Islamic Punk: The Taqwacores by Michael Muhammad Knight

The Taqwacores by Michael Muhammed Knight (no relation).

[...taqwacore—a blend of the Arabic word for piety, taqwa, and "hard-core," the English word for musicians who want to be taken very seriously.]

Set in a Muslim punk-house in Buffalo, New York, this novel explores the twin identities of punk and Islam in their many varieties and degrees of orthodoxy. The story here is primarily with the characters -- such as Umar, the straight-edge Sunni; Rabeya, the burqa-clad riot grrl; Jehangir, the dope-smoking mohawked Sufi (who plays rooftop calls-to-prayer on his electric guitar) -- and their collective articulation of a heresy-friendly, pluralist Islam. Full of punk references (real and invented) and enough Arabic phrases to fully deck out your skateboard, The Taqwacores is a great introduction to the cracks in the surface of mainstream Islam with a peculiarly American face.

Brian Whittaker, for the Guardian:

I'm a bit apprehensive but I hope British Muslim organisations will be sensible about it and think twice before protesting. They complain - rightly - about being stereotyped in the media, and The Taqwacores is a powerful antidote to that (which is one good reason why it should be read and circulated as widely as possible).

The book is an easy, funny read but, at another level and without labouring the point, it's also profoundly challenging. It addresses - in a way that's shocking but ultimately positive - questions of identity that are faced, to some extent, by all young Muslims growing up in the west.

Of course, there will be people who insist that the characters in the book are not "true" Muslims. I'm guessing, but I think this is the main point Knight wanted to raise. How do you define a "true" Muslim? On what grounds? And does anyone have the right to judge?

Thanks to Ted Swedenberg