PDF Threading My Prayer Rug One Woman Journey from Pakistani Muslim to American Muslim eBook Sabeeha Rehman

Product details File Size 8132 KB Print Length 360 pages Publisher Arcade; 1st edition (June 14, 2016) Publication Date June 14, 2016 Language English ASIN B01FCLLKVY

Threading My Prayer Rug One Woman Journey from Pakistani Muslim to American Muslim eBook Sabeeha Rehman Reviews

• I wish Sabeeha Rehman was my friend. She seems like such a wonderful, inspiring woman, who never takes no for an answer and never fails to challenge the status quo, either in the society or in her own understanding of the world. This will to change, to evolve, and cause ripples around her, are essential parts of a feminist icon, and I'm very happy to have learned of one who lives in New York and is like me a foreigner from a different culture. It was also priceless to put a face to a powerhouse of revisionist Islam. And I think what I admire most in the way Sabeeha sees the world is the way that she can always spot the gray areas, both in her own conduct, in her religion, or the world overall, and she calls them out for what they are. And when she doesn't, well, I'm pretty sure she will one day )
  My only problem with the book was that Sabeeha doesn't ever acknowledge the class component of the Islamic society at large and in Pakistan in particular, which in my opinion is a huge deal. Sabeeha and most people in the narrative are people who come from privilege. While it still renders them foreigners and migrants in the American context, they are nonetheless more open to change, evolution and assimilation than those who have less means to pursue education or repatriation. But I was peeved when Sabeeha completely glossed over the existence of domestic help or poverty in her homeland. What is Islam in Pakistan through the eyes of the family's servants? How does Sabeeha's view of them change as she continues living in the US? And what happens when her parents die, do the servants go back to the slums, or do they have families? How does Islam play into this sort of existence? I mean, yes, ok, I understand that Sabeeha's memoir can not account for all sorts of experiences in Pakistan and/or Islam, and it's a memoir, not a critical theory piece. But the way she circles these things, creates holes in her narrative, and the picture of middle class Islam that Sabeeha herself represents, while idyllic and evolved, starts to seem purposefully crafted.
  By no means am I implying that radicalization only happens within lower classes. No, it seems that the major players in terrorist organizations are usually people from privileged backgrounds, just like Sabeeha, but less kind and well meaning, empathic. But the cannon fodder is often the underprivileged, and we can't have an inclusive talk about the future of Islam in the world without talking about them.
  That said, I also understand that this book is more about being a muslim woman in the pre- and post-9/11 East Coast, and Sabeeha is the finest example of courage and compassion in those unfortunate circumstances.
• Humorous, funny but sweet and true Sabeeha tells her story as she traces her journey from a young bride to a mother, to an immigrant trying to make America home, to a community leader, a professional an activist, an interfaith leader and much more.
  The book will resonate and enthral if you are
  From Pakistan or the Indian subcontinent It will bring back sweet memories
  An immigrant You will relive your experience
  A woman You will remember the challenges
  A Muslim You will relate to the various faces and shapes of Islam
  An Interfaith advocate you will use it to promote your work
  A feminist This is your story
  A non Muslim This is an example of the American Muslim identity
  A Parent in diaspora perhaps one of the roads to walk on as you raise children
  A Young Pakistani American A story of the struggles of your parents
  An immigrant Muslim family Your story as you built a Muslim community here in America
  The Face of a Moderate American Muslim.
  
  Take this incredible journey with her. Once started, you will not put it down till the journey is over and all the threads have been woven in her prayers rug.
• Sabeeha Rehman’s book “Threading My Prayer Rug “ I received my copy and I was curious to know about her journey. As an immigrant we all have an experience of coming to America from somewhere on the globe with our culture and local traditions and then we all are somehow shaped up to become American. That’s the beauty of American culture that it absorbs you and molds you in such a way that you keep your cultural diversity with all American values of liberty justice and equality. It is struggle and it is test of your ability to deal and succeed in your professional life and cultural diversity. I am amazed how Ms Rehman was able to narrate her journey with such an eloquence that the stories have not lost a bit of its flavor. . We immigrants from similar back ground can really relate to it. Beauty of the book is that she was able to narrate her story in such a beautiful way to make it easy for readers to understand describing events in cleverly simple way with engaging and charming style of writing that a person who has no background of that culture can enjoy the story with benefits learning something new . She really was able to redesign and re-thread her rug in to red white and blue . It’s a delightful read of Journey of integration, assimilation of cultures faith and aspirations along with dreams to arrive at a destination called American and Sabeeha Rehman exactly knew how to connect with readers and keeps them engaged on this incredible journey
• Rehman did a good job revealing her struggle to maintain her sense of self, family, culture, religion while acquiring an American way of life. She tells of support from the Jewish community and Muslims from countries other than Pakistan. Her intellectual seeking to understand Islam as a religion vs. a cultural interpretation is enlightening--she came to that as a parent wanting to guide her sons since her family in Pakistan had been more secular. All in all I gained a greater appreciation of Islam and its practice in America. I admired Rehman's intellectual and multi-cultural growth throughout her adulthood. I also think she had an amazing partner in her arranged marriage husband.
• I bought this book because I loved the title but as I read it, I became disallusioned as I felt the author left her original intent to explain why the choice to build a mosque at the 9/11 site was misrepresented and went off on her personal issues which were not interesting to me.