Extreme Personal Paradigm ShiftsJuly 1, 2008 Pierre Lapointe(Vancouver, BC) 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Alis journey not only covered continents but her experience must have felt like time traveling as she moved from Africa to Arabia and Europe until she found her maturity and personal freedom. Although the book has political and religious elements throughout, it is also an important testimony of the difficult journey one faces as their personal, family, religious, political and intellectual paradigms are shifted all at the same time over a period of 15 years.
Her personal candor is touching and establishes her credibility. In my opinion, she shows great restraint in remaining objectively descriptive of the most difficult events of her life. Besides not being able to put the book down as her story is a great adventure, I found it highly educative in understanding better the complexities of families and clan loyalties that many new immigrants must factor into their new life in their new country.
It is also an enlightening book for established citizens in western countries as they are also seeing their paradigms shift because the immigration waves use more social resources and change the cultural balance of their countries.
A point of view that deserves to be heard - like any other...June 6, 2008 J. Tupone(Saskatchewan) 3 out of 4 found this review helpful
The Economist has called Ayaan Hirsi Ali a "chameleon of a woman" when referring to her talent for reinvention and opportunism. Several scholars, journalists, academics, politicians, etc have taken issue with her one-sided criticism of Islam. This isn't a book that many closed-minded people or western "Liberals" will enjoy I'm sure as it is full of criticism and it is one-sided. That being said, it is a rather riveting story of a talented and gifted individual who managed to overcome a great many challenges to ultimately take a stand for principles that she believes in.
Infidel is the story of Ali's life, as told by her. It is one-sided, being an autobiography after all. As many critics have pointed out, Ali takes issue with the significant number of negative experiences she had in her life from being excised as a small girl, to being beaten nearly to death by a cleric as a teenager and being ostracized by her family for daring to choose her own path in life. As many critics have also pointed out, such unfortunate events and circumstances are hardly characteristic of only Islam-dominated societies. It seems quite clear, however, that several societies which fail to protect individual rights and freedoms, equality of the sexes and other human rights many of us hold dear share certain less than ideal qualities. Ali takes a close look at many of these qualities - it just so happens that her focus is on Islam rather than Christian fundamentalists, anti-property right socialists or paleo-conservatives...to name a few types of fanatics who many people take issue with. Her criticism, I would dare say is not unfounded, as is similar criticism with other belief systems.
Every religion, ideology and philosophy is open to criticism and should be criticized. Ali is an individual who has put herself at great risk and made many enemies in her criticism of Islam. I would insist, however, that any attempt to characterize this book as stereotypical Islam-bashing is an obtuse look at the larger messages that Ali is trying to get across. She's clearly concerned with the well-being of Muslim women and all women for that matter. She's clearly a neoclassical liberal in her nearly fanatic belief in freedom of speech and other civil liberties that we take for granted in the West. And her attacks on Islam are more typical of an atheist than a bigot I would say. Several attacks on fanaticism come with a tone similar to the one Ali takes in her autobiography and in that way she is definitely not alone.
If for no other reason, this book is worth reading to get another perspective on Islam. I wouldn't recommend it as your only source to learn about Islam, but I do feel that it is a must read source on Islam. Critics of Ali have pointed out that there are more "balanced" takes on Islam, fair enough, but I don't recall Ali ever claiming to take a balanced critique of Islam. She clearly has an agenda as many of us do, but at least she is open and honest about her agenda. People who want a balanced view on anything should examine opposing views for themselves, rather than have faith in those who claim to be fair and balanced - because in reality there's seldom such thing.
Personal history confused with IslamMay 12, 2008 A. Nihal(Canada) 4 out of 17 found this review helpful
Islam is a religion of extremists blah blah blah, its sad to see this become 'bestseller' no one tries to research her credentials or her knowledge on Islam. And blindly buys this book on the basis of her known bashing of Islam.
Ayaan's Memoir breath-takingMay 3, 2008 Lea Anne Cunningham(Toronto) 2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Although this is an autobiography, Ayaan never fails to keep the reader fixed on her personal struggles. Through her life growing up as a Somali Muslim and questioning the Quran and how it justifies beating and demeaning women, to the death threats she faces today, she shows great courage and skill to properly show her gradual change from a devout Muslim of almost unquestioning faith to the modern Atheist woman she is today. Ayaan is probably one of the most influencial authors and political defenders of women's freedom today. Although by no means making her argument racist, she raises the key point that Islam is a country based on faith, and for many this faith is life and death. There is no questioning your God. She makes a strong argument, but I found that the later part of the book about her film "Submission" and the death of Theo van Gogh to be rushed and hasty. I felt the emotion in the few chapters on her refuge in Holland, but was left with wanting more. I hope Ayaan that you write more.
Individaul Rights Always Trump ReligionApril 22, 2008 Barry Linetsky(Ontario, Canada) 1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Let's face it. Very few non-Muslims have read the Quran. We're told in the West that Islam means peace. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who grew up in Somalia, Saudi Arabia and Kenya within the Muslim faith, begs to differ. It means, she says, surrender. Surrender to the will of Allah. In reality, she says, it means submission - submission to willful ignorance and untold suffering of muslims everywhere the religion is practiced.
Ayaan did her best to become a good submissive muslim, but she refused to shut down her mind. She refused to submit her faculty of reason - the very thing that makes us human - to the written words of the Quran and the the trap of ignorance and destruction that she argues is the inevitable result.
She eventually stretched thin the chains of tribe and family and escaped to Holland, where she applied for and received refugee status. She educated herself, became a voice against the suffering of muslim women, and was elected to the Dutch parliament. Her courage and fire to help women escape the brutality imposed on them by Islamic tradition backed by the words of Allah forced her into years of hiding and security protection against threats on her life. The threats were real. When film-maker Theo van Gogh was murdered while riding his bicyle in the middle of the day, a note was found on his body, affixed with a knife, threatening her life, in the name of, and in honour of, Allah and Islam.
While reading this book, I coudn't but think of Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange. But imagine that instead of living in a world of brutally sadistic and violent thugs and gangs that you may encounter if you are at the wrong place at the wrong time, that those sadistic thugs are your mother, father, brother, neighbours, teachers, and Imams. Imagine a world where being beaten by bats or stoned to death at a moment's notice and where you were supposed to submit and accept your beating was the norm. Imagine that to be a woman and to speak out against this outrageous behaviour is to commit a crime against Allah and the will of the Prophet Mohammad, dead for 1,500 years, to be avenged by the devout. This is a world where individual rights, reason, and justice are fobidden. All there is is the Quran, and if you are female, the assurance of a lifetime of submission, pain, suffering, and violence.
That is the story the Ayaan Hirsi Ali tells. It's her story as she lived it. It is the story, she says, of hundreds of millions of Muslim women, not only in Africa, but even in Holland and other Western countries.
Having suffered, escaped, and lifted herself out of the mental and cultural trap imposed by tribal culture, Ayaan describes her mission and responsibility as follows:
"Perhaps I could start by telling peope that values matter. The values of my parents' world generate and preserve poverty and tyranny, for example, in their oppression of women. A clear look at this would be tremendously beneficial. In simple terms, for those of us who were brought up with Islam, if we face up to the terrible reality we are in, we can change our destiny."
This is change we can all help bring about by reading this book and supporting Ayaan in her fight to end the brutality Islam through reason and the injection of human values into the interpretation of the Quran. What Islam desperately needs is a cultural renaissance and a recognition of the concept of individual rights. If you are a lover of personal freedom and political liberty, and thereby a foe of human slavery and totalitarian brutality, Ayaan Hursi Ali's fight is a fight worth fighting.
