Books

Books, Culture

An excerpt from Leila Aboulela’s latest book

Lyrics Alley by Leila Aboulela is the evocative story of an affluent Sudanese family shaken by the shifting powers in their country and the near-tragedy that threatens the legacy they’ve built for decades. Moving from Sudanese alleys to cosmopolitan Cairo and a decimated postcolonial Britain, this sweeping tale of desire, loss, despair, and reconciliation is one of the most accomplished portraits ever written about Sudanese society at the time of independence. Here is a short excerpt.

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Books, Culture

“That was how our friendship began”

The monkey and the crocodile. My father used to tell me that story when I was very young. But the version he told me was different from the tale I told Sadiq. In my father’s story, the crocodile is put up to the betrayal of his friend, the monkey, by his greedy wife. She deceives him, feigning illness to get him to do what she wants–to bring back the monkey’s heart for her to eat so that she might become well. Same ending, though. When I was eight or nine years old, older than Sadiq was when he was taken from me, I told my father that I didn’t like his story.

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Books, Relationships

Another look at an important book

One of the many issues Altmuslimah covers is the Muslim marriage crisis—not just the difficulty many Muslim women encounter when trying to find suitable matches but also the rising divorce rate in the Muslim American community. Altmuslimah has featured several commentaries on these and related topics. In her article, When I Think About Marrying, Zeba Iqbal explored the sheer irony of being told throughout her life that one’s level of education and professional success defines success, only to later be labeled a failure because she hadn’t also been able to secure a husband.

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Books, Culture

The Crusades in a new light

Following his intimate exploration into the life of Aisha, wife of the Prophet, in Mother of the Believers, Kamran Pasha sets out to construct a world subject to countless legends, and centered on another of the Islamic world’s most sacred gems – Saladin. Shadow of the Swords is primarily set between Saladin’s capture of Jerusalem and King Richard the Lionheart’s departure from the Holy Land.

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Books, Culture

The 995th Night: An excerpt from The Night Counter

Laila stared at a slab of pork at the supermarket and calculated the cost of a nervous breakdown: $150 an hour for the shrink, $200 a month for pills not covered by insurance, another $200 for a homeopathic doctor and nutritionist, at least $500 for a lawyer to write up her will in case she became suicidal, and $850 for a self-actualization yoga retreat in California. Throw in another $600 for a couple of colonics and a massage. Expensive. The one thing Laila had inherited from Fatima, besides the nose, was the ability to do math and shop at the same time. A nervous breakdown, along with all her other medical expenses, was just not in the family budget.

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Books, Culture

“In silence, there was peace”

Screenwriter and author Kamran Pasha, whose work includes screenwriting credits for “24” and the novel “Mother of the Believers”, has released a new book, “Shadow of the Swords: A Novel of the Crusades”. An epic saga of love and war, “Shadow” tells the story of the Crusades from a Muslim perspective. Here is an excerpt from the new novel.

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Books, Culture

“Even the worldliest love has a spiritual side”: Interview with Elif Shafak

In her poetic new novel, Elif Shafak explores two parallel journeys toward Love – one set in modern times and another in the thirteenth century, between Sufi masters Rumi and Shams of Tabriz. The intersection between these two narratives reveals important lessons about self, selflessness, and Divine submission. Altmuslimah’s Asma Uddin spoke with the author about the deeper messages behind her lyrical prose.

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Books, Culture

The most important book you can read this year

Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times, and his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, have recently published an extraordinary book entitled “Half The Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity For Women Worldwide.” The book is a call to action, primarily to Westerners, to become, at the very least, armchair philanthropists aware of the global plight of women. With a blend of research, personal relationships, and relevant narratives, the couple proves they have a deep understanding of the injustices occurring around the world, and an even deeper desire to educate others on the issues they are so passionate about.

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Books, Culture

Speaking for themselves

Our Stories, Our Lives is an anthology of a diverse group of women in Bradford, England, offering a glimpse into their lives and their struggle to reconcile their Muslim identities with their British ones. With the media’s daily onslaught against the image of Muslims, coupled with the assumptions about so-called conflicting alliances (Islam versus the West), a “proud British Muslim” would sound like an oxymoron to many. But it isn’t, and talking to many Muslims in Britain will tell you just that.

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