Irf says: "Ali and I were born in the same year, and we grew up in middle-class, culturally Muslim families. Yet I found her descriptions of a typical Islamic upbringing almost completely unfamiliar. Perhaps this was due to my north Indian upbringing."

Hmmm. Perhaps the real reason why Irf says that Ali's description of a typical Islamic upbringing "almost completely unfamiliar", is because Irf's a bloke and Ayaan Hirsi Ali isn't.

Err..... who cares !

Isn't all religion about whistling in the wind?

If we gave up such nonsense the world might be a more peaceful place.

Irfy... 2 things.

1/ Yep... ur quite right, any Islamic dissenter will be lapped up greedily by those wishing to see some evidence for the evils of that faith. Goes with the territory or dare I say 'kitchen'.. just imagine how I as a Christian felt when I saw Jimmy Swaggart, whos radio programs I and thousands of others listened to regularly in Asia (He had a stint at Far East Broadcasting Association, to which my group also fed program material) was on world wide TV saying "LORD..I have sinnnned" after he was busted for having sex with hookers. The Atheists one and all JUMPED on this (along with every other blemished soul from Televangelism land) to thump the daylights out of Christians "THERE.. SEEEE !" they said....

2/ Please get some more EXercise.. I'm rather concerned for your health.

Now..more on the article. You criticize her point that a Muslims relationship with God is based on fear. I counter that with the obvious.. the hadith in which Mohammed says that a Muslim can only be killed for apostacy. Here is a good treatment of the arguments and sources.
http://www.muhammadanism.org/Government/Government_apostasy_1.htm
So, if the threat of death or severe punishment is always hanging over the head of a Muslim, while it might not be true to say his/her relationship with God is based on fear, his/her adherance to the Islamic community DEFinitely is. I don't see it easy separating the two.

Other than that, you can be sure of one thing, anything negative she says about Muslims or Islam will for sure be taken up by those 'Armchair Nazi's of which you often speak. That does not include me of course :

Thank you Irfan Yusuf for a balanced and insightful review of this text. I think it is utterly shameful that one would seemingly seek to exploit the general current of ignorance and misunderstanding Islam in the west.

EnerGee – gender is no excuse for lazy assertions with out evidence. This is particularly so when one has already been exposed as a liar, (in this case in the asylum application), and given the track record of author who, it would seem, would sell her ideological standpoint to the highest bidder.

Irfan,

Good article Irfan.
Many writers fail to differentiate between Islam as a faith and cultural influences whether Arabic, African, Indian or Persian.
Why they label themselves as 'Muslim writers' is beyond me.
Reading through Irshad Manji books her understanding of Islam is very shallow yet she insists on the 'muslim writer' in the foreward.

I think its a marketing thing.

'Brother' Boaz,

you ignored many of my last postings to you re Mohammed in the Bible.
Well, at least your intellectual dishonesty is consistent!

Peace,

T

Hello to Irfan and all posters. Not having read the book, I cannot comment on it. I have read "The Glory Garage" and it too would suggest that Irfan's experience of having grown up in a culturally muslim family would be different to Ayaan's precisely because the latter is a girl: that is one of the main themes of 'Garage'.
Irfan also likes to distance female genital mutilation from Islam, but can he explain why it is practised in Indonesia, where it is increasing in extent and severity? Would he like to claim that FGM predated Islam's arrival in Indonesia?
Ayaan's move away from the left, because of the left's unwillingness or inability to criticise Islam, comes also as no surprise to me. The same thought is dominant in left circles here in Sydney, and Melbourne too it would seem. And Ayaan's fall from grace will be jumped upon by all those who wish to disredit those who oppose Islam.
The rest of what Irfan has to say on this book is that the experience of Islam varies around the world. No surprise here, either. What does unite Muslims, however, is the belief that the Koran is literally the word of Allah, and their prophet his final messenger. Until this belief is critically examined, Islam will remain in its cultural ghetto, stuck in a pre-feudal mindset and unable to remove its fascist tendencies.