"Infidel"

This was a fascinating, engrossing and very important book. (Thank you Kaki, for sending it to me!). It is a true story, an autobiography.

Prior to this book being written by a refugee from Somalia who has refuted Islam, the author was threatened. The threat was given in a most terrifying format, posted on the brutally murdered body of a co-worker. That threat haunts the author today, but her description of it and her understanding of the world we live in today is invaluable. Please read this book.

It begins with the birth of Ayaan in Somali, a year after I myself was born. Her life couldn't have been more different than mine. Her country is Islamic, but infused also with village devils (djin) and not so ruled by the authority of Islam proper because of the practicalities of daily village life. Her experiences even in this diluted islamic country were still harrowing indeed. Living later in Saudi Arabia with a government of Islam in the holy city of Mecca, Ayaan reveals a breakdown of her family and ideals under this strict Islamic rule. Moving later to the nation of Kenya, a nation without any islamic rule or even Muslim societal backbone, she find herself drawn to find pure Islam, "peace and compassion". Her experiences are told within the framework of time which is the same as my own growing up years, and there is indeed a similar framework of reference. She has read some of the same books I read as a girl, and pop culture was sparingly sprinkled into her realm...the same pop culture I grew up under. Her life goes on...she goes to different places and different things. I'll leave that for you to read.

These events in Ayaan's life were gripping, as was the rest of the actual story in this important book. However, the story of her life is not the point here. The point is this: her views on Islam have weight. Her views on society have weight. She has earned her voice. We should hear it. Please read this book.