Michael Muhammad Knight”s first novel tells the story of a fictitious group of Islamic punk-rockers – inspired by the real-life Muslim punk movement sharing its name. The word taqwacore” is a combination of ”hardcore” and ”taqwa” – an Arabic term usually translated as ”piety”. Combining two worlds rarely seen together, it is a form of expression for many young Muslims growing up in the West. Both entertaining and serious, THE TAQWACORES tackles sex, drugs and rock ”n” roll through the prism of observant, all-too-human Muslim Mohicans.”
Editorial Reviews
Review
“A manifesto for the Muslim punk movement.”
“An absolutely fascinating book . . . Michael Muhammad Knight has bravely written what could well become an essential text.”
About the Author
Michael Muhammad Knight is a novelist, essayist, journalist, and scholar. He converted to Islam at sixteen and traveled to Islamabad at seventeen to study at a madrasa. His books include The Taqwacores, Blue-Eyed Devil, Tripping with Allah: Islam, Drugs, and Writing, and Why I Am a Salafi. He is an assistant professor of religious studies at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.
Yusef is living in Buffalo, New York with a group of Muslim punks. A pot-smoking mohawked Sufi called Jehangir plays the rooftop call to prayer on his electric guitar, while debates rage downstairs about the Quranic sources for Iggy Pop songs.
With a living-room serving as mosque by day and hosting punk parties by night, and a hole in the wall marking the direction of Mecca, Yusef’s friends are all dealing with what it means to be young and Muslim in modern-day America.
Amidst all this, Yusef embarks on a fascinating, clumsy journey towards faith and love in this surprising and unsettling read.
Editorial Reviews
Review
‘Sooner or later Punk and Islam were fated to meet and produce strange offspring. This excellent novel represents the first blast of the trumpet – loud and utterly unique.’ Hakim Bey
‘Infinitely readable.’
Maximum Rocknroll
‘A manifesto for the Muslim punk movement’
Newsweek
‘The Hunter S. Thompson of Islamic Literature … an easy, funny read but, at another level and without labouring the point, it’s also profoundly challenging.’
Brian Whitaker, Guardian
‘An absolutely fascinating book … Michael Muhammed Knight has bravely written what could well become an essential text.’
Beat Motel
‘Michael Muhammad Knight is an excellent, intelligent writer … The Taqwacores is a highly engaging read … entertaining and thought-provoking.’ —
Rock Sound Magazine
About the Author
Michael Muhammad Knight grew up Irish Catholic and converted to Islam aged 16 after reading Malcolm X’s biography. He travelled to Pakistan to study Islam, hang out with Afghan refugees and play cricket in the Northwest Frontier Province. He turned to strict Wahhabism before ‘flipping out’ and abandoning Islam. He has now returned to the faith ‘on his own terms’. He lives in America.
Wow! eBook
