Living Islam Out Loud: American Muslim Women Speak

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 209 pages
• Published by: Beacon Press
• Edition: 1st Edition August 15, 2005
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0807083836
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0807083833
• Book Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Weighs: 8 ounces

From Publishers Weekly
Muslim activist Abdul-Ghafur edits this book of essays and poems, all related to the experience of growing up Muslim and female in the United States. Two of the best and most absorbing essays come from African-American women: Khadijah Sharif-Drinkard, who grew up in Harlem and became a successful corporate attorney and public servant, and Precious Rasheeda Muhammad, who describes her childhood in the Nation of Islam as a dynamic, educational experience. But the tone of some of the other contributors can be whiny. Many seem marked by tragedy, varying from things unrelated to Islam (having an autistic child) to tensions arising from ethnic cultures (marrying a non-Muslim, enduring abusive semiarranged marriages). Some of the authors engage in vague spiritual discussions about the omnipresence of God and compare Islam to a forest, with male chauvinism being the weeds in the forest, but their ideas are too abstract to enhance one's understanding of Islamic spirituality. As with many anthologies, there is some repetition of ideas, not only within the book itself but also echoing themes from the authors' previous writings. Although the contributions are uneven, this anthology opens the door for other writers to explore the important and understudied topic of Muslim American women. (Sept.)
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Product Review
made up of disparate essays dedicated to topics like love, faith, and religion, with contributions from Sarah El-Tantawi, who has appeared on Hardball and Asra Nomani, a former reporter for the Wall Street Journal. Some essays are passionate, while others are more subdued, but all attempt to define female identity in the context of American and Muslim ties. As editor Abdul-Ghafur, a former chief executive of Azizah, a leading magazine for Muslim women, notes, this identity reflects the continuum of Muslim women in the West -evolving, spiritual, and unique. Moving essays and poems cover marriage, religious beliefs, homosexuality, abuse, American cultural expectations, and religious ecstasy in the idiom of Islamic belief. All entail some element of spiritual transformation and provide a wonderfully satisfying read. (Library Journal)

Reader Reviews
Living Islam Out Loud is an extraordinary collection of coming of age stories of American Muslim Women. The stories are intense, inspiring and powerful. This book provides an intimate and honest look how out-dated cultural and religious values have an enormous impact on the self image and life choices of young women. The women in this book illustrate the courage it takes to stand out on their own and find a personal relationship with God outside of the limitations of oppression and sexism. This book is an ideal representation of many American born Muslim Women and the obstacles we must overcome to find our place in Islam. Living Islam Out Loud is a remarkable vehicle for individual and international change in the Islamic world.