the bonds of female denigration and dehumanization to become one of the world's most outspoken advocates of equal rights for women. Her key target is her belief in the misogyny inherent in the Quran, and the causative effects thus seen: forced marriages, wife beatings which seem more recreational than correctional, the afore-mentioned female circumcision, and "honor killings." An honor killing is the practice by which family regains honor via the murder of a female relation, having first lost it because the woman--be it sister, mother, or daughter--had premarital, extramarital, homosexual, or another such "dishonorable" sexual encounter. This can occur regardless of circumstance, including in the setting of rape or incest. Ms. Ali argues that while most of the above injustices against women are not necessarily exclusive behaviors of Muslim men, they are consistent with Quranic teachings that women are little more the chattel. Therefore, she argues, it follows that radical Islamic tenants are, among other things, anti-woman at base.
As we follow her into Europe, we see her beliefs change as she witnesses how a society primarily made up of non-Muslims is not the chaos she expected. Buses run on time, houses are immaculately clean, gardens are symmetric bits of paradise, and police officers are there to help, not to bribe. She is given asylum, a stipend, a job, housing--all much more than she had been taught she would receive at the hands of the "godless." She attends university, attains a degree in political science, becomes an outspoken critic of Islam, and is elected to the Dutch parliament. As one follows the book, however, one finds that not all immigrants seek naturalization and success as Ali did. The author makes the disturbing observation that many immigrants bring their old prejudices and traditions with them; thus, ever-expanding pockets of individuals who despise the very tenets of democracy--freedom of speech, freedom of religion, equality--are allowed to thrive within the auspices of the very nation that welcomes them. Ali notes that the grand irony is that the Netherlands' ideas of democracy are contributing to their own demise: misogynistic traditions regarding female clothing, discipline, and punishment are allowed to continue under the myopic principles of religious and cultural freedom. Fear of appearing racist has paralyzed Dutch society to such a degree that it in incapable of doing anything about the inherent hypocrisy: Dutch democracy is protecting the barbaric traditions of those who would like nothing else than to witness the death of the Netherlands' permissive government.
Following these realizations, Ms. Ali decides to become an even more fierce advocate of equal rights and immigrant integration, so she join forces with the inflammatory Dutch filmmaker, Theo van Gogh. Together they film "Submission," a short movie with the abuses suffered by several fictitious Muslim women as its focus. With that, the snowball which has been gathering mass for so many years finally starts its trek downhill, with deadly results. Gogh was brutally murdered in the streets of Amsterdam by Mohammed Bouyeri in 2004. Ali was quickly placed in protective custody following this tragedy. Enduring constant bodyguard protection, frequent moves designed to mask her true position, and the loss of her position in parliament by opportunistic and cowardly former friends, Ali has yet managed to continue her message: to be compatible with the modern age, Islam must change, or be changed.
This glimpse into one woman's life is very good reading, indeed; however, some ideas are explored excessively, occasionally the bit of redundant rumination shines through, and one gets the impression that too much detail was lavished upon rather unimportant aspects of her childhood and early life in the Netherlands. Regardless, "Infidel" is fascinating reading as the memoir, literary magnum opus, and diary of Ayaan Hirsi Ali. To the average Western citizen, the hardships endured by this woman are simply unimaginable. That she has thrived, even triumphed, is unbelievable.
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Wow, you can't put this book down!
It reads like an action/suspense/thriller!
Wow, I hope someone will turn this into a film soon.
She is the Anne Frank of our generation.
She walks us through her youth during the modern
day holocaust that is the Muslim mistreatment of
millions of women including little girls -- thousands
who are mutilated daily. Unbelievable!
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This book was interesting, and gave insigts into many areas; being a Muslim woman, being a wife of arrangewment, being a foreigner seeking asylum in another country, what a socialist country is like to live in. I felt the book was too wordy, in other words, too much detail to lots of long days, but was a great discussion book for my bookclub. Too bad she gave up any belief in God also. Worth reading.
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You'll be amazed by this remarkable woman's story and what it tells us about extreme Islam. It will leave you angry, scared and ready to roll up your sleeves.
Before reading this, I didn't know that her partner in making the short film, Submission, was killed and that because of that she had to live under constant security. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6CakuoaCf4 Submission film
All I expected from this book was the story of a Muslim who left Islam. It was much more than that.
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"Infidel" by Ayaan Hirsi Ali is an important book not only because it chronicles the life experiences of a very interesting and courageous woman, but also because it provides the non-Muslim with an insider's view of Islam as it is practiced in the countries she grew up in. Her critique of the religion is clear-eyed and devoid of romanticism. She discusses frankly her own disillusionment with Islam, a disillusionment that seemed primarily to spring from its cruel and unjust treatment of women in general and her specifically. But she also takes aim at the dangers and challenges that Islam presents to western cultures as they accept larger and larger populations of Muslims who reject western values. She takes to task the apologists for Islam who fail to be concerned with the brutalization and subjugation of women, and who excuse the radicalism present in and encouraged by the theology. She recounts her life on the run from death threats for speaking out against Islam and the death of her friend Van Gogh.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali lived and suffered under Islam for the first 25 years of her life. She experienced the cruelty of Islamic practices toward women first-hand. She should know of what she speaks. So it behooves us to understand why she is more harshly critical of Islam than are most westerners and why she bemoans the fact that most westerners fail to understand and value the ideological foundations upon which their relatively peaceful and prosperous countries are built. The warnings this courageous woman raises in this well-written book are well worth reading and considering.
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