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Infidel – Ayaan Hirsi Ali

From the author of The Caged Virgin, comes this astonishing story of her childhood in a traditional Muslim family that stayed in a number of locations including Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Kenya and the Netherlands. In Infidel, Ayaan Hirsi Ali traces her life of subordination as well as her intellectual awakening in her unique style. While today, she is considered a political superhero and a champion of free speech who fights injustice done in the name of religion, in this book, Hirsi Ali recollects how even as a child, she had a keen vision and a measured voice, with the help of which she allowed her beliefs to evolve and her will to grow.

Being brought up in a conservative Muslim family, Hirsi Ali survived female mutilation, domestic abuse, civil war, youth as a devout believer during the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood and adolescence in four politically unstable countries largely ruled by despots. After being forced into her marriage in her early twenties, she escaped to the Netherlands where she pursued a degree in political science, helped her sister adjust to the West and fought for the rights of Muslim immigrant women and the reform of Islam as a member of parliament. Today, she may be disowned by her family, and under constant threat from reactionary Islamists, but she refuses to be silenced.

Infidel is basically a celebration of triumph over adversity and readers are bound to admire how a bright little girl evolves out of dutiful obedience to emerge as an outspoken, revolutionary freedom fighter. As Western governments continue to struggle in balancing democratic ideals and religious pressures, Hirsi Ali’s story seems more significant than ever.