Islamophobia Awareness Month: Seeds of Change
The goal of this year’s campaign is to emphasise how small actions can lead to big change. Whether it’s starting a conversation, challenging someone’s views, or something more, we can all plant a seed to help tackle Islamophobia.
We have chosen to highlight books that talk about many different aspects of Muslim life, written by authors from across the globe. Pick one up today, and see where it takes you!
Cut from the Same Cloth?
Sabeena Akhtar ed.
Perceived as the visual representation of Islam, hijab-wearing Muslim women are often harangued at work, at home and in public life yet are rarely afforded a platform on their own terms. Whether it’s awkward questions, radical commentators sensationalising their existence, non-Muslims and non-hijabis making assumptions, men speaking on their behalf, or stereotypical norms being perpetuated by the same old faces, hijabis are tired.
This anthology gives visibly Muslim women creatives a space to speak to the matters that mean most to them.
Salt Houses
Hala Alyan
On the eve of her daughter Alia’s wedding, Salma reads the girl’s future in a cup of coffee dregs. She sees an unsettled life for Alia and her children; she also sees travel, and luck. While she chooses to keep her predictions to herself that day, they will all soon come to pass when the family is uprooted in the wake of the Six-Day War of 1967.
Alyan’s debut novel explores a Palestinian family caught between present and past, between displacement and home.
Fight Back
A. M. Dassu
An empowering story about finding your identity and the courage to fight for it.
Aaliyah is an ordinary thirteen-year-old living in the Midlands - she's into her books, shoes, K-pop and she is a Muslim. She has always felt at home where she lives ... until a terrorist attack in her area changes everything.
As racial tensions increase and she starts getting bullied, Aaliyah decides to begin wearing a hijab - to challenge how people in her community see her.
Together, can Aaliyah and her friends halt the tide of hatred rippling through their community?
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Mohsin Hamid
At a café table in Lahore, a bearded Pakistani man converses with an uneasy American stranger. As dusk deepens to night, he begins the tale that has brought them to this fateful encounter…
Changez is living an immigrant's dream of America. But in the wake of September 11, Changez finds his position suddenly overturned, and his identity is in seismic shift, unearthing allegiances more fundamental than money, power, and maybe even love.
The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini
1970s Afghanistan: Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what would happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event that is to shatter their lives. After the Russians invade and the family is forced to flee to America, Amir realises that one day he must return to an Afghanistan under Taliban rule to find the one thing that his new world cannot grant him: redemption.
The Muslims are Coming!
Arun Kundnani
In the 2000s and early 2010s, domestic surveillance mushroomed under the guise of fighting the “homegrown enemy”—British police compiled a secret suspect list of more than 8,000 al-Qaeda "sympathisers," and in another operation included almost 300 children fifteen and under among those investigated. MI5 doubled in size in just five years.
Based on years of research and reportage, this is the first comprehensive critique of counter-radicalisation strategies. This book looks at the way these debates have been transformed by the embrace of a narrowly configured and ill-conceived anti-extremism.
A Very Large Expanse of Sea
Tahereh Mafi
Shirin is never surprised by how horrible people can be. She's tired of the rude stares, the degrading comments–even the physical violence–she endures as a result of her race, her religion, and the hijab she wears every day. So she's built up protective walls and refuses to let anyone close enough to hurt her.
But then she meets Ocean James. He's the first person in forever who really seems to want to get to know Shirin. It terrifies her–they seem to come from two irreconcilable worlds–and Shirin has had her guard up for so long that she's not sure she'll ever be able to let it down.
The Things I Would Tell You
Sabrina Mahfouz, ed.
In the 2000s and early 2010s, domestic surveillance mushroomed under the guise of fighting the “homegrown enemy”—British police compiled a secret suspect list of more than 8,000 al-Qaeda "sympathisers," and in another operation included almost 300 children fifteen and under among those investigated. MI5 doubled in size in just five years.
Based on years of research and reportage, this is the first comprehensive critique of counter-radicalisation strategies. This book looks at the way these debates have been transformed by the embrace of a narrowly
The Beauty of Your Face
Sahar Mustafah
Afaf Rahman, the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, is the principal of Nurrideen School for Girls, a Muslim school in the Chicago suburbs. One morning, a shooter—radicalized by the online alt-right—attacks the school.
We are swept back through Afaf’s memories: the bigotry she faced as a child, her mother’s dreams of returning to Palestine, and the devastating disappearance of her older sister that tore her family apart. Still, there is the sweetness of the music from her father’s oud, and the hope and community Afaf finally finds in Islam.
You Truly Assumed
Laila Sabreen
When a terrorist is assumed to be Muslim, and Islamophobia gets worse, Sabriya turns to her online journal for comfort. It was never meant to be anything more than an outlet, but the blog goes viral as fellow Muslim teens around the country flock to it. Two more teens, Zakat and Farah, join Bri to run the blog, and the three quickly form a strong friendship. But as its popularity grows, so do hateful comments. When one of them is threatened, their friendship is put to the test, as they must decide whether to shut down the blog and lose what they've worked for... or take a stand and risk everything to make their voices heard.