137Reviews

I Speak for Myself: American Women on Being Muslim
Eds. Maria M. Ebrahimji and Zahra T. Suratwala

Ashland, OR: White Cloud Press, 2011, pbk. 236 pages.

The anthology, I Speak for Myself,	is	the	first	in	a	series	of	books	that	al-
low Muslims to write about themselves. This volume is about American 
women describing their experiences of being a Muslima	‒	with	one	from	a	
man, and further volumes in the series will focus on the American Muslim 
male perspective and voices from the Arab Spring. Like most anthologies, 
the submissions are uneven, and with forty essays, there are more than a 
few poor essays. The editors indicate that they wanted the authors to write 
essays	that	reflected	their	comfortable	relationship	to	country	and	faith,	but	
otherwise they left the theme open. 

Although the editors seem to have hoped for a diverse outpouring of 
essays, and there is a great deal of diversity, there are certain common 
themes. Most notably were a series of essays by women who only talked 
about the hijab, as though that was their identity. These essays were fairly 
similar to one another, which may be the result of the short length of these 
pieces. There is value in keeping the contributions brief, as stories move 
along and ideas develop quickly, but is a problem when several people 
write on the same issue. 

Despite	this	general	criticism,	this	book	is	a	natural	fit	for	any	course	
on Islam in America, gender and religion, or even as an introduction to 
Islam course. There are some absolutely delightful and fascinating essays 
in this collection. The strongest ones dealt with the implicit nature of being 
Muslim	and	American.	Rather	than	discussing	either	or	both	identifica-
tions,	authors	simply	talked	about	their	lives.	Following	are	several	ex-
amples of these types of essays.



The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 29:1138

Fatemeh	Fakhraie’s	“Roots”	deals	with	her	current	relationships	with	
her parents. She wonders if her mother feels she has to bribe her to spend 
time with her by taking her shopping and to nice restaurants. That immedi-
ate hook seems like one extended to anyone who is close to her family, but 
not living near home. She then expands her vision, talking about how she 
feels she has outgrown her home, but that she is still her parents’ child. She 
shares her father’s temper and laugh, and the strength of her mother. She 
worries about the death of her parents. It is a sweet story, not only of an 
author who is Muslim and American, but as one who is a daughter. 

Maria	Ebrahimji,	one	of	the	editors	of	the	volume,	has	an	essay	that	
speaks to a spiritual quest and her conceptions of taqwa (righteousness). 
It	is	embedded	in	a	transnational	search	for	finding	religious	meaning,	but	
also grounded in her family and home. “Unwelcome Change,” by Mona 
Rajab	is	one	of	the	richer	essays	on	the	hijab, dealing with her family’s 
negative	reaction	to	her	wearing	the	headscarf.	Hadia	Mubarak’s	“Cross-
roads” also deals with the hijab, but compares her experiences wearing 
it in Jordan and in the United States. To some readers, I’m sure it will 
be	a	surprise	to	find	out	that	she	is	in	the	minority	when	in	Jordan,	but	
in the majority in her community in the United States. Little asides like 
this provide a contrast and make this volume a rich source as teaching 
material.	The	theme	of	being	defined	by	others	is	developed	in	essays	by	
Amina	Choueiki	and	Amany	Ezeldin,	both	of	whom	struggle	with	being	
too	American	in	one	context	and	not	American	enough	in	another	‒	but	in	
very different ways.

Being	a	female	high	school	basketball	player	during	Ramadan	is	no	
easy	task	for	Dewnya	Bakri-Bazzi.	However,	she	maintains	the	fast,	and	
uses it as an opportunity to talk about her faith to her teammates. Although 
she does slip into the formulation that somehow Islam and peace are syn-
onymous (62), the strength of the essay is that it shows the impact of shared 
experiences.	Zaynab	Alwan’s	essay	of	being	in	high	school,	when	the	2003	
invasion of Iraq occurred, is a powerful reminder of the need to commu-
nicate, especially during times of loss and crisis. Alwan is of Iraqi descent 
and is deeply concerned about the invasion. She feels isolated until one of 
her	teachers	says	she	is	worried	too,	because	her	son	is	in	the	army.	Rather	
than looking at each other as potential adversaries, they hope for peace 
together.

Another	difficult	high	school	experience	is	shared	by	Arshiya	Saiyed,	
who wanted to remove prayer from her graduation ceremony. Many people 
believed that she did so because as a Muslim she did not want a Christ-
centric prayer. The Islamophobes called her a jihadist, and Muslims called 



139Reviews

her a bad Muslim for not demanding an “Islamic” prayer or the covering on 
her	head.	However,	her	rationale	was	embedded	in	the	First	Amendment.	
She believed that the prayer violated American values.

There are also essays that are so well-wrought, that I would do them a 
disservice by attempting to summarize them. Sarah Azad talks about one 
of	her	days	as	an	Ob/Gyn	when	she	has	to	go	to	the	airport	to	pick-up	her	
sister.	Ruqayya	Gibson	gives	us	her	life	story	in	a	way	that	highlights	ideas	
of	service	and	sacrifice.	From	Saliqa	Khan,	we	hear	of	what	Islam	and	
marriage mean to her. All of these essays may talk about Islam, but it is not 
their focus. These are stories of life in America. 

Part of American life is racism, and the hidden face of racism comes 
out	clearly	in	Sevim	Kalyoncu’s	essay,	“Learning	Tolerance,”	in	which	
she	is	silenced	by	those	who	do	not	wish	to	hear	her.	However,	two	other	
women	in	the	collection	use	their	voices	to	great	effect.	Rashida	Tlaib	tells	
of	her	engagement	with	the	political	process	to	become	the	first	Muslim	
woman elected to the Michigan legislature. While the essay could serve 
as a campaign ad, it is also very human, because she talks about her com-
munity,	not	just	herself.	The	collection	ends	with	a	piece	by	Kameelah	
Rasheed,	who	talks	about	the	mastery	of	words	to	declare	her	own	of	self.	
And	she	breaks	down	the	categories	by	which	she	is	defined	and	remakes	
them	to	define	herself.

This last essay closes out the collection nicely, as it helps to see the 
women	represented	as	speaking	for	themselves.	One	striking	part	of	the	
collection was how few essays dealt with gender. There was a naturalness 
to being women, but the subtext of gender was ever present. The book 
offers a wide variety of readings that can be used across courses and disci-
plines. Because of the brevity of each piece, the things that are not said can 
be as useful as the things that are. While I suspect that many essays will be 
used in introductory courses, there is some rich material that can be mined 
for upper-level courses as well.

Hussein	Rashid
Adjunct Professor

Department	of	Religion
Hofstra	University	

hr@husseinrashid.com