Love, InshAllah
When novelist & #WeNeedDiverseBooks co-founder Aisha Saeed walked into her local Barnes & Noble ten days ago, she was surprised & thrilled to see a Ramadan book display for children. She wanted to buy all four books displayed but after chatting with the bookseller, she realized that those were the only books in stock.
If she bought those books, not only would they be sold out of all of their Ramadan-themed children’s books, but the Ramadan display would disappear too. Shockingly, her bookstore was not located in a small town, but in Atlanta, GA. B&N thought they could only sell four Islamic-themed books in a city with a huge Muslim population.
Aisha’s blog post explaining the situation and asking that Muslims “be the change we want to see” was the spark we needed to ignite a book-buying revolution. Using the hashtag #RamadanReads, we asked our communities on social media platforms to share their children’s, young adult, and adult book recommendations for our Ramadan/Eid gift list. We based the extensive list below on your feedback.
This Thursday, July 3rd, marks the second phase of our campaign: Muslim communities will visit or call their local bookstores and libraries to order books from the list, letting them know that their request is part of the National #RamadanReads Campaign. We want this to become an annual event, inshAllah, and for Ramadan to become known as the month in which Muslims flock to bookstores to support their storytellers.
Muslims were once renowned as a community that loved, wrote and bought books, built libraries, and engaged in vigorous coffeehouse debates over the ideas that lie at the core of our humanity. At 8 million strong in the US, and with an estimated $170 billion in annual consumer purchasing power, we have the power to shape our own narratives. The key? Simple: The more Muslim storytellers we support with our dollars, the more diverse Muslim stories we will see.
The publishing industry is demand-driven. Buying available books sends a resounding message to publishers and bookstores that our representation matters and that we want to hear more Muslim voices and stories.
Please join us! Call/visit your bookstores/libraries with your book orders on Thursday morning, and then share the books you chose and what your experience was like with the #RamadanReads hashtag. We’d love to hear about what it means to you to read books written by and about Muslims. What were your childhood experiences like with or without books reflecting you? What kind of stories do you hope your children will have access to? Why is supporting Muslim authors and books important to you? Let’s talk about it all on Twitter at 11 am PDT/2 pm EDT this Thursday!
Let’s “be the change” – together.
– Aisha Saeed, aishasaeed.com
Ayesha Mattu, Deonna Kelli, & Nura Maznavi, www.patheos.com/blogs/loveinshallah
Jennifer Zobair. Storyandchai.com
Sabina Khan-Ibarra, MuslimahMontage.com
PS: The list below features books by diverse Muslim authors, including those who identify as orthodox, cultural and secular. If you’d like us to consider adding a book, please leave a comment below, tweet or email us!
Love InshAllah’s Top 10 Editorial Picks – The books we love to give as gifts
1. Night of the Moon by Hena Khan: A delightful children’s story about Ramadan/Eid with a female protagonist.
2. The Conference of the Birds by Alexis York Lumbard, Demi and Seyyed Hossein Nasr: Gorgeously illustrated book based on Attar’s 800-year-old Persian parable that will illuminate the hearts of both children and adults. In fact, all of Demi’s books that I’ve read (Muhammad, Rumi, The Hungry Coat, & One Grain of Rice) are wonderful.
3. A teenage Pakistani-American Muslim superhero? Yes, please! Check out the cool new Ms. Marvel comic,, issues 1-5 today!
4. E-mails to Scheherazade by Mohja Kahf: This powerful book of exquisite poems was shared between three generations in my home, each one feeling as if Professor Kahf had written the poem just for her.
5. The best biographies of the Prophet (saws) soften your heart and make you fall in love with him all over again. Omid Safi’s Memories of Mohammad does just that.
6. That gaping emptiness inside? It’s why I read Shaykh Hamza Yusuf’s Purification of the Heart: Signs, Symptoms and Cures of the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart every year.
7. If you haven’t read Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson yet, you’re missing out on one of the most fantastic debut novels ever. The NYT selected it as a notable book of the year and called it “a bookload of wizardry and glee.” We agree.
8. Do Muslim Women Need Saving? by Lila Abu-Lughod: if you are a Muslim woman, or have an opinion about us, Read This.
9. Haldol & Hyacinths: A Bipolar Life by Melody Moezzi: My cousin received a bipolar diagnosis, so Melody’s memoir hits close to home. Evocative, funny, and informative, she’s helping to open up a critical conversation around mental health in the Muslim community.
10. The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X: A classic that changed my life and perspective when I read it at 16. Great for teens and adults alike.
And, if you haven’t already, check out the books of the writers who created the campaign:
Painted Hands by Jennifer Zobair: Zainab Mir is a beautiful, sharp-tongued campaign strategist with a penchant for stirring up controversy. Her best friend, Amra Abbas, is a seemingly-unflappable attorney on a grueling partnership track. Can these ambitious Muslim women juggle two cultures, high-powered careers, and unexpected men—including a right-wing talk radio host—to have it all?
Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed explores what it is like to be thrust into an unwanted marriage. This beautiful novel follows a Pakistani American teenager who falls in love with a boy in her community against her parent’s wishes. When they find out, the consequences are greater than she could have possibly imagined.
Our Salaam, Love & Love, InshAllah anthologies. The search for love is universal, but every love story is unique. #MuslimLove
See the complete list of books below. Search Indiebound for the independent bookstore nearest you, or order from Powell’s Books online. Don’t forget to tell them that #RamadanReads sent you! CHILDREN’S
[A number of children’s books listed below have been reviewed by Reem Faruqi, here.]
Art/Music
Colours of Islam (Book & CD) – Dawud Wharnsby
A Picnic of Poems: In Allah’s Green Garden (Book & CD) – Dawud Wharnsby
Coloring Book Islamic Art (Prestel Coloring Books) – Annette Roeder
The Islamic Year: Surahs, Stories and Celebrations (Crafts, Festivals and Family Activities Ser) – Noorah Al-Gailani, Chris Smith and Helen Williams
Allah to Z: Activity Book: Islamic – Sam’n Iqbal
My Arabic Alphabet Book – Darrussalam
Fiction
Ramadan/Eid-related
The White Nights of Ramadan – Maha Addasi
The Jinni on the Roof: A Ramadan Story by Natasha Rafi and Abdul Malik Channa
Moon Watchers: Shirin’s Ramadan Miracle – Reza Jalali
My First Ramadan – Karen Katz
Ramadan Moon – Na’ima B. Robert
Under the Ramadan Moon – Sylvia Whitman
Ramadan – Suhaib Hamid Ghazi
A Party in Ramadan – Asma Mobin-Uddin
Zaki’s Ramadhan Fast – Ann P. El-Moslimany and Erica L. Butler
Max Celebrates Ramadan – Adria F Worsham
Night of the Moon – Hena Khan
The Best Eid Ever! – Asma Mobin-Uddin
The Lost Ring: An Eid Story -Fawzia Gilani-Williams
Nabeel’s New Pants: An Eid Tale – Fawzia Gilani-Williams
Rashad’s Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr – Lisa Bullard
An Eid For Everyone – Hina Islam
Holidays Around the World: Celebrate Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr – Deborah Heiligman
The Three Muslim Festivals – Aminah Ibrahim
General
Noor Kids – comic books for children
The Hungry Coat: A Tale from Turkey – Demi
One Grain Of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale – Demi
The Conference of the Birds – Alexis York Lumbard, Demi and Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns: A Muslim Book of Colors – Hena Khan
Ilyas and Duck Search for Allah – Omar Khawaja
Montmorency’s Book of Rhymes – T.J. Winter
Fatuma’s New Cloth – Leslie Bulion
The Perfume of Memory – Michelle Nikly
Ali and the Magic Stew – Shulamith Levey Oppenheim
Deep in the Sahara – Kelly Cunnane
Goha the Wise Fool – Denys Johnson-Davies
Going to Mecca – Na’ima B. Robert
What Does A Muslim Look Like? – Mohamed Abdel-Kader
The Only Brown-Skinned Boy in the Neighborhood – Arif Choudhury
The Farmer’s Wife – Idries Shah
Kids of the Ummah – Peter Gould
Time to Pray – Maha Adddasi
My Name Is Bilal – Asma Mobin-Uddin
The Perfect Gift – J. Samia Mair
Amira’s Totally Chocolate World – J. Samia Mair
The Sandwich Swap – Queen Rania of Jordan
The Apple Tree by Mariam Al-Kalby
Love Your God (Muslim children’s library) -Khurram Murad
One Green Apple – Eve Bunting
Silent Music: A Story of Baghdad – James Rumford
Big Red Lollipop – Rukhsana Khan Ruler of the Courtyard – Rukhsana Khan
Silly Chicken – Rukhsana Khan
Nadia’s Hands – Karen English
Snow White, an Islamic Tale – Fawzia Gilani
The Lost Ring – Fawzia Gilani
Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-Ji! by F.Zia
The Magic Words – Ms Lisha Azad
Allah’s Gifts – Tasnim Nazeer
No More Monsters – Emilia Finamore Saeed
Goodnight Stories from the Quran – Saniya Khan
Adventures in the Nile Valley (Muslim Children’s Library) – Susan Omar
The Colour of Home – Mary Hoffman
I Can Make Du’a Anywhere! – Yasmin Ibrahim
I Can Say Bismillah Anywhere! – Yasmin Ibrahim
Non-Fiction
Muhammad – Demi
Rumi: Whirling Dervish – Demi
Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood – Ibtisam Barakat
The Grand Mosque of Paris: A Story of How Muslims Rescued Jews During the Holocaust – Karen Gray Ruelle
Saladin: Noble Prince of Islam – Diane Stanley
The Genius of Islam: How Muslims Made the Modern World – Bryn Barnard
Ayat Jamilah: Beautiful Signs: A Treasury of Islamic Wisdom for Children and Parents (This Little Light of Mine) – Sarah Conover
1001 Inventions and Awesome Facts from Muslim Civilization (National Geographic Kids) – National Geographic
1001 Inventions: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Civilization Paperback – Salim T.S. Al-Hassani
Traveling Man: The Journey of Ibn Battuta 1325-1354 -James Rumford
The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq – Jeanette Winter
YOUNG ADULT
Fiction
Written in the Stars – Aisha Saeed (pre-order)
Rebels by Accident Patricia Dunn (pre-order)
Where the Streets Had a Name – Randa Abdel-Fattah
Shooting Kabul – N. H. Senzai
Saving Kabul Corner – N. H. Senzai
Habibi – Naomi Shehab Nye
Boy Vs. Girl – Na’ima B. Robert
Far From Home – Na’ima B. Robert
From Somalia, With Love – Na’ima B. Robert
From My Sisters’ Lips – Na’ima B. Robert
Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind – Suzanne Fisher Staples
The Breadwinner – Deborah Ellis
Parvana’s Journey – Deborah Ellis
Mud City – – Deborah Ellis
My Name is Parvana – – Deborah Ellis
Skunk Girl – Sheba Karim
Does My Head Look Big In This? – Randa Abdel-Fattah
Garden of My Imaan – Farhana Zia
Bestest.Ramadan.Ever – Medeia Sharif
Muslim Girl – Umm Zakiyyah
10 Things I Hate About Me – Randa Abdel-Fattah
A Friendship Promise – Ruby Moore/Umm Zakiyyah
The Friendship Matchmaker – Randa Abdel-Fattah
Guantanamo Boy – Anna Perera
Non-Fiction
The Life of the Prophet Muhammad – Leila Azzam, Aisha Gouverneur
The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley – Malcolm X
Extraordinary Women from the Muslim World – Natalie Maydell, Sep Riahi, Heba Amin
I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban – Malala Yousafzai
Daughters of the Desert: Stories of Remarkable Women from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Traditions – Claire Rudolph Murphy
American Islam: Growing up Muslim in America Paperback – Richard Wormser
The American Muslim Teenagers Handbook – Dilara, Yasmine & Imran Hafiz
Everyday Struggles: The Stories of Muslim Teens – Sumaiya Beshir
Growing Up Muslim in America: Stories by Muslim Youth – Marie Glancy O’Shea, Laura Longhine and Keith Hefner
Muslim Teenagers Coping – Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood
ADULT
Cookbooks
Queen of Months: An eco-halal Sufi vegan/vegetarian cookbook for Ramadan and beyond – Ibrahim Farajaje (Ibrahim baba)
The Iraqi Cookbook – Lamees Ibrahim
Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies – Najmieh Batmanglij
Tagines & Couscous: Delicious Recipes for Moroccan One-pot Cooking – Ghillie Basan
At Home with Madhur Jaffrey: Simple, Delectable Dishes from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka – Madhur Jaffrey
Poetry
The Masnavi, Books One, Two & Three (Oxford World’s Classics) – Jalal al-Din Rumi, translated by Jawid Mojaddedi
E-mails to Scheherazade – Mohja Kahf
Muslim Women Mystics: The Life and Work of Rabi’a and Other Women Mystics in Islam (Great Islamic Thinkers) – Margaret Smith
Growing Up in Someone Else’s Shoes – Sam Pierstorff
The Green Sea of Heaven: Fifty Ghazals from the Diwan of Hafiz – Elizabeth T. Gray and Daryush Shayegan
Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth – Warsan Shire
Salt – Nayyirah Waheed
Nejma – Nayyirah Waheed
Love, Gnosis & Other Suicide Attempts – Amir Sulaiman
Graphic Novels/Graphic Memoirs/Comics
Ms. Marvel (comic) – G. Willow Wilson
40 Sufi Comics (graphic novel/comic) – Mohammaed Ali Vakil & Mohammed Arif Vakil
The Wise Fool of Baghdad (graphic novel/comic)
Rumi (graphic novel/comic) (pre-order) – Mohammed Ali Vakil & Mohammed Arif Vakil
Cairo (graphic novel) – G. Willow Wilson and M.K. Perker
Persepolis (graphic memoir/comic)- Marjane Satrapi
Kampung Boy (graphic memoir/comic) – Lat
Town Boy (graphic memoir/comic) – Lat
Spiritual/Religious
The Message of the Qur’an – translation/commentary by Muhammad Asad
The Qur’an (Oxford World’s Classics) – translation by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem
Qur’an – translation by M. Abdel Haleem
In the Footsteps of the Prophet – Tariq Ramadan
Dear Beloved Son – Imam Al-Ghazali
Memories of Mohammad – Omid Safi
Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources by Martin Lings
Muhammad, As If You Can See Him – Aidh Al Qarni
Women of Sufism: A Hidden Treasure – Camille Adams Helminski
Reclaim Your Heart – Yasmin Mogahed
Way to the Qur’an- Ustadh Khurram Murad
The Book of Nature: A Sourcebook of Spiritual Perspectives on Nature and the Environment – Camille Helminski
The Book of Character: An Anthology of Writings on Virtue from Islamic and Other Sources – Camille Helminski
The Light of Dawn: Daily Readings from the Holy Qur’an – Camille Adams Helminski
Women around the Messenger – Muhammad Ali Qutb and Abdur-Rafi Adewale Imam
Spiritual Gems by Ja’far as-Sadiq, Jurisprudence of Prophetic Bio by M.S.R. al-Bouti
My Soul is a Woman: The Feminine in Islam – Annemarie Schimmel
Purification of the Heart: Signs, Symptoms and Cures of the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart – Hamza Yusuf
The Prophetic Invocations Compiled – Imam Al Haddad
Radical Reform by Tariq Ramadan
al-Maqasid by Imam an-Nawawi (tr. Nuh Keller)
Creed of Imam at-Tahawi (tr. Hamza Yusuf).
Striving in the Path of God – Asma Afsaruddin
The Lives of Muhammad – Kecia Ali
Qur’an and Woman: Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman’s Perspective – Amina Wadud
The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity – Seyyed Hossein Nasr
The Garden of Truth: The Vision and Promise of Sufism, Islam’s Mystical Tradition – Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Islam & the Destiny of Man – Charles Le Gai Eaton
Purification of the Soul – compilation from Ibn al Qayum/Ghazali
Du’a: The Weapon of the Believer – Yasir Qadhi
Fiction
Painted Hands – Jennifer Zobair
Alif the Unseen – G. Willow Wilson
Throne of the Crescent Moon – Saladin Ahmed
The Writing on my Forehead – Nafisa Haji
The Sweetness of Tears – Nafisa Haji
Minaret – Leila Aboulela
The Lemon Grove – Ali Hosseni
Together Tea – Marjan Kamali
Domestic Crusaders – A Play – Wajahat Ali
Madras on Rainy Days: A Novel – Samina Ali
My Accidental Jihad – Krista Bremer
The Order of Light – Haroon Moghul
Falsipedies & Fibsiennes – Ali Eteraz
The Fifth Lash and Anataolia and Other Stories by Anis Shivani
I Dream of Microwaves by Imad Rahman
Mother of All Believers: A Novel of The Birth of Islam – Kamran Pasha
Shadow of the Swords: An Epic Novel of the Crusades – Kamran Pasha
Master of the Jinn: A Sufi Novel – Irving Karchmar
If I Should Speak – Umm Zakiyyah
Paradise – Abdul Razak Gurnah
Death and the Dervish – Meša Selimović
A God in Every Stone – Kamila Shamsie
River of Fire – Qurratulain Hyder
Thinner Than Skin – Uzma Aslam Khan
American Dervish – Ayad Akhtar
Our Lady of Alice Bhatti – Mohammed Hanif
The Scatter Here is Too Great – Bilal Tanweer
Other Rooms, Other Wonders – Daniyal Mueenuddin
Forty Rules of Loves – Elif Shafak
The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf – Mohja Kahf
A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini
Moth Smoke – Mohsin Hamid
The Reluctant Fundamentalist – Mohsin Hamid
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia -Mohsin Hamid
Bitter Sweets – Roopa Farooki
Half Life – Roopa Farooki
The Way Things Look to Me – Roopa Farooki
Corona – Bushra Rehman
Rooftops of Tehran – Mahbod Seraji
Non-Fiction
Anthology/Memoir
Salaam, Love: American Muslim Men on Love, Sex & Intimacy – Eds. Ayesha Mattu & Nura Maznavi
Love, Inshallah: The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women – Eds. Ayesha Mattu & Nura Maznavi
Growing Up X – Ilyasah Shabazz
The Butterfly Mosque: A Young American Woman’s Journey to Love and Islam – G. Willow Wilson
Haldol & Hyacinths: A Bipolar Life – Melody Moezzi
Meatless Days – Sara Suleri
Colonize This!: Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism – Ed. Bushra Rehman
Barefoot in Baghdad: A Memoir – Manal Omar
Tripping with Allah: Islam, Drugs, and Writing – Michael Muhammad Knight
Children of Dust: A Portrait of a Muslim as a Young Man – Ali Eteraz
War on Error: Real Stories of American Muslims – Melody Moezzi
My Country, ‘Tis of Thee: My Faith, My Family, Our Future – Keith Ellison
Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, in the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation – Eboo Patel
I Speak for Myself: American Women on Being Muslim – Eds. Maria M Ebrahimji & Zahra T Suratwa
All-American: 45 American Men on Being Muslim – Ed. Zahra Suratwala & Wajahat Ali
Love in a Headscarf – Shelina Janmohamed
General
Paranormal Obsession: America’s Fascination with Ghosts & Hauntings, Spooks & Spirits – Deonna Kelli
Do Muslim Women Need Saving? – Lila Abu-Lughod
Believing Women in Islam – Asma Barlas
How Does It Feel To Be a Problem? Being Young & Arab in America – Moustafa Bayoumi
Destiny Disrupted – Tamim Ansari
Opium Nation – Fariba Nawa
Western Muslims and the Future of Islam – Tariq Ramadan
The Road to Mecca – Mohammed Asad
Inside The Gender Jihad: Women’s Reform in Islam – Amina Wadud
The Hadj: An American’s Pilgrimage to Mecca – Michael Wolfe
Marriage and Slavery in Early Islam – Kecia Ali
Sexual Ethics And Islam: Feminist Reflections on Qur’an, Hadith, and Jurisprudence – Kecia Ali
No god but God: The Origins and Evolution of Islam – Reza Aslan
Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World – Shereen El Feki
The Bargain from the Bazaar: A Family’s Day of Reckoning in Lahore – Haroon K. Ullah
Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America – Eboo Patel
A Soaring Minaret: Abu Bakr al-Wasiti and the Rise of Baghdadi Sufism – Laury Silvers
Muslim American Women on Campus: Undergraduate Social Life and Identity – Shabana Mir
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