Buy new:
-6% $14.97
to get FREE delivery Wednesday, October 30
Ships from: Amazon.com
Sold by: Amazon.com
$14.97 with 6 percent savings
List Price: $15.95
The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
to get FREE delivery Wednesday, October 30. Order within 56 mins
Or Non members get FREE delivery Saturday, November 2 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Only 8 left in stock (more on the way).
$$14.97 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$14.97
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon.com
Ships from
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Returns
30-day refund/replacement
30-day refund/replacement
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Returns
30-day refund/replacement
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$7.99

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
Book is in good condition and may include underlining highlighting and minimal wear. The book can also include From the library of labels. May not contain miscellaneous items toys dvds etc. . We offer 100% money back guarantee and 24 7 customer service. Free 2-day shipping with Amazon Prime! Book is in good condition and may include underlining highlighting and minimal wear. The book can also include From the library of labels. May not contain miscellaneous items toys dvds etc. . We offer 100% money back guarantee and 24 7 customer service. Free 2-day shipping with Amazon Prime! See less
to get FREE delivery Wednesday, October 30. Order within 56 mins
Or Non members get FREE delivery Saturday, November 2 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$14.97 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$14.97
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Michael Muhammad Knight
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The Taqwacores Paperback – January 1, 2009

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 82 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$14.97","priceAmount":14.97,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"14","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"97","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"ITJlPdWs29e4%2FXI5eXIGrQF5alWGWfHy8doUMnxzZ57KiuuFDNry%2F%2FBpVR%2FRZlNWGx1hr1FVEWSg1sisAfbdtLTq8R8wmiek9QkvN%2BfXdgYY6Y5A2FjN3oC4zhf9Rm3X04W8SiVGAnA%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$7.99","priceAmount":7.99,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"7","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"99","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"ITJlPdWs29e4%2FXI5eXIGrQF5alWGWfHys%2BlAdlu6IlQx5xz5TuhSickqG9pcWlJ105PIBznW17ivV8Af6Qy88b%2Bu7ziu0vZDFvP%2BiPGbIXGRqe4XjHVC%2BIEJQ11qpMVxVhJM6qrr2%2BkGbqodrlUgnl2U8foZ9hBVuQMg420ThOiEpWP4EIgweKkCCmX3YP8y","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

A Muslim punk house in Buffalo, New York, inhabited by burqa-wearing riot girls, mohawked Sufis, straightedge Sunnis, Shi’a skinheads, Indonesian skaters, Sudanese rude boys, gay Muslims, drunk Muslims, and feminists. Their living room hosts parties and prayers, with a hole smashed in the wall to indicate the direction of Mecca. Their life together mixes sex, dope, and religion in roughly equal amounts, expressed in devotion to an Islamo-punk subculture, “taqwacore,” named for taqwa, an Arabic term for consciousness of the divine.
Originally self-published on photocopiers and spiralbound by hand, The Taqwacores has now come to be read as a manifesto for Muslim punk rockers and a “Catcher in the Rye for young Muslims.”

There are three different cover colors; red, white, and blue.
Previous slide of product details
  1. Print length
    256 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Soft Skull
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 2009
  5. Dimensions
    4.5 x 0.7 x 7 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1593762291
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1593762292
  8. See all details
Next slide of product details
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Frequently bought together

The Taqwacores
This item: The Taqwacores
$14.97
Get it as soon as Saturday, Nov 2
Only 8 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
Why I Am a Salafi
$14.26
Get it as soon as Saturday, Nov 2
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Total price: $00
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
spCSRF_Treatment
One of these items ships sooner than the other.
Show details Hide details
Choose items to buy together.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A manifesto for the Muslim punk movement."

"An absolutely fascinating book . . . Michael Muhammad Knight has bravely written what could well become an essential text."

About the Author

Michael Muhammad Knight is a novelist, essayist, journalist, and scholar. He converted to Islam at sixteen and traveled to Islamabad at seventeen to study at a madrasa. His books include The Taqwacores, Blue-Eyed Devil, Tripping with Allah: Islam, Drugs, and Writing, and Why I Am a Salafi. He is an assistant professor of religious studies at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Soft Skull; Revised edition (January 1, 2009)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1593762291
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1593762292
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.5 x 0.7 x 7 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 82 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Michael Muhammad Knight

Michael Muhammad Knight

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read book recommendations and more.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
82 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Hillary C
5.0 out of 5 stars Punk and Islam are interesting bedfellows
Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2011
Verified Purchase
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.
6 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Mitch Horowitz
5.0 out of 5 stars Catcher in the Rye for 21st Century
Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2015
Verified Purchase
I read this book five years ago and have never stopped thinking about it. It is so filled with life and truth -- there's almost no way to summarize it. Read it. You'll never regret it -- and you'll find yourself laughing at passages so real because they capture things we don't want to admit about ourselves. Disclosure: I publish Mike but not this book. Wish I had.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Sam Pharo
4.0 out of 5 stars Well done
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2009
Verified Purchase
This is one of those uncommon books which deserves all of its praise and each of its criticisms. Everything which may be said of Taqwacores is true in some way. With apologies to EST, so what? Knight has done something valuable: he has staked out the other end of the playing field for Islam and, in doing so, has shown us just how big it really is. There are only two take-home points in this entertaining novel, but they're really good. First, Islam and punk are the same thing - or they used to be, back in the day. Second, America can save Islam by providing the freedom for each Muslim to practice Islam has s/he understands it. While France is banning headscarves, and Switzerland is banning minarets, the USA can forge the future by doing what it does best - leave us alone to believe whatever we want.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Uneasy reading for the traditional Muslim
Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2007
It is refreshing to read a Muslim novel, yes, Muslim novel, rather than, say, a Christian or a Jewish novel. The novelistic form rose from Christian, Puritan roots and, so, the Muslim novel may well have resonances with that form.

However, "The Taqwacores" appears to be a novel about immaturity, Western struggle for young, unconnected Muslims who have an innocent purity of 'Deen' or religion.

Breaking so many taboos in Islamic culture about music, co-habitual relations, social behaviour, religious practice (women leading the Kutbah or prayer meeting, for example) that it makes for an uneasy, revolutionary and iconoclastic reading for the traditional Muslim critic. One wonders if Michael Muhammad Knight will be taken as an apostate.

Young people do make music, do wear tatoos and Mohican haircuts, do pray behind women and do take the prophet's name in vain, but let them do so until they come to see that there are aberrations, and that Islam calls for righteousness, plain living, clean family relations and normalised sexuality.

Jaffer
7 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
beltway-bidder
5.0 out of 5 stars Top 5 books I read last year, for sure ...
Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2015
Verified Purchase
Top 5 books I read last year, for sure. Just wish I ordered more copies because this is one of those books you gotta make someone else read after you're done.
Helpful
 Report
Trolololo
5.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good.
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2012
Verified Purchase
Came quicker than i anticipated, and in insanely good shape!

The only difference is the cover -- it was bright red, instead of the black shown in the display picture for this product. STill cool nonetheless.
Helpful
 Report
jason Vail-Cruz
5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant
Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2015
Verified Purchase
I can see how this started a movement. Although I was shocked and offended at parts, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Helpful
 Report
Z. Becker
4.0 out of 5 stars A head-spinning tour through Zen-Punk-Islam
Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2009
Verified Purchase
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.
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
apfelstrudel
5.0 out of 5 stars gibt gute Einblicke in eine andere Welt
Reviewed in Germany on February 4, 2013
Verified Purchase
Der Vesuch, westliche Jugendkulturen mit dem Islam zu verknüpfen und die Rebellion gegen beide Welten durch diesen Versuch, verknüpft mit den verschiedenen Charakteren dieses Romans - ergibt eine spannende Lektüre.

Die Jugendlichen versuchen ihren eigenen Weg im Glauben zu finden und ecken somit überall an, nur in ihrer Gemeinschaft finden sie ein zuhause scheitern jedoch am Ende.
Report