Ayaan Hirsi Ali

[SJS]

Ayaan Hirsi Ali - A True hero and a modern day Thinker

When I read her book, Infidel, I discovered a true hero, the first since I had grown up and discarded all the cardboard heroes of the cricketing kind. Now, when I hear her speak, as in the video below, I realise that she is one of the clearest thinking modern day thinkers on a topic on which almost all the seven billion of us are actually thinking . . . or so we would like to believe.

Spare the half an hour (just under 28 minutes really) and trust me you wont regret it. Do not leave in between howsoever important the calling for right till the end (even in the 28th minute) she floors you with gems in this interview over her book "Nomad"

It doesn't matter what your views on religion in general or Islam in particular, just listen to this with a completely open mind . . .

Its difficult to believe that she is just 42 (just last week on the 13th) and add to that the fact that she comes from an ultra conservative and deeply religious Muslim family from a country like Somalia and you wonder what those of us who have been luckier in so many ways have made of the hands life has dealt us.

I realise that her views on certain matters are controversial and some may find them not to their liking. To them I would still request to listen to her in full and try, please try, to leave your personal thinking aside and try to listen to the overall flow and logic of her thinking and I think you will come away from it with some real thought provoking concepts. The idea is not to ask you to agree with every word of what she says. It is impossible for people who have such strong and clear convictions not to appear too strong headed particularly to those of us who have convictions in the opposite direction.

Yet it is a talk worth taking time to listen to.

Hope you enjoy it. I did as I have all of her debates and interviews before.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali on her new book "Nomad"

[SJS]

This one is a speech (Donner Canadian Foundation Lecture) on Islam - as she understands it versus the Western way of life. It is very very interesting . . . no . . . it is brilliant !! It requires a full one hour !! Absolutely worth it .

:-)

Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Islam - YouTube

[smalishah84]

sounds interesting. Too bad I am at work SJS, however I plan to have a look at it and see why you recommend listening to her

[Sanz]

While her views are fascinating I find them little tinted against because of her personal experience otherwise how would one make a statement that "There is no such thing as Islamophobia" .

I am afraid that she herself or her work will be used by the media to continue or encourage the Islamophobia that she thinks does not exist. Her personal struggle is indeed inspiring but I personally find a lot of personal vendetta agianst Islam in her writings (perhaps justified in doing so ) and because of that I find hard to consider her a hero because she is not presenting the true picture of Islam, she is presenting her experience as a Muslim Women and expects us to believe that that is the norm.

[SJS]

Originally Posted by smalishah84

sounds interesting. Too bad I am at work SJS, however I plan to have a look at it and see why you recommend listening to her

I must warn you though, mate, that she would sound overtly critical of Islam (which she is) to a Muslim. I hope you are able to keep that aside and listen to her ideas.

All the best :-)

[smalishah84]

Originally Posted by SJS

I must warn you though, mate, that she would sound overtly critical of Islam (which she is) to a Muslim. I hope you are able to keep that aside and listen to her ideas.

All the best :-)

I'll try to

[smalishah84]

a quick search on wikipedia threw this up

Ayaan Hirsi Ali - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

seems a bit OTT so far

[SJS]

Originally Posted by smalishah84

a quick search on wikipedia threw this up

Ayaan Hirsi Ali - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

seems a bit OTT so far

I would still suggest listen to her and if you find time read her books 'Infidel' and the new one 'Nomad'

[smalishah84]

Originally Posted by SJS

I would still suggest listen to her and if you find time read her books 'Infidel' and the new one 'Nomad'

you want me to become an infidel

I'll try and watch her video tonight.

[SJS]

Originally Posted by smalishah84

you want me to become an infidel

I'll try and watch her video tonight.

Well, well, well.

I do not believe in religion, any religion so infidel is just a word to me not a concept :-)

[Xuhaib]

haha... she ain't any hero.

This cracked me up.

In an interview with the Swiss magazine Das Magazin in September 2006, she said she lost her faith while sitting in an Italian restaurant in May 2002, drinking a glass of wine: "...I asked myself: Why should I burn in hell just because I'm drinking this? But what prompted me even more was the fact that the killers of 9/11 all believed in the same God I believed in.

[smalishah84]

haha.....yeah......even I thought that was quite funny

[Xuhaib]

Also comparing Muhammad (s.a.w) with Saddam Hussain its enough for me to know how much knowledge she has(had) about Islam.

[Agent Nationaux]

I have never liked her. Blaming Islam for the way she has been treated is stupid. I wouldn't exactly expect much better from Somalia, one of the worst societies in the world.

[Xuhaib]

reading a bit about her on wikipedia gives me the impression she had a difficult time with some crazy nutter mullah during her impressionable age. This has lead to her developing a prejudice against Islam or any other religion in general.