Customer Reviews

Standing Alone: An American Woman's Struggle for the Soul of Islam (Plus)

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I picked up this book just on the spur of the moment from my local library. I'll admit that the title grabbed me. Not knowing what it was really about, or what to expect, I began to read with half-interest. I was quickly gripped, however, with the honesty and heart from which this woman has told her story. Many of us choose to withold those things we consider too personal, painful, or private for public view, but Asra Nomani pushes this norm aside in her pursuit to share a journey she felt the world needed to hear.

Nomani, a daughter of Indian immigrant parents, grows up in a typical American lifestyle. At a young age, she begins to come aware of some of the tensions between that of her Islamic and American upbringings. As an adult, she becomes pregnant outside of marriage and is suddenly hurled into the heart of these matters as she struggles to find her place in a religion, which at first appears to reject her situation and struggle. Undaunted, Nomani begins a journey with her year-old son to Mecca, the holiest city in Islam. This journey parallels a travel made by both her body and her spirit as she goes physically to the heart of Mecca during the holy pilgrimage of Hajj, and spiritually as she plunges to the very heart of her spiritually, faith, and definition of self. Her honesty is both riveting and inspiring.

The only drawbacks I saw with the book: a lot of name-dropping. As an accomplished journalist and traveler, Nomani has met and built lasting friendships with numerous big names. She doesn't hesitate to sprinkle them all over throughout the book. Also, she digresses, at times, into side and back-stories that don't seem to really be necessary. But this is a biography, of sorts, so both these issues are not that bothersome.

I am forever moved by Nomani's courage and sincerity to seek harmony between all the aspects of herself, her faith, and her American values. By reading this book, you do not need to be a woman or Muslim to be inspired to take on your own journey of self-discovery and clarity. As a Muslim woman myself, I don't agree with all of Nomani's statements and views, but I don't have to. This is her story, not mine, and I applaud her heartful journey to the very soul of herself and her place in Islam and the world. This book is well worth the read for anyone seeking to better understand religion in the modern world, Islam, or women's struggle of self-definition the world-around.

This book will give the reader who is not very familiar with Islam a wonderful look inside this fascinating religion. There will probably be many surprises as you read, but you will come away with a clearer understanding of the pros and cons of Islam in today's world. Even if it were not such an important topic, you would still find the story captivating. Well written!

(review previously written, based on reading ARC)
Journalist Asra Nomani is a woman of much complexity-she is a single mom, a career woman and an American Muslim. The birth of her son Shibli, and her desertion by Shibli's father, marks a turning point in her life and leads her to give more serious thought to her spiritual life, the result of which is her desire to participate in the hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.

Standing Alone is the very personal memoir of Nomani's experiences during the hajj, of her struggles as a woman in what has become a male dominant religion, of her search for a God of love among all the dogma, and finally of how the journey helped her redefine her spiritual life. She examines her life prior to the hajj, tries to work out the knotty problems of issues like pre-marital sex and divine forgiveness and the horror that some have done in the name of her faith. Nomani bares her heart and her soul to the reader as she seeks her truth.

This books is more than just a spiritual journal, though. It also gives outsiders a closer, clearer few of Islam, it's practices and it's history. I found it to be not only enlightening, but very timely for our age.

Ms. Nomani has opened a new world for me by helping me be rid of many stereotypes and prejudices that I had unwittingly harbored. I hope that others will read it and find the same release from ignorance and a renewal of love and respect for others.

Both an educational and interesting book about women's rights in Islam. After reading this book alone, I am now equipped with enough knowledge to return to my own local Mosque. What's more, is that I am now equipped with enough knowledge to go back to loving and appreciating my religion fully. Thank you, Asra Nomani.

In the introduction you write your 'infant son was living proof of your zina (sex out of wedlock)'? how was it living proof? did you declare that to the Saudi authorities in your Hajj visa application? or did you say that the Saudi immigration? All that a infant travelling alone with you showed was that either you were divorced or had permission from your husband to travel alone as required by Saudi authorities. It would seem you are trying to exaggerate some perceived threat to your person in order to dramatize this book in order to sell your book.

a friend recommended this book for me. I thought it sounds good and i bought it.. i read the first few pages.. didnt like her ideas or opinions. Tried to read on the whole book but couldn't. It angered me that she was so confused yet thought she was always right. Meaning she would say incorrect things with confidence that it was right, when it was completely wrong.
shes one of the Muslims that confuse RELIGION with CULTURE..
often she would say "Islamic culture". There is no such thing as an Islamic culture. Islam is a religion, and from it you know what to follow from your culture (since some of it may be forbidden in the RELIGION of ISLAM).
Or she would say things and include them as solely part of her culture, when its really part of the religion. Or she would do the opposite! say something was part of Islam, when really its a cultural issue. She herself is confused about all that and in her book, if the reader was not Muslim or of the the culture she is from (or is familiar with it), they would also get confused!
the plot was sort of scattered.. or well, she mentions things out of no where that need not be mentioned at the time.
Overall, i just dont think that she understands THE RELIGION of Islam, without associating any culture into it. Its important to tell the difference between your CULTURE and RELIGION. They are completely two different things.
I would definitely not recommend it. Especially to anyone wanting to learn about Islam. This book will confuse you and mentions things that are not part of Islam. Not to mention, criticizes some important aspects of the beautiful religion of Islam.

Peace

The reading was slow-going for me as I tried to understand the author's point of view. The book explains that moderate Islamists are attempting to counteract the violence of the radical Islamists.

There is a difference between "intellectual criticism" and trying to change something that is NOT hers to change. What is divine, is not up for debate. (and will never be) It is insulting and arrogant to think that the core religious ideologies of Islam she disagrees upon she can attack. On the other hand, what is cultural, is of human making and can often be backwards in interpretation. These tribalistic and sometimes overbearing manipulations can be slowly smoothed and refined through dialog and diplomacy. However, it is a slow process and usually comes with the passing of each new generation. I feel Asra is so deeply caught up in her feminism and "her" point of view, that she fails to recognize she is overstepping the boundaries of respect and fairness to the great religion of Islam.