Customer Reviews

The Taqwacores: A Novel

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I really wanted to like this book, but just couldn't. I guess I had higher expectations - these characters were just typical college students who just wanted to party and behave irresponsibly, just give in to their desires, and didn't want to follow any 'rules' - Islamic or otherwise.

There were plenty of complaints about the Qu'ran, the Prophet (s), hadiths, hell and heaven, ICNA conferences, imam and mosques and MSAs, Islam's treatment of women, etc. While I was sympathetic towards a good number of their complaints, reading the same angry rants over and over got very repetitive and tiresome - especially since I didn't find any of the characters appealing, or the plot interesting.

Now, maybe that's because I don't like punk music.

I was expecting much more of a political slant - how about throwing rotten sandwiches at the gleaming car of that corporate executive? How about spitting in the face of that slimy politician, or harassing that military recruiter? Where were the complaints about the unfairness of the global economy? Where was the concern for human rights? And the anger against lies and hypocrisy we are fed on a daily basis by the media?

Na, these kids were totally focused on themselves, which is why they won't cause any real change - within Islam or without. Most likely, they'll grow out of their 'punk' state and become responsible citizens (horror of horrors!!). If not, they will just waste away in irrelevance.

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!

This book wasn't my first exposure to punk (I highly recommend 'Please Kill Me') or my first exposure to Islam, but I had a lot of curiosity about how such seemingly incompatible cultures could blend.

Having read it, I'm still not sure they do. I can't imagine American punks bringing any aspect of Christian practice into their music as many in this book are determined to do, but I'd guess a lot of that has to do with being a minority in a larger culture which sometimes barely tolerates it.

In the end, I'm not any more drawn to punk or Islam than I was at the beginning. Both have elements embedding within them that just don't appeal to me, but I found myself liking most of the Muslim punks I met in these pages, and while I wouldn't join them, I can sympathize a bit more with them, and I think I have a clearer view of Islam. I wish luck to those who want to innovate, no matter what their brothers and sisters think.

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.

The most important book detailing the American Muslim experience. I have yet to seen a book that has so eloquently recounted the frustration, loneliness and confusion over a divided identity of many American Muslims youth or second generation immigrants from Muslim countries who have grown up in a post-9/11 America. Whether its critiquing the oppressive conformity experienced by Muslims whether it be "uncles" of suburban mosque or racist high schoolers, or even the mosque mood put on by of many Muslim Americans, observing the boundary breaking etiquette of punk culture or creating an entirely unique subculture, one that can even turn the Israeli Star of David into symbol of incredible offense or the produce imaginary works of pulp/ sci-fi writer Abu Afak; The Taqwacores humors, agitates and force its readers to question faith, culture and reconsider the force that shape our identity. This book is also to powerful and courageous in bringing to the forefront some that do anger many mainstream Muslims, such as a gay Muslims or critiques of the Prophet, and does so in an honest manner that makes it a worthwhile conversation, while advancing an internal dialogue about current American Muslim culture. It should be noted that there should have been glossary for Arabic and punk terms, or a least for the Arabic terms, it might obstacle for some readers to get over. Another issue is that although each of Mr. Knights complaints about Muslim culture means a lot to many Muslims (many who have tried to reconcile those issues), the list does become a strong point of detraction for non-muslim readers, becomes repetitive and tiresome. Despite the punk/ zinish wrapping, this book is defining for an entire generation of Muslim youth growing up in a post-9/11 world in which ones identity is seen with much fear and ignorance by mainstream society; a burqa is seen as much as blight and much cause for fear as a bright, red Mohawk might have had in 77. The combination or "mismatching of disenfranchised subcultures" works so well to properly convey the American Muslim experience and much better than the selection that is available. Sure the book is satire, many of the characters are self-absorbed and filled with typical angst but isn't that what being young and punk is about? Being true to oneself. That fact, along with working to create an Islam that is open to everyone and as an earlier reviewer stated "need to bring about a truly American manifestation of Islamic culture that owes nothing and offers no submission to any Eastern culture or political power."

As a muslim, I thought the book was brilliant. It really showed me that there ARE other people who have discussions about how absurd it is that "if you make a drawing, it will torture you in the afterworld", and I couldn't stop reading it. I finished the book in 2 days, so, especially if you are slightly familiar with islam: READ IT!

Now, from a literary point of view, I was kind of disappointed by the end. I mean, I really loved it, but the end was kind of too depressing. Maybe that's how it's supposed to be (it's a punk novel), but maybe I would have preferred a more "Epic" end...

I bought this book after hearing about it from a friend who has led the punk rock lifestyle through and through. I frequented an anarchist collective and was involved in the anti-war movement, so I found the portrayals of punk rockers quite accurate. It was nuanced; it was not all "get p***ed, destroy" that some people perceive punks to be or the ideological and philosophical legends that each punk rocker and anarchist imagine themselves to be. It portrayed the Muslim punks as torn between their Muslim identity and the attraction of the Bacchanalian abandon of punk rock.

Yes, Knight's writings probably appear to be blasphemous to believers, as main characters discuss their dismissal of Hell and engage in haraam and self-proclaimed bid'a activities. But these people are as realistic as the evangelical "Leave it to Beaver"-types. Yes, young Muslims engage in premarital sex, and like many other normal teens, may have mixed or confused feelings about it. Yes, young Muslims imbibe alcohol and other psychoactive substances, like other teens. And young Muslims, like many other people in the world, question the faith of their parents and grandparents. It is actually refreshing compared to the hyper-devotion of Islamists and the seething hatred of Americans towards Islam today.

The characters show noticeable development. Jehangir Tabari is your typical male punk, and tries to wax philosophic about having sex with multiple women. Unlike most male punks, he has an epiphany about the direction of his misogyny. Yusuf Ali transitions also, from not caring, to condemning the hypocrisy and infidelity of the punks in the house, to cautious acceptance. Of course, it comes crashing down at the end--just like anarchist collectives or the unified umma before the death of Muhammad.

A great book to read, although if you're not familiar with the punk culture or Islamic terminology and exegesis, you might want to pass on this. I just had the strange fortune of being a former anarchist with lots of Muslim friends.

A technically difficult read for a non-Arab, non-Muslim, but this book will reward the persistent reader with an eyeful of Knight's Taqwacore Muslim "Punk Rawk" scene. The story is an immersion tour of the punk-decadent world inhabited by a group of young American Muslims living in upstate New York. Post 9/11, Knight's characters are more consumed with what makes real punk rock and what is true Islam than modern American Islamic politics. The story deceptively builds to a manic crescendo, with the narrator's own Zen/Sufi awakening.

Readers should come prepared for a heavy dose of Arabic sayings; the Arabic is more integral to the text than a casual reader might expect. A base familiarity with Islam would also be handy.

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.

truly necessary reading, but only for the open minded. As a novel, this book is amazing. The characters to me cannot be fiction, they're way too real, that I almost refuse to believe Knight made them up. Whenever I remember Jehanger Tabari I think of him as a real person, and i find it hard to tihnk otherwise. what a great read.

as islamic lit, it totally jumps at you, ripping away at all the lies and all the dust that's accumulated over true islam through centuries and cultures. for me, i think it will impact the way i tihnk about religion forever. there's only one thing that annoyed me in the book and that's putting ayesha's age at 9, which is a ridiculous myth that wouldn't make sense for anyone who reads a complete and detailed sira. when she was married she was somewhere between 16 and 20. that's my only complaint about this book which i highly recommend. you will find much wisdom in the drunken ramblings of Jehangir Tabari and the fantasy writings of Abu Afak in this novel.