Book #2 - INFIDEL

INFIDEL is an autobiography by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, currently working in the States against abuse and oppression towards Muslim women by Muslims themsleves, ~38 years of age. It is a fascinating read as it reveals the inner culture of many Muslim countries and traditions, and reveals the fascinating journey of Ayaan's life from a devout Muslim to one of the leading spokesmen (women) in the Western world against Islamic tradition and abuse/oppression towards its women.

After growing up in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Saudi Arabia, Ayaan was arranged by her father to marry a Muslim man from Canada whom she, of course, had never met. She said no, but it was legitimately inconsequential what she thought or wanted in that culture. Thus, in the midst of her travels through Europe to fly to Canada to be with her new husband, she fled to Holland where she applied for Refugee status and set out to begin her own life.

Ayaan describes her journey from piety to "secularized" as she encounters a culture that goes against everything she was taught, and yet functioned with peace and order as opposed to chaos and war. She became intrigued by government and Western tradition and began to recognize the "inhumanness" of her own Islamic culture (mutilation of female genitals, inequality between male and female, etc.) It pained me to read as she experienced a crisis of faith and slowly but surely left faith for reason. She began to exercise critical thought and the freedom of free speech. She learned Dutch language, became a citizen of Holland, achieved a degree in political science, and began working as a junior researcher in the Labor Party.

When 9/11 hit, a passion began to burn within Ayaan for the Western world to understand Islamic culture and stop tolerating something that completely opposed its core values. Her opinions led to explosions of conflict in the otherwise tolerant and peaceful Holland. She joined the Liberal Party and spoke out as an official member of Parliament. She made a short movie entitled "Submission" with a man named Theo Van Gogh, meant to bring awareness to her cause. At this point, Ayaan was already being protected by bodyguards, etc, but Theo was not. He was brutally murdered with a 5-page letter addressed to Ayaan stabbed to his chest. The country almost fell apart in confusion, outrage, and fear. Ayaan was taken to the US for hiding.

She was then offered a job in the States, left Parliament, and continues her cause to bring awareness and freedom to oppressed Muslim women. Her views are some of the most explosive and controversial in the present age, and every moment of her life is under strict security supervision, as most of the Muslim world is set out to kill her for the "heresies" she so boldly says.

A more than fascinating read!!! I highly recommend it!
Natasha