How to Be a Muslim: An American Story

By Haroon Moghul

Book Overview

A searing portrait of Muslim life in the West, this "profound and intimate" memoir captures one man's struggle to forge an American Muslim identity ( Washington Post ) Haroon Moghul was thrust into the spotlight after 9/11, becoming an undergraduate leader at New York University's Islamic Center forced into appearances everywhere: on TV, before interfaith audiences, in print. Moghul was becoming a prominent voice for American Muslims even as he struggled with his relationship to Islam. In high school he was barely a believer and entirely convinced he was going to hell. He sometimes drank. He didn't pray regularly. All he wanted was a girlfriend. But as he discovered, it wasn't so easy to leave religion behind. To be true to himself, he needed to forge a unique American Muslim identity that reflected his beliefs and personality. How to Be a Muslim reveals a young man coping with the crushing pressure of a world that fears Muslims, struggling with his faith and searching for intellectual forebears, and suffering the onset of bipolar disorder. This is the story of the second-generation immigrant, of what it's like to lose yourself between cultures and how to pick up the pieces.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807020745
• ISBN13: 9780807020746
• Release Date: June 2017
• Publisher: Beacon Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.1" x 8.8"