About the Author:
As you mentioned in the preface to your book, she is an American Muslim to Pakistani immigrant parents who was born in Chicago. She has made up a title for herself: “I am a self-proclaimed Muslim feminist cowgirl … my spirit is a mixture of American individualism, the American West, the Islam I grew up with and practice, my family’s code of ethics and the feminism that I believe in. ” She has published another book “Why am I a Muslim?”
She was a 25-year-old law student in New York when this book was published in 2000. She has written editorials for the Denver Post and fiction for the Susquehanna Review. It seems that she has mixed some of the Islamic rules with the circumstances of living in America to create a light-minded Muslim feminist. From the evidences you provide in your book, you probably say your five daily prayers and fast during Ramezan and help charity, but you believe that a simple attraction is enough to save Hijab, or on the day of judgment you would not be guilty for not following a full Halal diet. .
She thinks that American Islam, as it grows and evolves, will offer a model for Islam in the rest of the worlds: a purer Islam. “I believe that American Islam is a purer form of Islam than is practiced in some Islamic countries.”
About the book
Hasan published his book before September 11. After this event in an interview on National radio, she said that some conservative Muslims have told her: “You cannot be Muslim and believe that!” and she replied, “Yes, I can!” In the interview, he did not mention what his meaning of “that” was, so a look at his book would give an idea of what “that” meant.
This book is written in ten chapters, each one covers a different topic. Broadly speaking, it deals with the sects of Islam, the Hijab, the principles of Islam, the army in Islam, the media and Islam, feminism, reform, growth in America, and politics.
This book is not an autobiography, although in narrating the plight of Muslims, their experiences are conspicuous, nor is it a historical explanation of the development of Islam, while it does contain some background on some topics for a totally unfamiliar American audience to familiarize with. the Islam. In this sense, her experiences illustrate what it is like to be a young Muslim and to live in the United States. For example, when you prefer to tell a restaurant waiter that you have a pork allergy, rather than say that you follow a religious diet, you imply that even today it is rare for an American to encounter rare problems, which he would consider as unnatural.
Try to correct some misconceptions in American minds. She tries to make Americans believe that what one Muslim does cannot be generated for all Muslims. If a Muslim commits terrorist acts it does not mean that everyone has a belligerent ideology. She tries to say that the image of oppressed Muslim women in the minds of Americans is not correct, by proving her claim, she exemplifies herself as a Muslim student with feminist ideas who lives freely.
By correcting the minds of Americans, he sometimes makes an effort to optimize his attitude and change what they have already believed. She says that Jihad means a struggle and above all “an internal struggle to strengthen one’s belief against corrupting and anti-Islamic forces” (p. 49) According to her, this meaning is shown in the Qur’an and in the life of the Prophet of Islam. , so it is not a holy war against all Americans. It is obvious that she herself struggles to soften Islamic principles in order to present them very gently.
She brings up another topic to have a common sense between Americans and Islamic principles and emphasizes the similarities between these two. It states that “Islam was founded on the same principles and ideas as the United States.” In his desire to integrate with a common religion, he says that since “Western culture and Judeo-Christian ethics are defined by the belief in one God, also the main belief of Islam”, it is better to consider “Judeo-Christian-Islamic”.
She describes the difference between being a Muslim and living in the United States compared to other countries this way: “American Muslims do not have the cultural support system that most Muslims around the world have. Each Islamic country has its own. set of Qur’anic interpretations, including a group of scholars who establish those interpretations, called ulema. Here in the United States, most Muslims fly blind, although we have a National Council of Fiqh, created and formed by some Muslim American leaders. .. However, we need to create our own support systems related to our new approaches to the Qur’an. ” (P. 132)
Regarding politics, she thinks that an important participation in American politics is the election of a Muslim representative in Congress. And the reason Muslims are not enthusiastic about politics, in his view, is “because they are disturbed by the overwhelming US policy against Muslims, especially the implicit lack of support for the Palestinians.” (P.152) Then continue with the activities of Muslim institutions such as AMA, MPAC and AMC so as not to leave a disappointing picture in this part.
Criticism and evaluation
According to Hasan, “… this book is about other Muslims like me, living as Americans and Muslims and discovering their spirit and identity as we go along.” Her claim that her book is about nearly six million Muslims living in the United States and that they are all like her is suspected. I think that since there are so many interpretations, ideologies and lifestyles related to Islam in the United States, it is a great adventure to think that everyone thinks like her or even lives in circumstances like hers, because dealing with minorities is different in different places. from America.
What I can say at first is that I think the title of this book, “American Muslims”, is not appropriate at all. Hasan is a young lady who narrates her own perception of Islam and therefore, in my opinion, she is not allowed to generate what she thinks for all Muslims living in America.
The second point I noticed is that despite being young and poorly exercised, she cannot imagine a correct, multi-dimensional perspective on Islam. His experience shows that he has no prophecy in the study of Islam to judge whether what American Muslims do is in accordance with Islam or not, although it is obvious that he has at least taken a look at the Qur’an. For example, she believes that the hijab (head covering) according to the holy Quran and the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is not necessary for women except in prayer time. In his opinion, it is enough for women to dress modestly.
The other weak point that I understood was that her statements are very general, I mean without specifying the meaning of her terminology (like “modestly” in women they attract or “feminism” in her idea) and on the other hand, she affirms something without giving . evidence and reference for that. When he narrates a prayer from the Qur’an, he does not specify where he has read it. For example, she mentions: “In truth, Islam is supposed to be practiced and interpreted by each individual and not transmitted by a pope-like figure. So says the Qur’an.”
Recommendation
So I think what he has written in his book is only his point of view on Islam and he cannot be trusted. It’s very personal, a completely personal narrative. Even from the cover image that is the photo of the writer, you can guess how personal it may be. Therefore, although it is interesting to know how a young Muslim woman thinks in the days leading up to September 11, reading this book for another Muslim who already knows Islam and at the same time may disagree with the author can be boring.