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    Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now
    Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now
    Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now
    Ebook290 pages5 hours

    Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now

    By Ayaan Hirsi Ali

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    Continuing her journey from a deeply religious Islamic upbringing to a post at Harvard, the brilliant, charismatic and controversial New York Times and Globe and Mail #1 bestselling author of Infidel and Nomad makes a powerful plea for a Muslim Reformation as the only way to end the horrors of terrorism, sectarian warfare and the repression of women and minorities.

    Today, she argues, the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims can be divided into a minority of extremists, a majority of observant but peaceable Muslims and a few dissidents who risk their lives by questioning their own religion. But there is only one Islam and, as Hirsi Ali shows, there is no denying that some of its key teachings—not least the duty to wage holy war—are incompatible with the values of a free society. 

    For centuries it has seemed as if Islam is immune to change. But Hirsi Ali has come to believe that a Muslim Reformation—a revision of Islamic doctrine aimed at reconciling the religion with modernity—is now at hand, and may even have begun. The Arab Spring may now seem like a political failure. But its challenge to traditional authority revealed a new readiness—not least by Muslim women—to think freely and to speak out.

    Courageously challenging the jihadists, she identifies five key amendments to Islamic doctrine that Muslims have to make to bring their religion out of the seventh century and into the twenty-first. And she calls on the Western world to end its appeasement of the Islamists. “Islam is not a religion of peace,” she writes. It is the Muslim reformers who need our backing, not the opponents of free speech.

    Interweaving her own experiences, historical analogies and powerful examples from contemporary Muslim societies and cultures, Heretic is not a call to arms, but a passionate plea for peaceful change and a new era of global toleration. In the wake of the Charlie Hebdo murders, with jihadists killing thousands from Nigeria to Syria to Pakistan, this book offers an answer to what is fast becoming the world’s number one problem.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMar 24, 2015
    ISBN9780062333957
    Author

    Ayaan Hirsi Ali

    Ayaan Hirsi Ali was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, was raised Muslim, and spent her childhood and young adulthood in Africa and Saudi Arabia. In 1992, Hirsi Ali came to the Netherlands as a refugee. She earned her college degree in political science and worked for the Dutch Labor party. She denounced Islam after the September 11 terrorist attacks and now serves as a Dutch parliamentarian, fighting for the rights of Muslim women in Europe, the enlightenment of Islam, and security in the West.

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    Reviews for Heretic

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    • 5/5
      This book was extremely helpful to me in identifying which central tenets of Islam lead to violence and in convincing me that a reformation of the entire religion is required to stop the continuance of radicalism. Also, that the Western Liberal tacit acceptance of these issues under the guise of religious tolerance is actually contributing to the problem by discouraging doctrinal debate.

      All-in-all, I feel more educated and am rethinking my worldview a bit.

      (Also, the author's writing is perfect non-fiction - not dry at all)
    • 1/5
      Islam can’t be reforemed. We cant reform rules sent down by god. Muslims who follow their culture instead of religion do not represent islam! And you have NOT gained knowledge by reading this book, rather you chose it to further your ignorance! As a muslim woman that has a daughter, how could i stand by islam if it was wrong? If it was evil? She makes it seem like the killings are only done by muslims. Media goes crazy when a muslim does an evil act but they dont show the same energy when a Christian does, or at least they will not mention his religion.
    • 5/5
      Just one word. Spellbound. Every right thinking Muslim should read this book.
    • 2/5
      This book is very deep, with countless references to ancient cultures, religions, customs and beliefs. This is not a book you can pick up and read for its entertainment value. I'm not suggesting that it's bad, only that it's more a research paper.
    • 1/5
      Biased and Totally Unfounded. Simple hatred.Nothing Justified.Complete trash. Waste of time.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This may be the most terrifying non-fiction book I've ever read.The author, a Somali woman who also lived in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Saudi Arabia before fleeing to The Netherlands to escape an unwanted arranged marriage, had been a fervent Muslim before abandoning that religion.She explains in clear and stark terms the forces that are fanning the surge in violent extremism in the Muslim world. She posits that those whom the West views as extremists are indeed following the dictates of the Quran and of the prophet Muhammad. She makes a plea for moderate Muslims to speak out against blind allegiance to Islamic tradition and to publicly and privately interpret the 7th Century text and all the tradition that has enshrouded it and to create a fresh world view that's tolerant of women, gays, other religions, and even atheism.Islam has never allowed room for a reform movement like the Protestant Reformation that allowed Christians to question the dictates of the Roman Catholic Church, but that's the only hope. And she cites Muslim scholars and believers who support the concept of reform.She also calls on Western non-Muslims to abandon our political correctness and to view the situation as it is rather than continuing to voice platitudes about Islam as a peaceful religion that is being co-opted by extremists. Those "extremists" are adhering to their sacred text as it is written, and the results are far more terrifying than Christian fundamentalists trying to force Creationism to be taught in public schools.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      What a stirring call to action by one of the leading voices of our age! Ayaan Hirsi Ali's voyage from Muslim extremist to nailing five "theses" on the metaphorical wall is moving in its own right. However, this exposé on the dysfunctional elements within Islam that can clash so violently with Western values and principles is, perhaps, more gripping.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Is Islam A Religion of Peace?In what is sure to be her most controversial book to date, Ayaan Hirsi Ali makes a powerful case that a religious Reformation is the only way to end the terrorism, sectarian warfare, and repression of women and minorities that each year claim thousands of lives throughout the Muslim world. With bracing candor, the brilliant, charismatic, and uncompromising author of the bestselling Infidel and Nomad argues that it is foolish to insist, as our leaders habitually do, that the violent acts of Islamic extremists can be divorced from the religious doctrine that inspires them. Instead we must confront the fact that they are driven by a political ideology embedded in Islam itself.Today, Hirsi Ali argues, the world's 1.6 billion Muslims can be divided into a minority of extremists, a majority of observant but peaceable Muslims, and a few dissidents who risk their lives by questioning their own religion. But there is only one Islam, and as Hirsi Ali shows, there is no denying that some of its key teachings—not least the duty to wage holy war—inspire violence not just in the Muslim world but in the West as well.For centuries it has seemed that Islam is immune to historical change. But Hirsi Ali is surprisingly optimistic. She has come to believe that a Muslim "Reformation"—a revision of Islamic doctrine aimed at reconciling the religion with modernity—is at hand, and may even already have begun.Partly in response to the barbaric atrocities of Islamic State and Boko Haram, Muslims around the world have at last begun to speak out for religious reform. Meanwhile, events in the West, such as the shocking Charlie Hebdo massacre, have forced Western liberals to recognize that political Islam poses a mortal threat to free speech. Yet neither Muslim reformers nor Western liberals have so far been able to articulate a coherent program for a Muslim Reformation.This is where Heretic comes in. Boldly challenging centuries of theological orthodoxy, Ayaan Hirsi Ali proposes five key amendments to Islamic doctrine that Muslims must make if they are to bring their religion out of the seventh century and into the twenty-first. She also calls upon the Western world to end its appeasement of radical Islamists—and to drop the bogus argument that those who stand up to them are guilty of "Islamophobia." It is the Muslim reformers who need our backing, she argues, not the opponents of free speech.Interweaving her own experiences, historical analogies, and powerful examples from contemporary Muslim societies and cultures, Heretic is not so much a call to arms as a passionate plea for peaceful change and a new era of global tolerance. As jihadists kill thousands, from Nigeria to Syria to Pakistan, this book offers an answer to what is fast becoming the world's number one problem.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Heretic is a very well written and thoughtful treatise on the current state of Islam in a modern world. The author, a native of Somalia was indoctrinated into Islam by her illiterate grandmother and mother who taught her to memorize certain passages of the Quran. When an arranged marriage was proposed by her parents, Ali escaped to the Netherlands where her questioning of the basic tenets of Islam burgeoned. After attending university and living in a free society, she eventually abandoned Islam and became a vocal critic, or an apostate as she calls herself. In this book she argues that Islam has to undergo the type of reformation that the Christian and Jewish religions underwent in the past in order to evolve. She argues that the Medina Muslims are those who are most stuck in the past and who interpret the Quran quite literally in modern society. They are the members of IS, BOko Haram and Al Qaeda who murder and mutilate those who criticize. Mecca Muslims seem to stand on the sidelines awaiting the modern Muslims to instigate reforms. Ali presents some very compelling arguments about the fundamental problems with radical Islamists and their interpretations. Unlike Christian churches, Islam has no central hierarchy which leads to inconsistent interpretations by imams. Unlike the Gospels which can be discussed and critiqued, there is no such tolerance for questioning the prophet's words. Anyone who does, is a heretic and can be killed. Sharia law is another aspect that she discusses and critiques for its sexism, inequAlity and human rights abuses.I suspect that Ali is regarded as a radical for her views but I learned a lot about Islam and Muslims. She believes that there is hope for a reformation and it will start with the Internet, just as the invention of the printing press created a wellspring of knowledge and doubt about religious teachings centuries ago. Well worth reading.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 1/5
      he is ugly guy. without a truth. i think this kind of book should banned

      2 people found this helpful

    Book preview

    Heretic - Ayaan Hirsi Ali

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