BOOKSHELF

 

Uniquely American Muslim – I Speak for Myself

Reviewed by Molly Darden

I Speak for Myself is a uniquely American Muslim book because its subjects include all the diversity of the Muslim community, from the most traditional niqabis to the most thoroughly modernized women, each practicing Islam in her own way. All are women born and raised in the United States and negotiating American life as Muslims.

An occurring thread running throughout this book is that American Muslim women must question their dual and sometimes triple identities (heritage, religion and citizenship), despite their parents and older generations cultural beliefs having been conveyed as ‘Islamic’ traditions.

Many of these subjects were profoundly affected by the bombings of September 11, 2001 and the subsequent backlash. As they questioned, these women learned to define themselves according to their own perceptions of their backgrounds and experiences, forging their own unique approaches to Islam.

Prior to 9/11, Hebah Ahmed, a Tennessee native born to Egyptian immigrant parents, didn’t even wear a hijab. Following the cataclysmic attack on New York, however, she began wearing the niqab, quit her job as a mechanical engineer, and began home schooling her two children because, she felt a “deepening love for Islam and modesty.”

Her father had long insisted that when she married, she must be subservient to her husband – following the example of her mother, also an engineer. Feeling conflicted about her own egalitarian opinions, Hebah read about the Prophet’s (may peace be on him) wife Khadijah, an independently wealthy entrepreneur 15 years his elder – who proposed to her husband. “This struck at the root of my identity,” she said.

Today, she said, “It is this true Islam that I am now teaching my precious daughter Khadijah. And, yes, my husband picks up his plate and washes it, ignoring my father’s protests. And he’s changed his fair share of dirty diapers!”

Because she was so conscious of her physical image and the perception of other people, Noursheen Yousuf-Sadiq began wearing the hijab just before she entered college, and she’s been wearing it ever since.

She says that by adopting the scarf, she has changed her dual identity from an American and a Muslim to a single one, American Muslim. In the process, she has changed her focus from worrying about her physical size to caring for her health.

Amira Choueiki chooses to present herself as an American woman who happens to be Muslim, without wearing identifying clothing. Her multicultural family background (Lebanese/Irish-German American parents,) combined Islam with Catholicism and American with Middle Eastern cultures as the family moved from Ohio to Kuwait when she was eight.

Currently a student at Georgia Institute of Technology majoring in economics and international affairs, she has interned in Washington, DC in domestic policy research and in Dubai, United Arab Emirates at a security and defense think tank researching terrorist group recruitment and training. She has also organized an interfaith religious study group.

Despite her multifaceted activities, she had always questioned her national identity and whether an American could be accepted as a Muslim; were they compatible?

“As I grew up,” she said, “I knew no one else like me. Even the Muslims I’d known in Ohio were deeply rooted in their own cultural traditions, usually Pakistani…I had no examples to follow, no kindred’s to discuss my situation with…Feeling judged and misunderstood by both ends of the spectrum, I had no idea how to bridge the two sides.”

While her father practiced his Muslim faith meticulously, her mother never formally identified as Muslim, which annoyed Amira; however, “as I grew older, met more people and began learning about other faiths,” she said, “I realized what my mother had been silently preaching to my brothers and me throughout our childhood: her belief in finding commonalities and focusing on the good in people.”

Amira says she hasn’t figured it all out yet, but finally at college she has met people facing similar cultural challenges, and they’re working on it together. She said, “I have found the greatest solace in prayer – and increasingly trusting God with each passing year. I can’t identify all of the answers, but I can hope my relationship with and my dependency on Him are sufficient.”

With her friends, she says, “We are trying to find the balance between practicing our religion the best way we know how and enjoying life in this wonderful country (America) we were fortunate enough to be born in…I’ve found myself trying to fit into the American Midwest, the Middle East, and the American South as I have grown up. Yes, it is complicated and crazy…my life is a mixture of worlds and cultures, and I love it that way.”

As the diverse lives of these 40 women indicate, celebrating an American authentically Muslim identity can take numerous forms. Perhaps the greatest strength of I Speak for Myself is its demonstration of the flexibility of Islam, both culturally and religiously.

 

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