Reviews for Heretic

by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

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From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

In her best-selling books, Infidel (2007) and Nomad (2010), each a magnetizing blend of harrowing autobiography and religious and political inquiry, Hirsi Ali forthrightly condemns the brutality of sharia law and violent jihad, which, as she reiterates here at length, are firmly rooted in the Qur'an, not departures from a religion of peace as so many claim them to be. These assertions enrage Muslims everywhere as well as Western liberals incensed by what they perceive as cultural insensitivity and political incorrectness. Certainly her earlier call for Muslims to abandon their faith was over the top, as she concedes in her new book, which carries another boldly self-defining title. This time around, as undaunted, commandingly eloquent, and provoking as ever, Hirsi Ali calls for a Muslim reformation. Christians, Hirsi Ali observes, stopped burning heretics centuries ago, yet Muslims who merely question Islamic practices are subjected to severe punishment, even death, a harsh reality Hirsi Ali documents with appalling examples. Yet she also names courageous dissidents and shares her conviction that a covert movement for change is slowly coalescing as the atrocities committed by the Islamic State, Boko Haram, and other extremists increase. Citing five theses, or summons to action, that strike at the very heart of Islam, Hirsi Ali envisions a way forward to a more peaceful, more tolerant, more humane, and more flexible Islam. She also calls on the West to actively support heroic Muslim would-be reformers, declaring, Multiculturalism should not mean that we tolerate another culture's intolerance. Audacious? Quixotic? Visionary? Necessary? All of the above. This an urgent, complicated, risky subject, and Hirsi Ali, valiant, indomitable, and controversial, offers a potent indictment, idealistic blueprint, and galvanizing appeal to both conscience and reason.--Seaman, Donna Copyright 2015 Booklist