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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
    Audiobook8 hours

    Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now

    Written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

    Narrated by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

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    About this audiobook

    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
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateMar 24, 2015
    ISBN9780062371553
    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

    4/5

    114 ratings26 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Seemingly the most fictional of the three books, the Grail really predominates the story. I think Cornwell does a great job of depicting the power of religion and superstition in Middle Ages. The book kept me going through a LONG train trip. After reading all three books, I will say that the bad guys tended to be a little predictable.
    • 5/5
      Of all the audiobooks I’ve ever listened to, Hirsi Ali’s are my favorite. I find her voice & accent & narration melodic and engaging. She’s reading her own work so no dramatic character voices or forced attempts to be compelling. I love how she weaves personal anecdotes with history & social cultural observations. Well done! I recommend her other audiobooks as well if you haven’t listened to them.
    • 5/5
      Ayaan,
      You are a visionary and you are willing to die for the betterment of this world, one of your biggest fans.

      Good luck and can't wait to read your next book -:)
    • 3/5
      This was the third and final book in the "Search for the Grail" series featuring the English archer Thomas of Hookton. This book followed the Cornwell formula and really was no different than the previous two books. It introduces one new female character, but there is never really a true love interest developed with her. The only real difference between this book and the previous ones in the series is that in the last chapters, the Plague arrives. It was interesting from an historical point of view, but other than quickly killing people off in the final pages, it didn't really have an impact on the story.

      Basically I was a bit disappointed in this book. I feel like there was little magic or excitement about finding the Grail, and the entire story of the trilogy certainly could have been told in two books. I never had that "can't wait to find out what happens next" feeling that I usually do reading Cornwell.
    • 4/5
      Final volume of the Grail Quest. The violence[including raping and pillaging] gets old, but it is a violent age and Cornwell doesn't glorify or overdue its gruesomeness. He does a good job of wrapping up the tale
    • 5/5
      This was a great series and a great jumping-off point for those people intested in reading Bernard Cornwell. This final(?) chapter in the Grail Saga was truly rewarding.
    • 3/5
      Cracking storytelling
    • 2/5
      ?Heretic? struck me as very different to the first two books in the Grail series. A couple of episodes did draw me in but on the whole I found it lacking. I do like the main character ? Thomas ? but missed his Jewish friend who has a passion for checking the colour of people?s urine, plus Thomas's one-time lover Jeanette, neither of which appear at all in this volume. I would?ve rated this novel three stars but, like all the Bernard Cornwell books that I?ve read to date, I?ve deducted a star because they are all let down by substandard elements of style. Long-winded sentences are plentiful. The needless dialogue attribution drives me to distraction whilst the overuse of the word ?then? is surprising for such a seasoned author.This, of all the books I?ve *ever* read, may well hold the record of overusing the word ?then?. Sometimes it?s in consecutive sentences. Occasionally it?s used twice in the same sentence. The best authors avoid using ?then? wherever possible. It is achievable to write a long novel without using this word at all, except maybe in dialogue, but in the main narrative it sounds like a child?s voice. Think of a seven-year-old telling you about their holiday: ?And then I did this, and then I did that, and then ??Take this for example:>Then the routiers would take a new oath, go to war and fight until a truce was called, and then, knowing no trade except killing, they would go back to the lonelier stretches of countryside and find a town to savage.The routiers would take a new oath. They?d go to war until a truce was called. Knowing no trade except killing, they?d return to the lonelier stretches of countryside and find a town to savage.The valley where that poor village lay had already been plundered, and so he meant to stop in the next valley where a slew of plump settlements were strung along the road south from Masseube, and then, when his men were busy about their devil?s business, he and a few men would ride with Robbie to the hills overlooking Astarac and, if there were no coredors or other enemies in sight, let the Scotsman ride on alone.?I was reminded the other day,? he said, ?of one of the psalms of David.'?I am Galat Lorret,? Lorret said.He was dressed all in black. Black boots, black breeches, black jerkin, black cloak, black broad-brimmed hat and a sword scabbard sheathed in black cloth.
    • 4/5
      Bernard Cornwell continues to roll out reliably good historical fiction. I originally became a Cornwell fan through the great Sharpe series. Heretic is the third in the Grail Quest series, but can be read and enjoyed as a stand alone. Thomas of Hookton seeks the Holy Grail in 14th century Gascony and it's a bloody nasty business. Along the way he again encounters the evil black knight Guy de Vexille. And there's a castle to be seized and a beautiful young woman to save from being burned at the stake - not to mention avoiding the plague, the Inquisition, and leprosy! Highly recommended for all Cornwell fans, or any reader with an interest in historical fiction, especially concerning the Middle Ages or the Holy Grail.
    • 3/5
      We are thinning out the non-player characters with this installment of the "Grail Quest" trilogy. As it's the last volume, there are numerous grudges to pay off, as Thomas of Hookton heads away from the siege of Calais, and into the Black Death. It's a good wind-up book.
    • 3/5
      Bar the factual Siege of Calais this book takes the plotline of the series to a conclusion in Thomas' ancestral homeland in southern France. The introduction of some new characters at this point are backstory of the history of the Vexilles in this book. Planchard is a good addition.
    • 5/5
      The Reich, or the Workers' Paradise, or the Umma - whatever, they are all the same. They are lying promises of Peace and Paradise on Earth, to be brought about by self-designated elites who exempt themselves from guilt for any amount of larceny and murder. In this volume, in 1347 Gascony, Thomas of Hookton fights the final battle with his evil doppleganger, who claims that his plans will ". . .bring the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth. . . That is all I want, Thomas." "So my father had to die for that?" "I wish it had not been necessary, but he was hiding the Grail. He was an enemy of God." And so Thomas kills in combat the man who had murdered so many defenseless people.
    • 2/5
      The story of Thomas of Hookton is wrapped up in this final tale of the search for the grail and its ties to the Cathar heresy.
    • 5/5
      I love this book. Today in English (Yes, I'm still stuck in Year 9 at school!) we had to write a review of either a book or TV programme so I did the Grail Quest Series and no one else in my class had even heard of Cornwell! Disgraceful! Definately recommend it!
    • 3/5
      A fun read on the Hundred Years War and the rise of the Black Death, the plot nevertheless moves slower and the characters are less diverse and interesting as in Books 1 and 2.
    • 3/5
      This is not as good as the preceding two books in the series, which I enjoyed. As suggested by the book's title and the series name there is a lot of religion in this book and it takes away from the action adventure that was present in the previous books.

      As the author notes only the beginning and ending are based against historical facts and somehow this shows through with this story. I enjoy good books set against real history but that was missing from most of this book.

      But it does conclude the search for the grail and all up the series is work reading.
    • 3/5
      Neither loved it, nor disliked it.
    • 5/5
      The third and final volume of Cornwell's Grail Quest saga, our hero Thomas finds himself in southern France, near his ancestral home of Astarac. By happy coincidence, his nemesis, cousin Guy Vexile, arrives as well as some unexpected (and unwanted) guests: plague rats. A friend and companion turns on him (and is redeemed), an old friend dies, but the battles are won and the grail? Well, I won't spoil it. The series is a great read for those looking for an adventure set in medieval times. The story takes place early in the Hundred Year's War between France and England, and does a good job illustrating how shifting loyalties meant it wasn't a simple war between two established nations. Cornwell's [i]Agincourt[/i], set later in the same war, is not part of the series but will be the next Cornwell book I read.
    • 4/5
      Thomas of Hookton is looking for the Grail. What he finds is a girl who is about to be burned as a heretic, whom he says from the flames. For his reward for doing this, the local Bishop excommunicates him, but his quest continues. In his search he finds many clues and artifacts and trouble only to end up back where he began. He discovers what others think is the Grail, but in the end he knows what and where the Grail really is and its danger.
    • 3/5
      I didn't like this one as much as I liked the Warlord Chronicles, and I never really got to care for the characters, but it was an enjoyable, quick summer read. The historical details were interesting, and although the actual location of the grail and what it was like weren't surprising to me, it was an interesting idea. I liked the final book, but I couldn't care less about the main female character.
    • 3/5
      In The Heretic, Thomas of Hookton is searching for the Holy Grail using mysterious links between his family and the Grail. This leads him to the French country side where he and his men take a castle in Gascony. As he raids the countryside, he attracts the attention of his hated cousin Guy Vexille, who murdered Thomas?s father. He must now defend the castle against Vexille and the army of a local lord. On another front a bishop has sent his brother to find the secrets of the Grail.Cornwell has an enjoyable style and puts in a great detail of detail into the historical aspects of the novel. There is good action and fighting sequences as well as a good pace to the novel. Having said that, the plot itself doesn?t hold up to some of the other Cornwell novels that I have read before. It?s a solid novel and an enjoyable read, but not a great novel.Carl Alves ? author of Blood Street
    • 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 person 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

    • 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)
    • 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.
    • 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.