The press has been filled with information and misinformation about the true nature of Islam. Hasan represents what is left out of the daily newspapers and explains why being a Muslim is not merely a matter of birth, but it is a matter of choice.
In the wake of 9-11, the activities of Osama Bin Laden and Hamas, and the most recent Gulf War, the western press has been filled with information and mis-information about the true nature of Islam. Is it a feudal misogynist belief system that is a threat to Western values? Is it an ideology of oppression? Or, is it a religion that is as varied as Christianity; a big tent that includes not only bomb-throwing ideologues, but also those committed to an authentic spirituality that embraces many of the values shared by the mainstream in Europe and America?
Why I am a Muslim is an attempt to grapple with these issues. Part memoir, part polemic, it represents the side of Islam that is left out of the daily newspapers. For Hasan, being a Muslim is not merely a matter of birth, but it is a matter of choice.
In seven chapters, she presents seven reasons why she is committed to Islam and why it is a viable spiritual option for anyone.
1. Because I was born Muslim.
2. Because Islam gives me a direct relationship with God.
3. Because Islam has a rich mystical tradition in Sufism.
4. Because Islam allows and expects me to make mistakes.
5. Because Islam is ethnically diverse.
6. Because Islam is a womans religion.
7. Because being Muslim makes me a better American (and being American makes me a better Muslim).
About the Author
Asma Gull Hasan who calls herself a ‘Muslim Feminist Cowgirl’, was born in Chicago, the daughter of Pakistani parents, and grew up in Colorado. After graduating from Groton and Wellesley, she went on to the New York University School of Law, where, in addition to winning several speaking awards and working as a staff editor on the NYU law review, she found to time to write American Muslims: The New Generation (Continuum, 2000). Now a practicing attorney in San Francisco, Hasan has been a columnist for the US based Pakistan Link newspaper, and her articles have been published in The New York Times, The Denver Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Dallas Morning News, and other papers. During the course of promoting her book and speaking about the new generation of American Muslims, she has appeared on CNN, Politically Incorrect, Fresh Air, Morning Edition, Fox News, and many other television and radio programs.
