Nomad

From Islam to America: A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations

By: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Narrated by: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Internationally bestselling author Ayaan Hirsi Ali tells the stirring story of her search for a new life in America, recounting dramatic stories of her family and the challenges they faced adapting to Western society as Muslim immigrants.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali captured the world’s attention with Infidel, her compelling coming-of-age memoir, which spent thirty-one weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Now, in Nomad, Hirsi Ali tells of coming to America to build a new life, an ocean away from the death threats made to her by European Islamists, the strife she witnessed, and the inner conflict she suffered. It is the story of her physical journey to freedom and, more crucially, her emotional journey to freedom—her transition from a tribal mind-set that restricts women’s every thought and action to a life as a free and equal citizen in an open society. Through stories of the challenges she has faced, she shows the difficulty of reconciling the contradictions of Islam with Western values.

In these pages Hirsi Ali recounts the many turns her life took after she broke with her family, and how she struggled to throw off restrictive superstitions and misconceptions that initially hobbled her ability to assimilate into Western society. She writes movingly of her reconciliation, on his deathbed, with her devout father, who had disowned her when she renounced Islam after 9/11, as well as with her mother and cousins in Somalia and in Europe.

Nomad is a portrait of a family torn apart by the clash of civilizations. But it is also a touching, uplifting, and often funny account of one woman’s discovery of today’s America. While Hirsi Ali loves much of what she encounters, she fears we are repeating the European mistake of underestimating radical Islam. She conveys an urgent message and mission—to inform the West of the extent of the threat from Islam, both from outside and from within our open societies. A celebration of free speech and democracy, Nomad is an important contribution to the history of ideas, but above all a rousing call to action.

Thoughtful reflections on culture and religion

Ayaan’s story is incredibly inspiring, and it is fascinating to listen to her dive deeper into the details than she did in Infidel. Nomad is not AS good as Infidel, but it’s a great read/listen nonetheless.

Great clarity in what Islam stands for

All in the free world need to read this, especially those who don’t wish to hide their heads in the sand.

Inspiring

Ayan's courage is inspiring. I often think if she was able to walk herself into the light maybe there is hope for the rest of us.

An amazing woman

I loved this book. it is an amazing autobiography of survival in a society with hatred, violence, chaos, persecution and fear. The author is then able to analyze what she has survived and what has made her stronger and present ideas for change, progress and peace.
She has a sweet, sincere and strong voice and is a wonderful narrator and needs not rely on dramatics or anger to tell her story.
I hope that people will listen to this informative book by the controversial author so that we may make progress in solving one of the most threatening scenarios in the world today.

Fascinating and Beautifully Written

This is the third book of Ayaan Hirsi Ali's that I have read and was my favorite. I suggest reading Heretic first to understand her entire fascinating story, but this one goes more into depth of the plight of an immigrant and their assimilation into a new culture and society, how she became such a role model for all women and important feminist, and the need for reformation of Islam. Her stories of her grandmother's struggles as a Somali herder to her cousin in America all carry an important message and her writing is beautiful. I very much enjoyed reading about her fascinating life.