Customer Reviews

Infidel: My Life

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In her own words you hear the author, Ayann Hirsi (Magan) Ali relate to you her life story with the passion and emotion that can only come from having lived it. It is a brutally honest portrayal of life as a woman raise in a Muslim society. What impressed me the most was how totally different and isolated her life was growing up in Somalia and Kenya from my western way of life. Clitoral excision; covering your body from head-to-toe lest you inflame male desires; submitting to the males in you family in all matters, including arranged marriages; all part of the daily life of an Islamic woman. Add to that beatings from her mother whenever she dared to question their ways and you have a compelling look into the life of one of the most oppressed groups of people on the planet.

I suspect if you were to ask Ayaan, she would say she had no choice but to seek asylum as a refugee in Holland, but everyday Muslim women around the world accept their lot to live this kind of life. Her bravery is inspiring, and I am grateful that she chose to share her story so that westerners like me can better understand a Muslim's way of life and the differences that separate their beliefs from Christian beliefs. Yet, I also take heart to know that we share many of the same values, concerns, and desires. She is someone I could easily befriend.

It's rare to find autobiography as absorbing as this. Not only because of the author's unusual path from the desert of Somalia to the USA via the Netherlands, but also on account of the absorbing writing style. Clear and descriptive, the narrative of her eventful life had a profound impact on this reader. Born and raised in Somalia, Ayaan spent part of her youth in neighboring countries like Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Kenya, recounting what it was like to live there through the eyes of a child.

She gives a lively account of the history of Somalia under the dictatorship of Siad Barre, explaining the clan system and comparing the relaxed Muslim practice in that country with the rigidy of Saudi Arabia and the hypocrisy and racism that go along with it. The short experience of Ethiopia and later the long stay in Kenya, both predominantly Christian countries, were different again and she really captivates with her descriptions of places and people. One of her most salient memories is the obsessive anti-Semitism in Saudi Arabia. Where her family lived in the city of Riyadh, Jews were blamed for everything.

A sub-theme of the book is the increased radicalization of Muslims, partly because of the failures and the suffering brought about by Barre and the chaos of the civil war that unseated him. She noted this radicalization taking place amongst Somalis and others in Kenya where she spent most of her adolescence. This radical strain was brought to Africa by Arabs and Iranians, both Sunni and Shia, also reflecting the failure of secular ideologies and bad government in the dictatorships of the Islamic world.

There are sympathetic but honest portrayals of her family and friends: her mother who showed healthy signs of independence early in life but eventually lost hope and became embittered, her loving and tolerant but mostly absent father, her brother who stayed in Kenya and her sister who, when she couldn't cope in Holland, died tragically after returning to Kenya.

Far from stirring up feelings against Islam, this book makes one contemplate with empathy the location of each individual's birth, how little free choice there really is in a closed society, the powerful hold of your community's history and culture, the difficulty of resisting brainwashing and how grateful people in free societies ought to be for the blessings that a lot of us take for granted.

Infidel is also about a second journey: A journey of the mind from the strictures of stifling, oppressive faith to the liberation of enlightenment and the embrace of Western values like individual freedom, freedom of speech and the rule of law. The fact that the individual mattered and had a right to life, to choice and freedom, was a joyful discovery.

This theme interweaves with the history she so deftly chronicles: the collapse of Somalia, the slow decline in Kenya, Dutch politics in the face of dysfunctional multiculturalism that however well intended, harms individuals in the immigrant communities and society as a whole. More information of these developments in The Netherlands and Europe as a whole is available in While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within by Bruce Bawer and Menace in Europe: Why the Continent's Crisis Is America's, Too by Claire Berlinski.

It is humbling to read of the author's wonderment and appreciation when she discovered Dutch society where even the police were friendly and helpful and where everything worked. Ayaan clearly loves The Netherlands; her words radiate with gratitude and appreciation of the culture and society. I especially enjoyed the account of her studies at the University of Leiden where she studies the great Western philosophers.

Sometimes harrowing, the story of Infidel includes innocent childhood memories, mutilation, war, deprivation, tragedy, adventure, drastic adaptation and inspiring achievements. It is clear that Ayaan Hirsi Ali is an unusually courageous, empathic and resourceful individual. There are 11 black & white plates of family and other people who played a part in her life. As far as the religious aspect is concerned, I recommend the following informative books by two equally courageous women: Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America by Brigitte Gabriel and Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel, and the War on Terror by Nonie Darwish.

This first-hand narrative, read by the author, describes her early childhood in Somalia, her ritualistic genital mutilation, her treatment as a lesser being than males, her arranged marriage and finally her escape to freedom. Ayn Kirsi Ali became a member of Dutch parliament, but after she participated in making a film documentary critical of Islam's treatment of women, a Fatwah was issued calling for her death. The producer of the movie, a Dutch national, was murdered in the street by a muslim fanatic.
This book sets forth in passionate detail Kirsi Ali's journey. It is fascinating, and once I got through the first disc, read in Ali's unusual but pleasant accent, I was thoroughly hooked.

I first came across Ayaan Hirsi Ali on television. She was being questioned by a left-leaning interviewer who hardly seemed sympathetic.

I enjoyed this well presented recording from start to finish. There's so much to learn about so many countries, and Ali captures the essence of them all very well.

Not long ago I read Irshad Manji's The Trouble with Islam: A Wake-Up Call for Honesty and Change. I couldn't honestly sympathise with her because, unlike Ali, she had clung to the self-identification of being a Muslim, against all reason. Ali, however, has had the bravery and the intellect to reject such a silly and bloodthirsty set of beliefs.

Despite her magnificent contribution, however, Ali loses a star, because, in my opinion, her whole aim in the Netherlands is not to be part of the solution but part of the problem. (1) Migrate to (read claim asylum in) a Western country; (2) Take advantage of their great education system; (3) Run for parliament; (4) Represent whom? No! Not the Dutch, the aboriginal, indigenous people of Holland, but a subset of the migrants themselves. This is hardly an inspiration to someone who is born and bred in Holland and has every justification for self-interest.

In short, I would recommend this recording to everyone, particularly Muslims.

This autobiography is a must-read, not only because one must have one's eyes wide open to different points of view, backgrounds, life-styles and people, but more so because it will inspire the reader to be a better person and try harder,to be humbled and encouraged at the same time by Ali's courage and integrity. She bravely highlights some issues most of the western world is virtually blind to, a champion of women living under oppression, and a feminist in the true sense of the word. What an inspiring woman, without being inacessible. No wonder she is one of the Time 100.

Ali's story is a "must read" for anyone who wants a better
understanding of the Moslem point of view. This book shows vividly how these beliefs inpact ordinary people first in Somalia and later as refugees in Holland.

The strength and importance of the clans was interesting. Clan
members help each other in all sorts of ways. The help is especially vital in a country where there is no government aid. Of course, the clans also enforce mindless conformity and obedience to traditions. Clans are both a help and a hinderance.

The attitude toward women is so barbaric it is impossible to discuss calmly.

For me two points stand out about Moslem life. One is the absolute certainly that Islam the only religion and everyone else is "impure." The second is how violence and cruelty are so ordinary in their lives. Husbands beat their wives, wives beat their children. At one point Ali,s mother almost beats her to death. If a clan member hadn't intervened, Ali never would have been taken to a hospital.

Ali is indeed a brave person to stand up to the pressures she faces and create a life which she chooses - not one which is chosen by clan elders.

1. I'm glad that amazon has a separate review catetory for this book; the audiobook version, because I think it is different. Unlike most audiobooks, this one has the author reading the book and which is a positive thing. Initially, when I first started listening to it, it was a little hard to understand the author's english, but within a chapter or two, my brain because used to her english--> no problems and again--> in the end it was a very positive factor in that I felt even more aware of the author and her struggles etc...

2. In regards to more important things--> ie the content of the book, the bottomline is that this is an incredible story about a truely heroic person, who has the amazing ability to simply discern and more importantly articulate the truth. In this day and age, there are not many people who truely inspire me, but the author is a rare breed--> someone who is intelligent, someone who is geniune, and someone who is able to clearly articulate the truth and who actually has the courage to do so.

3. 1000% highly recommended to all human beings... if they can handle the truth.

This book is awesome!
The story of Ayaan Hirsi Ali is fascinating, it starts with her childhood where she submerges you in a culture and a way of life that seems unconceivable for us to understand and yet a culture still very much alive these days with all it's horrors ( women circumcision , honor killings, arranged marriages, Blasphemy and Sharia Law, etc..). She takes you step by step through her own process of evolution when she, like most of indoctrinated children of any type of religion, becomes deeply devoted as a Muslim woman following every scripture in the Quran and even dressing with very thick suffocating black robe. But as time passes she feels the need of learning even more about the Quran and as she does she finds more questions than answers, more unfairness, injustices, etc and after a while her intelligence & inquiring mind takes over and slowly she starts breaking free from irrationality and blind faith ( aren't ALL faith ..blind? ).
It is when her Father decides to marry her against her will and Ayaan has to travel to be with her husband in another country that she decides to escape from her destiny and in the transit at an Airport in Germany she breaks free & goes to Holland to live staying with as a refugee. It is here that she makes the wonderful transformation ( like a butterfly) becoming less and less scared, dependant, inferior, handicapped by her religious past & family clan ties and more & more self confident, educated, knowledgeable, financially independant.
So for me this is a book that should be read by anyone and everyone, it should be a book offered to children at the appropriate age of course, to read since it teaches so much about different contries, cultures, religions,politics. Also the beauty of freethinking and the horrors of the combination of fanaticism and religious/non religious dogmas (Communism/Socialism) like 9/11, the christian crusades and inquisition, North Korea and Hittler's Germany ( both Hittler and the emperor of N.Korea equal to GODS & paradise exists as an euthopia)
I highly recommend this book as a must read!!

This book was so interesting !
I had to share.........so
many others have enjoyed this excellent
reading.

That title may scare you off but this is a true story of a remarkable African woman who overcame great odds to make a truly distinctive life for herself. It is well written and reveals in a heart-rending way what it has been like to grow up female in Somalia. Fascinating.