The Muslim Next Door The Qur'an, the Media, and That Veil Thing

What if you could sit down at a kitchen table with an American Muslim mom and ask anything you wanted about her faith and religious practice? Conveyed through anecdotes and stories about growing up Muslim and female in the West, author Sumbul Ali-Karamali answers the perennial questions: What are the day-to-day practices of Muslims and how does Islam fit into the Judeo-Christian tradition? Where do the rules come from in Islam and why is quoting the Qur'an problematic? Who's who in Islam (Sunni, Shi'a, the Nation of Islam, Sufis) and why do dervishes whirl? Are Muslim women really oppressed, veiled, and willing to share their husbands? How do most Muslims feel about holy war and fundamentalism? How did American Muslims react to the September 11th attacks? The Muslim Next Door clears away the misconceptions about Islam and why they flourish - media distortion, confusion about what is cultural rather than religious, the language barrier, and the old tall tales that still persist after thirteen centuries. Book jacket.

Sumbul Ali-Karamali grew up in California, balancing her South Asian, Muslim, and American identities. Often the only Muslim her acquaintances knew, she had ample practice answering questions about Islam and Muslims. ("What do you mean you can't go to the prom because of your religion?") While working as a corporate lawyer, she was repeatedly asked to recommend books on Islam, so she decided to write a book that was both academically reliable and entertaining to read. Consequently, she moved to London and earned her L.L.M. in Islamic Law from the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies. She served as a teaching assistant in Islamic Law at SOAS and a research associate at the Centre of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law in London, and then she wrote The Muslim Next Door for everyone who ever asked — or wanted to ask — a question about Islam.