Nomad By Ayaan Hirsi Ali

This blogger has just finished reading Ayaah Hirsi Ali's new book Nomad, which continues her experiences after leaving the oppressiveness of Islam, first revealed in her book Infidel.

While this blogger found this story compelling regarding her warning to the West about the dangers of accommodating Islam culture, the epilogue was particularly poignant. The title of the epilogue was Letter To My Unborn Daughter. Since this blogger has three daughters and two granddaughters (and another granddaughter on the way!), a special interest was stimulated. Two paragraphs at the end essentially are consistent with this blogger's attitude towards religion, education, belief and love and seem worthy of special mention:

"I shall not bring you up in the Muslim faith, the faith of your forefathers and foremothers, for I believe it is fatally flawed. I will, however, introduce you to different religions, their founders, and some of their followers. I will bring you up to have faith in yourself, in science and your own reason and the force of life. And I will never seek to impose my beliefs or unbelief on you."

"At my father's deathbed, I knew that his values and mine would never be reconciled. He could never understand my unbelief. He prayed for me until his last breath. And I could never re-adopt his belief in Allah, in prophets, in holy books, angels, and the hereafter. But our unconditional love for one another, the love between parent and child, was so much more powerful than that belief. And the proof was the way we clutched each other's hands at the end. That earthly love is my faith. It is the love I shall always give you."