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Loading...Learning About Islam: 15 Books to Get You Started
- by Safa S.
- August 4, 2011
- 6:00 pm
6. Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy, and the West, by Benazir Bhutto
This manuscript, completed just days before the assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, stretched beyond her own political narrative to look at historic and contemporary Islam’s interactions with the West. Her thesis looks at “two critical tensions… [which] must be reconciled to prevent the clash of civilizations:” Islam’s own internal tensions, and its relations with the non-Islamic world. By looking at jihad, women’s equality, and the differences between Islam’s Shia and Sunni sects, Bhutto argues that “democracy and Islam are not only compatible but mutually sustaining.”
7. I Speak for Myself: American Women on Being Muslim, edited by Maria M. Ebrahimji and Zahra T. Suratwala
Rarely in the rhetoric of Muslims in America do we hear the voices of Muslim women in America, yet so much of the debate centers around them, looking to them and their role in Islamic society as misinterpreted symbols of female oppression and subjugation. Of the over one billion Muslim women in the world, an estimated six million live in the United States. In this new anthology, edited by Maria M. Ebrahimji from CNN and Zahra T. Suratwala from Zahra Ink, stories of being Muslim, American and female are interwoven around the themes of limitlessness and individuality. “While their commonality is faith and citizenship,” each woman’s story shows variance in experiences, messages, voices, even identities. “Muslim women are often portrayed and depicted as silent slaves, unable to speak for themselves, and at the mercy of a male custodianship,” Kurdish-Muslim feminist Ruwayda Mustafah Rabar noted in a recent review. “This book debunks that myth… It truly represents the Muslim community as it is– diverse and full of intelligent women, not afraid to speak their mind.”
8. The Reluctant Fundamentalist, by Mohsin Hamid
This sophomore fiction by writer Mohsin Hamid looks at the life of Changez, a Pakistani national fresh out of Princeton when 9/11 happens. Despite the title’s connotation, never once in the book is religion mentioned, which leaves the reader to wonder what type of fundamentalist Changez is. Throughout the narrative, he fights both a moral battle and an internal political battle, in how both he and America react to the news of 9/11. In both his depiction of America’s backwards-thinking of the events and his lack of compassion for trying to understand it all, we see in both him and America the dangers that come from the inability to accept change.
9. War on Error: Real Stories of American Muslim, by Melody Moezzi
In this collection of 12 interviews with other Muslim Americans, Melody Moezzi, a Muslim lawyer of Iranian descent, presents a series of short biographical vignettes, from non-religious “cultural” Muslims to converts in hijabs, looking at the varying experiences and identity questions that characterize many Muslim Americans’ experiences today. Though the details of the stories vary, like Living Islam Out Loud, the unifying theme is that Muslim Americans are no different in their quest for place and identity than any other population of Americans, and through that shared journey, these stories show how more alike Americans of all faiths are, as opposed to different.
10. The Soul of Iran: A Nation’s Journey to Freedom, by Afshin Molavi
A far cry from the simplistic depictions of Iran that plague mainstream American media, here Afshin Molavi weaves history, politics, culture and personal narratives to show another, much less represented side of Iran, one that has fallen astray from the 1979 revolution that put Islamist rule on the international radar. Throughout the book, stereotypes are debunked, generalizations are examined, and through it all, a new picture of Iran forms, one that shows its people more frustrated with their own government than they are with America and the West.
Read more: Afshin Molavi, arab, benazir bhutto, books, culture, Edward Said, egypt, Feisal Abdul Rauf, iran, islam, islamic world, israel, Leila Ahmed, literature, Maria M. Ebrahimji, Melody Moezzi, middle east, Mohsin Hamid, muslim, Omid Safi, palestine, politics, reading list, Reza Aslan, Roy Mottahedeh, Saleemah Abdul-Ghafur, Sumbul Ali-Karamali, Zahra T. Suratwala
Photo courtesy of hapal via flickr.
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+ add your own@Giovanna M
"Mayne they had a righ to inherit half, that was half more than Christian women (who didn't even had a soul)."
Well you said Muslimas had EQUAL rights, so don't bring in Christian women. You concede then since they inherit half, their testimony is half, and by the way Moe said they were deficient and most would go to hell, that they in fact were not equal. Please don't patronize us by trying to whitewash this pedophile murderer and highwayman into a feminist!
"I'm not saying Islam is perfect"
Wow, I'm sorry. I thought you were Muslim. I see by the above statement you are not.
Dolores, I hate to bust you bubble but there is not now and never has been a tolerant organized religion, and do some research and you find Buddhists have committed crimes against others too, they have just never worked quite as hard as the Judeo-Christian-Isalmic tradition religions for political power to force their ideology onto others. And yes, I did intentionally say Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition as they all share more in common than the bits they hate and kill over.
Some people have tried to say that the religion is good because they have met some good people who practice it. I submit that their are good people. their religion has little or nothing to do with their goodness. As I have said before, allreligions that claim to be the revelation of some deity are inherently intolerant and bigotted. Any goodness is in the person not the religion.
It is like the story of the 5 blind men and the elephant. We each perceive our world according to our life and viewpoint. If we are good we will see good.
~;^}>
Superstition is harmful to children and other living things
The fact is that any group that claims a revelation from some deity is inherently vicious, intolerant and bigotted. It matters not if the claim comes from some bronze aged desert nomads, a 1st century apocolyptic jewish preacher, a 3rd century Roman emperor, a 7th century goatherd or a 19th century west New York farmer. They are all patriarchal, misogynistic, bigotted purveyors of massive quantities of male bovine excrement.
~;^}>
Superstition is harmful to children and other living things
Lesley
The same crapola is in the Bible and in laws that abounded in Christian countries. We may be TRYING to get past that but the GOP is making a great effort to re-color our country as an Inquisition wannabe. Your points are all dying on the vine
Si?...taco bell....go straight 2 blocks ,you can't miss it.
No thanks. I have heard, seen, and read enough of Islam, Christianity, all the major religions of the world. I am more interested in philosophies from the ideas of agnostics and atheists, which are much more peaceful and logically correct than ANY religion I have ever come across. No thanks guys. I like the music, the people and the art are beautiful, but the insanity of religion is a big turn-off. I don't want any part of any religion. Welcome to the 21st century. Stay in the 1st if you like, it's your choice.
Cuántos prejuicios e ignorancia! No cabe duda que los discursos oficiales, que los medios de información y que la falta de interés por conocer la verdad conduce al fanatismo: fanatismo contra el islam. Qué religión está libre de sangre, de manipulación, de convenciencias, de mentiras, de asesinatos? En qué país no hay gente que muere o mata por sus creencias religiosas? Por qué nos negamos a informarnos, pensar y decidir por cuenta propia? Pecan de fundamentalistas tanto los de oriente como los de occidente.
Yo Salma...wow; speaking about lies.. start with the ones about Jesus Christ in the quran.
That's enough. His Blood testifies against these lies. And ...even your brass admits 6 million Africans became Christian last year. Jesus; TheSon of God IS lord Sal...can't get around it......and ending my time on this earth won't change it .
and That's the Truth.......MARANATHA......Come LORD JESUS.
I think we have been educated on Islam enough over the past 15-20 years. Islamic propaganda is not necessary.
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