Infidel
4.2
278
5
1
Paperback(Reprint)
USD
15.76
$15.76
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780743289696 |
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| Publisher: | Atria Books |
| Publication date: | 04/01/2008 |
| Edition description: | Reprint |
| Pages: | 384 |
| Sales rank: | 75,005 |
| Product dimensions: | 8.36(w) x 5.58(h) x 0.92(d) |
| Age Range: | 14 - 18 Years |
About the Author
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Infidel
4.2 out of 5
based on
0 ratings.
278 reviews.
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For an autobiography this book is amazingly readable. I could not put it down even though I knew how it ended. Ali writes beautifully and gives such stark descriptions of life as a woman in a third world Muslim family.
Most important was the insight she gave into her transformation from a faithful Islam believer to an agnostic. Her explanations of her early instruction in Islam, all the prohibitions, her beginning doubts, (ie men didn't crash cars in Holland by being distracted by women in modern dress) her eventual rejection of Islam help to make the current political climate clearer.
I am not certain I can agree with her conclusion not to trust any Muslim, but I can understand that with her life threatened why she must feel that way.
I constantly had to remind myself that she is just 42. She is so strong, courageous and has accomplished so much.
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The author puts to rest the false impression that Islam stands for peaceful solutuions in solving the differences of the world's religions; that it is a religion that stands for toleration. She stands up for women's rights denied in the world in which she had been born and from which she had escaped. Forced marriages of young girls to older men, female genital mutilation, second class citizenship for women in the Muslim world: battles against these abuses are the ones she has chosen to fight, perilous to her life.
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I have read several reviews left by those who are most likely Muslims and the Muslims who are leaving the reviews are most likely American Muslims. I have read some of the Quran before and it contradicts itself. I know how it is in Muslim countries and they claim that everything they do, killing their wife or daughter for disobedience, or blowing up an orthodox church, they claim all that in the name of the Quran and in the name of Allah. Do not tell me that Islam is all love. I have experienced several times how they treat others when it comes to religion. I know a girl personally who converted from that religion. I am NOT sying that all Muslims are hating extremists, but look at the mid-east and tell me that a vast majority aren't. This book gives an accurate truth of Islam.
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Infidel starts low and slow, with sometimes graphic depictions of Ms. Hirsi Ali's childhood, and blossoms into the best coming-of-age story I've ever read. This memoir is well thought out and written, witty, biting, and condescending of self; written with flair and humbleness. You're taken on a journey of her life so far, and at the end, I was dumbfounded right along with her about how far a person can come. Definitely recommended, definitely a must-read.
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After I finished this book I felt like buying a copy for everyone in this country. A must read to understand Islam, which, when left to rule a country is permeated by cruelness, torture, and a total and complete rape of freedom. A must read for the politically correct among us who think every religion is equal and expouses truth, but fail to see the implimentation on humanity that proves otherwise.
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Infidel is a book that focuses on not hatred or spite, but rather the differences that exist and the need for citizens of the world to recognize the role of Islam in modern culture. No other book has ever dared to cross the extremes of the political and religious realms . Ayaan Hirsi Ali defiantly challenges the traditions of Islam and their beliefs towards Western culture. She exposes the harsh realities of female mutilation and numerous other discriminations that preside within the Muslim community. Infidel brought the reader into a world of alienation, civil war, and family values. Ayaan Hirsi Ali manages to survive the death and violence that constantly traps her in Africa through an arranged marriage of which she flees from and seeks refuge in Holland. This book inspires both passion and sympathy. The tales Ali tells are sadly true, and are in dire need to be addressed. Ali provides readers with intimate information about the ways of Islam in Africa, and then tells about her own spiritual journey to realization. An excellent choice of reading that undoubtedly reveals a conflict between Muslim prejudices and Western ideals, this autobiography is bluntly horrifying and absolutely necessary to read for further understanding of today's religious and political clashes.
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This book is an autobiography of the brave and controversial Ayaan Hirsi Ali. The account starts with her strict upbringing by her grandmother who lived as a nomad. She gives us insight into the Somalian social hierarchy, and the world through the eyes of a Muslim child. The beginning of the book actually makes the reader sympathize with Muslims and gives one an understanding of why societies embrace Islam how the it affects the dynamics of personal relationships in these societies. The latter part of the book shows her exposure to Western society and it's ideals, and how this prompted her to question what she had considered an absolute truth. This book is not an Islam-bashing book by an apostate, but rather an account of how a member of the voiceless side of a religious culture defied her fears of the afterlife through reflection and perseverance. While western authors who are critical of Islam will be discredited for not knowing the 'true Islam', I am sure Ms. Hirsi Ali will receive the same treatment as an apostate.
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To the Anonymous reviewer who stated "She states that female mutilation is from her religion and I decided to ask and do research and I found out that this only happens in Africa to African women"
I just finished reading this book, just hours ago. I NEVER once read ANYWHERE in her book anything blaming her relegion for excision. She clearly stated NUMEROUS times that it is NOT done widely done by Muslims, but is an African culture practice.
I have read many reviews stating the same complaint. Obviously these readers DID NOT read the book in entirety. Or just took what they wanted from it.
Her stories are very true. Anyone who has actually read the Quran completely knows that Islam is not a religion of peace. The passeages she quotes about killing non-believers, and beating your wives are completely accurate.
Not all Muslims are like this, not all Muslims follow the Quran word for word and do exactly what it says. Just the same with Christians and the Bible.
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This book is simply exquisite. Ali deals quite effectively with her impression of many ideals and reveals her perspective on Islam, from first hand experience. It is not so much a revelation of Islam as it is a coming of age of a girl into adulthood.
The way she shows her mother, who must obey her husband and eventually how she has to take out the stress that is heaped on her. It shows that Ali could have grown into something else entirely, but it was her dreams and also, her exposure to literature that actually put ideas into her head. A must read book, that also shows the importance of education to women who suffer under the pressures of extreme societies.
The book contains a lot of different elements and my particular favorite was her escape from Germany. It was brief, well written, and exciting. This book is a must have for any book clubs since it covers so many issues. Many of which are still current. Female circumcision, literacy, Islam, immigration, racism, welfare states, and many others. Promote it and read it. I love this book.
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If one text has succeeded in challenging the complacency of the West, indeed of supposedly enlightened people the world over, to the rising threat of fundamentalist Islam, it is Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. From her perspective as a woman who has survived the treacherous grip of Islam over both her body and her mind, Ayaan counters the oft repeated proclamation that Islam is 'a religion of peace.' Narrating her own intimidating journey through oppression and hatred in Islamic Somalia, Saudi Arabia, and the rapidly growing Muslim enclaves of Kenya and Europe, Ali rehashes in masterful and often touching prose her harrowing trials and the series of cruel acts perpetrated against her in the name of the religion she herself so desperately clung to. Young Ayaan survives her mother's descent into insanity, her abusive male relatives, female circumcision, and constant religious and tribal warfare by dreaming of the life she can only read about in Western novels. She is finally forced to choose between her dreams and the harsh reality of life as a subservient Muslim woman when her father promises her hand in marriage to an aging Somali expatriate who has come to seek a proper traditional wife in Kenya. Her choice is flight, but reaching her imagined paradise in liberal Western Europe she discovers that Islam has arrived ahead of her, bringing with it so much of the terror she had naively hoped to have left behind. After a soul wrenching self-examination, Ayaan cuts the final cords to the religion and culture of her birth, to become a one woman crusade against the oppression perpetrated by Islam, and innocently defended by the 'accepting' European Left. For anyone who is left unsatisfied by the all-encompassing doctrine of cultural relativism, Ali is a breath of fresh literary air. When we unquestioningly 'accept' Muslim culture, are we also accepting the horrific abuse of Muslim wives and daughters? What of religious and ethnic minorities suffering throughout the Muslim dominated Arab world and East Africa? Ayaan convincingly argues that in our zeal to be inoffensive, we have allowed for a level of intolerance and violent hatred that would not be tolerated in any other religion. It is time, Ali is telling us, to force an enlightenment in the Muslim world, to bring it up to the same standards by which we judge the Christian West. Quill says: Infidel is a must read!
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I personally love the book. I think that the way she take position is admirable, she is not dissing on Islam or telling anyone to abbondoned it, she is judt simply, elocantly and powerfully comparing it to what she felt worked for her. And I certainly respect her battle to free women from oppression and her call to freedom of expression and a larger acceptance and tolerance for critical thinking. Even on an non religious background all her claim are valid, people just simply sit on their asses way to easily and refuse to think for themselves always wanting someone else to make the decision for them. I think that this book should be even more widely spread even just for a purpose of seeing things through the eyes of someone who is not letting herself totally run on by emotions. I still believe that something said in this book still need to be taken carefully, it's tollaly utopic to say that she is totally objective or that all of her experiences haven't psychologically wounded her. But them again she plainly state that this is her subjective revisitations of her memories.
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Wonderful story of courage!! Amazing woman! Ms. Ali is an inspiration...
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This book should be required reading for those people who feel Islam is a religion of peace. As Pope Benedict XVI said, Islam has been spread by the sword. This book also explodes the myth of Muslim moderation. When 9/11 took place, where were the counter protests in the Muslim world? If the moderates do not speak out then they are functionally non-existant. Islam is the greatest threat to the freedom of the West.
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This is the best book I have read in the last five years - perhaps longer. Not only is it insightful and educational about the world of Islam and the treatment of women, but it teaches those of us who are products of Western culture, that it is necessary to question any religion that practices extremism and oppression.
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I thank God that this amazing woman has come into my life! I urge that each of you read this book and encourage at least one other person to read it. This is paying it forward. There are some ve
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Read the entire book in 3 days. Could have been slightly shorter, but i enjoyed it. She gives a great perspective on tolerance, empowerment and things that we take for granted in the U.S.
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This is a fantastic, fantastic book, about a woman with the intellectual, moral, and spiritual stature of a giant. Her courage is a bright star of inspiration for all who might trip over the rubble of Politican Correctness strewn in our paths, and give us the courage march on, and to think, think, think.
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This is a book once read you will carry with you the rest of your life. Not a book to read if you’re looking for something uplifting. This explains what happens when you mix certain religious beliefs with cultural beliefs and how devastating it can be. How males in our world control women and children for their own personnel needs and wants. This author is a survivor. Nobody should have to endure what she has had to endure. It will make an emotional impact on you. There are times of joy that you will make you applaud her. It will give you added appreciation for freedom. This book is one all people should read but be prepared to ponder it for a long time afterwards.
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I'm reading the book now (no, I'm not done). What I've read so far has the 'unmistakable ring of truth' about it. The pain and bitterness of her up-bringing 'rings' clearly through her narrative. It's like the sound you get when you tap a spoon against fine china or crystal; the sound 'rings' (unlike the dull 'thunk' when you strike a cheap plastic copy of the china or crystal. This is NOT about Somali culture or society, it IS about the teachings of a Sadistic Bandit who decided that God had called him to start a new religion. This religion does teach that the brutal repression of half the world's population is right and appropriate based on the arbitrary and capricious nature of the other half of the world's population. It is a fact that sometimes the Truth is not pleasant and sometimes the Truth hurts BUT THIS IS THE TRUTH!
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Great story from beginning to end, especially since it's true. Honestly relayed, with gut wrenching decisions that she explains she had to make in her life. She is a courageous woman. Great insight into another kind of world and culture.
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I learned more about Islam from the inside point of view of this writer than from all the books I have read on comparative religions, Islam/Christianity/Judaism, what the Koran really says, etc. It was sobering and thought-provoking to read of the precariousness of life in some East African countries. We read and see news stories of masses of people driven into exile but one person's experience is a more powerful barometer of the suffering involved and the effect on one's future life. If you are interested in cultures, religions, politics and human experience beyond your own, you will enjoy this book. And if you need some good news about the human spirit, here it is.
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I remember reading Khaled Housseini's "A Thousand Splendid Suns," stunned by the beatings the two women went through, and Amy Tan's "The Kithchen's God's Wife" and the deprecation she suffered. But Ayaan Hirsi Ali's "Infidel" isn't just about the suffering she went through, but the transition of thoughts that turned her into who she is now. It's about the woman she's become - an incomparable identity, a symbol of strenght and perseverance, and an infinite voice for those who can't speak. She represents a childhood - a history - inconcievable to most of us. And yet she tells it in ways we can relate to. And overcomes it with the strenght and perseverance we hope for throughout our lives.
Now that's a woman.
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This book in a riveting, page turning, intriguing revelation into the world's most mysterious and dogmatic religion. Ayaan's journey in unraveling the truth behind the veil is a intimate expose' that gives insight and understanding to the otherwise ambivalent true nature of Islam. A must read!!!
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Provocative and thoughtful. A young woman's life under the spectre of religious fervor is narrated with eloquence. The bigger lesson is that fundamentalism, irrespective of religious hue, curtails individual freedoms. Christianity too is awash with similar examples.
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If there could be one book that should be a recommended read for everyone in politics today it¿s this one. Today¿s news media and political rhetoric does little to enlighten the average citizen about what is going on in the Middle East and, especially, Islamic backed countries. It is through her personal accounts of oppression and sexism we get a first hand look at the fallacy that multiculturalism is a positive thing. We see, through her time as a translator in Holland, how adhering to an immigrant or refugee¿s cultural and religious background it only perpetuates their lives of poverty and violence. Ayaan was able to overcome centuries of adverse living by embracing a Westernized way of living. With the political indifference we are facing with the Middle East and the mass genocide occurring in Africa, Ayaan¿s book Infidel addresses the problem at its root, fundamentalist Islam.
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