The Taqwacores: A Novel (Paperback)

by Michael Muhammad Knight (Author)
Key Phrases: The Tagwacores, Amazing Ayyub, Jehangir Tabari (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Taqwacores are a legendary group of California Islamic punk bands with their own superstars and customs: Sunni straight-edgers, riot grrls in burqas, and stoned, mohawked Sufis acknowledge the old rules, but live a riotous American tradition of Islam. Buffalo, NY is a collegiate microcosm of the Khalifornia scene where debate rages about whether electric guitars are halal and what the Quranic sources are for an Iggy Pop song. A trucker incarnation of Rumi who leaves love poems at rest stops is among the other Muslim iconoclasts who inhabit this surprising milieu, an intimate, new American Islamic experience.

About the Author
Michael Muhammed Knight converted to Islam at sixteen after reading Malcolm X's biography, and spent two months at Faisal Mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan. He later left orthodox Islam. His writing regularly appears in progressive Islamic venues. He lives in Western New York State.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Autonomedia (April 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570271674
• ISBN-13: 978-1570271670
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #465,032 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars way beyond brilliant!!, November 3, 2005

By	Sabah Al-Noor - See all my reviews

WOW. This is one of the most brilliant books i've ever read! Who would have thought that two things like Islam and Punk rock could ever overlap, let alone be combined in such a genius way. From the radical feminist in full burqa(her burqa is covered with band patches!), to the straightedge punk with Qur'an verses tattooed on him, to the mohawked drunk punk who plays the call to prayer on electric guitar from the roof of the house...this book is just genius in every detail! The only problem i can imagine is that he uses A LOT of arabic terms and Islamic references which may be hard to understand if you don't have background knowledge about Islam. But READ IT ANYWAY! Find somebody you can ask if you need the terms defined for you. This book is worth the time! (p.s.the word "fasiq" means "pervert") Not exactly for the conservative thinker...BEWARE, you will need to think outside the box on this one. Though the end result is something that is unexplainably...blasphemously reverent, dogma-smashingly righteous...what can one say?...allahu akbar!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars WOW!, February 24, 2005

By	Omar N. Ali (LA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Michael Mohammed Knight converted to Islam as a teenager and spent a few months in Pakistan learning the hardcore version. After a later spiritual crisis, he has reincarnated as the leading spokesman of punk-islam.
Always fun to read, loaded with more Islamic references and Arabic phrases than a jihadi manifesto from Tora Bora, this book rocks. Blasphemous and funny, occasionally preachy, never dull.....definitely worth buying.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Imperial Future, August 15, 2006

By	Eoin "[e-mail]" (Round Lake, Illinois) - See all my reviews

Knight's novel is a brilliant blend of reality and imagination. Character development is richly textured and his descriptive prose paints a vibrant texture that will stay with the reader long after reading the novel. The potential for Islamic cultural influences on very familiar popular cultural scenes is elegantly framed and cleverly nuanced leaving one with the sense of being wrapped in a world of the imminently possible rather than being in just an idiosyncratic world of a remarkably creative imagination. This book is a hidden gem that both shares and inspires new visions of tolerance and acceptance amidst the blood and gore found in the realities of recent American imperialism.