Infidel, Introduction

I like to watch Real Time with Bill Maher every once in awhile. About a month ago I caught a show where a young woman knocked my socks off with her poignant perspective on the United States and its policies. Her views were unfiltered, reasonable, and expressed with a soft yet powerful style. Her name is Ayaan Hirsi Ali.



I hadn't heard of Ayaan before viewing the broadcast. Few people have ever made the impression on me that she had. I went around asking about her. Al knew about her. Some of my coworkers had viewed the broadcast as well and talked about how refreshing it was to hear her perspective.

I picked up her book Infidel yesterday. I'm hooked already. This book is engaging to me, because my father is Muslim. I really would like to know what he thinks about what Ali speaks about. She seems, based on the introduction and the first 40 pages, not to question Islam, but the way that it has been intrepreted to make women submissive.

Anyway, I'm going to update you on whatever I find interesting during my time reading Infidel, which could also be titled Kafir.

I've already come across Ali being taught to fight for herself no matter what, feminism and Islam (modern vs. fundamentalist approaches--through woman's eyes), genital mutilation, and women being ostracized for being raped--the shame that this brings on their family.

Learn More About Ayaan