Ayaan Hirsi Ali has certainly earned her tough stance on Islam. As a young girl in Somali she was subjected to genital mutilation, and to brutal beatings by her mother when she departed from the strict path laid out for girls. She narrowly escaped a forced marriage and sought asylum in Holland, where she was later elected to Parliament. But tragedy followed her still when director Theo van Gogh, with whom she was collaborating on a film about the oppression of Muslim women, was murdered by Muslim radicals.
She has remained under threat ever since, but has been an unrelenting champion for Muslim women, arguing that improving their status is the central issue in the effort to liberalize Islam. Infidel is a deeply disturbing story, but is also one of intellectual awakening and a stirring call to action. Talk about having guts to living your best life. Ali is boldly living true.
