She became disenchanted with Islam , and was shocked by the September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001 , for which al-Qaeda eventually claimed responsibility . After listening to videotapes of Osama bin Laden citing " words of justification " in the Qur ' an for the attacks , she wrote , " I picked up the Qur ' an and the hadith and started looking through them , to check . I hated to do it , because I knew that I would find Bin Laden 's quotations in there . " During this time of transition , she came to regard the Qur ' an as relative – it was a historical record and " just another book . " Reading '' Atheïstisch manifest '' ( " Atheist Manifesto " ) of Leiden University philosopher Herman Philipse helped to convince her to give up religion . She renounced Islam and acknowledged her disbelief in God in 2002 . She began to formulate her critique of Islam and Islamic culture , published many articles on these topics , and became a frequent speaker on television news programs and in public debate forums . She discussed her ideas at length in a book entitled '' De zoontjesfabriek '' ( '' The Son Factory '' ) ( 2002 ) . In this period , she first began to receive death threats
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Ayaan Hirsi Ali