Sumbul Ali-Karamali - The Muslim Next Door: The Quran, the Media, and That Veil Thing

Praise For

The Muslim Next Door

[W]ho do I read if I only have a limited amount of time and want to know what and why Muslims believe what they believe? The Muslim Next Door is an excellent place to start. Sumbul Ali-Karamali presents Islam as a living and lived faith. She combines scholarship with an engaging and accessible style and frank self-criticism that crystallizes the faith and commitment of a majority of mainstream Muslims in its unity and diversity.

DR. JOHN L. ESPOSITO, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR MUSLIM
CHRISTIAN UNDERSTANDING AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY

This book easily ranks as one of the best three books published on the Islamic faith in the English language since the tragedy of 9/11. It is a profoundly eloquent, consistently reliable, comprehensive, insightful, and often brilliant testament of what it means to be a Muslim and what the religion of Islam is all about. Refreshing in its honesty, accessibility, and humility, and truly impressive in scope and depth, this is an indispensable book. Indeed this book is a necessary read not just for those who are interested in learning about Islam, but even more so for those who believe that they have learned all there is to know about Islam.

DR. KHALED ABOU EL FADL, PROFESSOR OF
ISLAMIC LAW, UCLA SCHOOL OF LAW

There are few books that I would genuinely recommend to everybody I know, and you are holding one of them. Sumbul Ali-Karamali has written a lovely, lyrical, and learned book about living Islam. Whether you are an expert in the subject or a novice, a skeptic or a believer, you will find this book a treasure.

DR. EBOO PATEL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INTERFAITH YOUTH CORE

Sumbul Ali-Karamali has written a book which is gripping, comprehensive and essential. With wit, honesty, and scholarship, she offers an account of what being Muslim means in a polarized world where the fault line is as grave as it is prejudiced. A masterpiece of simplicity that offers a groundbreaking testimony that will find its way to every household, in the U.S. and beyond, for Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

CHIBLI MALLAT, PH.D. IN ISLAMIC LAW; PROFESSOR OF LAW AND POLITICS
OF THE MIDDLE EAST, SJ QUINNEY COLLEGE OF LAW, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH

Sumbul Al-Karamali has a gift for explaining the ins and outs of Islam in a language understandable by all. As a practicing Muslim, she puts a human face on a religion that is grossly misunderstood and often feared in America. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about Islam from someone who lives it.

FIROOZEH DUMAS, AUTHOR OF FUNNY IN FARSI AND
LAUGHING WITHOUT AN ACCENT

A beautiful book. At a time when most Americans are bombarded with misinformation about Islam and, in particular American Muslims, Ali-Karamali has written an elegant corrective. For anyone who truly wants to know what Muslims believe, this is the perfect book.

REZA ASLAN, AUTHOR, NO GOD BUT GOD:
THE ORIGINS, EVOLUTION, AND FUTURE OF ISLAM

Sumbul Ali-Karamali has produced an intelligent, sensitive and highly readable study of Islam as it is experienced and interpreted by most Muslims. An important work that challenges the distorted views of the extremists and the prejudices of Islamophobes.

DR. ALI ASANI, PROFESSOR OF THE PRACTICE OF INDO-MUSLIM
LANGUAGES AND CULTURES AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY; ADVISORY
BOARD OF THE PLURALISM PROJECT AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Sumbul Ali-Karamali provides refreshing insight into an impressive range of issues concerning Islam. Her book is the journey of an American Muslim woman struggling with her identity, her tradition, and most importantly, her desire to simultaneously fit in with American culture while preserving her faith. Through the use of both personal anecdotes and extensive evidence from the Islamic tradition, she provides easy-to-read, credible, and thought-provoking analysis.

IMAM FEISAL ABDUL RAUF, AUTHOR, WHATS RIGHT WITH ISLAM

Sumbul Ali-Karamali lives according to her faith, with humor, good grace, and brilliance, so when she shares her insights, they ring true. I was a Catholic nun in my early life, so took particular interest in this modern, savvy womans faith, which was, to be frank, a little scary to me. This book is fascinating; I couldnt put it down. I recommend it whole-heartedly to people of good will who are grappling with questions about Islam and Muslim in America today.

ANN MCCORMICK, PH.D., FOUNDER OF THE LEARNING COMPANY

This is a refreshingly frank and wonderfully accessible account of what it means to be an American Muslim woman today. Sumbul Ali-Karamali speaks from the heart as well as the head and she dispels many misconceptions about Islam today.

DR. CAROLE HILLENBRAND, PROFESSOR OF
ISLAMIC HISTORY, UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH

The
Muslim
Next Door

The Quran,
the Media,
and that
Veil Thing

Sumbul Ali-Karamali

The
Muslim
Next Door

The Quran,
the Media,
and that
Veil Thing

White Cloud Press
Ashland, Oregon

Copyright 2008 by Sumbul Ali-Karamali.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Inquiries should be addressed to:
White Cloud Press
PO Box 3400
Ashland, Oregon 97520
www.whitecloudpress.com

Cover Photo by Evan Winslow Smith
Cover and interior design by Confluence Book Services

First edition: 2008

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ali-Karamali, Sumbul, The Muslim next door : the Quran, the media, and that veil thing / By Sumbul Ali-Karamali.
p. cm. Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-9793840-4-2
1. Islam--21st century. 2. Islam--Essence, genius, nature. 3. Muslims--Social life and customs--21st century. 4. Islam--Public opinion. I. Title.
BP161.3.A374 2008
297--dc22

2008019896

For my parents,
with love and gratitude

Contents

Muslims use the word interpretation, and not translation, when discussing the Quran. The reason is the importance, in Muslim tradition, of holding every word of the Quran sacred and not allowing it to be changed. A translation can never be 100 percent accurate, and so translations are not accepted as the real Quran but rather as aids in understanding it. In this book, I have quoted from primarily two translations (or interpretations): those of Muhammad Asad and A. J. Arberry. I like the former because of its clear and scholarly footnotes, which deeply explain contexts and alternative possible meanings of words. I like the latter because Arberry has tried to capture the poetic cadence of the Quran. The numbering of the verses can vary slightly, so sometimes verse 112 in the Asad edition can be more like 106 in the Arberry. Thats something to keep in mind, in case you want to follow up on my footnotes.

Acknowledgements

Without my husband, Im not sure if I ever would have written this book. I had idly considered the idea for years but never started on this path until he urged me to pursue a degree in Islamic law. Whenever I got discouraged, he threatened to finish the book for me and publish it himself. That was usually enough for me to leap back to work. Much of the credit for this book goes to him.