Nomad: From Islam to America: A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations

When the president of Brandeis University, Frederick Lawrence, rescinded his offer of an honorary degree for Ayaan Hirsi Ali most of the world was amazed. Not Ms. Hirsi Ali. Her message is one of tolerance and free speech, as it has been in earlier books Infidel and The Caged Virgin. But, as she explains in Nomad, the standard now on university campuses is denial of free speech. She refers to it as the echo of political correctness. What Ms. Hirsi Ali discerns about Islam would have been useful to the students and to the school. Uniquely among religions Islam has a political backbone which is violent and threatening. There's nothing wrong with the religion of Islam, and if there were it wouldn't be anyone's business except Muslims. To the extent that shari'a law is inseparable from the spiritual features then Islam must be resisted. Ayaan Hirsi Ali looks forward to the day when there is an enlightenment, as there was in Christianity, in which rationality replaces Islamic dogma. Some Muslims would welcome such a split but many do not. As long as people, including university students, faculty, and administrators refuse to contemplate the possibility that Islam, as practiced in far too many places, is totalitarian, Ms. Hirsi Ali's voice will be heard. Well, Brandeis won't hear them...

I am thoroughly hooked on the writings of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, having finished the second and about to read the third of her books. What a brave woman to have excelled as she has, especially coming from such dire circumstances. She overcame tremendous hurdles because of her own determination, in order to explore what the world had to offer outside the containment of the existence and barriers built by her family to enclose her and prohibit her from being an independent woman. I have the most respect and admiration I could possibly have for any great lady. She is just that in my eyes. I wish I knew her personally but feel a similar closeness through her words. She does give hope to anyone who feels they know there is more to life than what they may know and she is proud that determination and making intelligent choices make it happen.

I mean, really. Does everyone recognize the quite extraordinary oddness in this case, that Amazon's editor has chosen to place the most negative reviews not below where I am now--which would be reasonable and pro-debate and pro-critical thinking, but above this area, in the Editorial section?? This never happens. What happens instead? You guys know. Repeated 5 star reviews often probably from multiple promotional department employees because after all, this is a book and music selling site. But look for yourself. This is quite a highly acclaimed writer and scholar, yet these two embarrasingly unfair critiques from companies such as Publishers Weekly which are NOT the end word of consensus for books in any case, are presented in an elevated position of supposed authority. So, before any actual reader gets a chance, we are told that "she has become tiresomly reptitive and her wholesale condemnation of an entire religion...(and) her romanitc view of Christianity is so wide-eyed...reads like a callow excuse (for)...the author's own self-entitlement." Absolute cowardly non-sense. Then, another: and I'm paraphrasing, read it yourself, tell me I'm wrong" most found her slander of Islam to be oblivious that Islam is all about peace...Infidel is the far better book'. Why is this stupid tripe placed in this section ? Cowardice? I have to wonder/worry, since this kind of thing is so very rare on Amazon, has the Amazon editor been shouted down or even threatended with violence by radical muslim crazies? Why else be so obviously anti-debate, so anti-critical thinking, and so one-sidedly lock-stepped against Ali's extremely brave and accuate book?To respond to others' misinformation, yes this book does continue where 'Infidel' left off. Yes, it does contain as centerpiece, a continuation of her Dad story, on her father's deathbed, as she needs protection naturally to be there considering all the death threats from that peaceful religion's true believers. There's no such thing as wide-eyed ignorance or obliviousness or sense of entitlement--unless one means, that as a female, Ali strongly opines that she should not be forced to marry at age 9 as the prophet modeled, she should not be forced to marry an old geezer in another country who she never met, she should not be forced to have her sexual organs mutilated, and she should not be forced to obey the men in her life because the prophet demanded that females be considered chattle. You don't like those opinions? Fine. But you are wrong. Live with it.If the motivation for these stupid and embarrasingly inaccurate editorials' placement was not fear of being bombed, then my second theory is that Ali's condemnation of the supposedly well-meaning politically correct cultural relativists who believe that minorities and the darker-skinned cannot be criticized in any way, because that is their religious freedom (to mutilate female sexual organs, to demand arranged marriages for 9 year-old girls, and honor killings because 'that's just the way they are' , and who are we to say, since we (ad hominem?) bomb Iran and our leader was Christian, and we had slaves several hundred years ago, and don't get us started on what we did to the American Indians. THIS Amazon editor is one of THOSE people who supports ignorant shout-downs of Ali for having the guts to point out that Islam never went through the scrutity that Christianity and the Jews went through during the age of enlightenment. That's why they have not come to terms--in the mainstream, with down-playing all the old fashioned horriblleness of their holy books, considered some things to be applicable only to that era, considered that mistakes were made since holy books were written by men, and in the specific case of Islam, considered that Mohammed was not like Jesus a peacenik who turned the other cheek and advised others to render onto Caesar what is Caesar's' but a man of war with sword, rather like the old testament's Joshua or David. Worse even, if possible, is the suggestion that these politically correct do-gooders who like the Amazon editor, want to tell others the "right" way to think, are in themselves, rationalizing and entitling displaced and alienated Muslims (who they believe it is wrong to try to encourage to join the melting pot that is our society) to seek out bomb making materials. Five stars for this book. No stars for the cowardly Amazon editor who must deep down hate woman (and free speech/critical thinking/modernity) very very much.

Author (Ayaan Hirsi Ali) is a heavy weight in the debates about Islam. She is an apostate who must travel with body guards. She left Somalia, served in the Dutch government, and now lives in the US. She makes a strong case against Islam as largely a backwards tribal intolerant oppressive system of thinking that needs a revolution from within if it is going to be of any use. The author wants to pull back the veil of Islam from a billion people. Even if a person is not a radical Muslim of some extremist group, there is still the larger culture and religious system that restricts thoughts, speech, and behavior in Muslim societies in many parts of the world.It has been a few years since I read this book, but I recall that some parts of the book seemed disorganized, repetitive, or rambling.4/5 Stars.

Another telling of the story of a courageous woman who overcame dogged, unthinking superstition, ostriscing cultural backwardness and death threats to become an independent, clear thinking writer. Her travels through the physical world from Somalia, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Holland and the United States is only eclipsed by her even more remarkable journey from crushing Islamic dogma to an open-minded, realistic approach to the state of the world today. Told in a more intellectual style than her nitty-gritty personal narrative in "Infidel" Hirsi Ali writes with honesty, clarity and a carefully controlled passion. A jarring and moving read.