What if you could sit down at a kitchen table with an American Muslim mom and ask anything you wanted about her faith and religious practice? Conveyed through anecdotes and stories about growing up Muslim and female in the West, author Sumbul Ali-Karamali answers the perennial questions: What are the day-to-day practices of Muslims and how does Islam fit into the Judeo-Christian tradition? Where do the rules come from in Islam and why is quoting the Qur'an problematic? Who's who in Islam (Sunni, Shi'a, the Nation of Islam, Sufis) and why do dervishes whirl? Are Muslim women really oppressed, veiled, and willing to share their husbands? How do most Muslims feel about holy war and fundamentalism? How did American Muslims react to the September 11th attacks? The Muslim Next Door clears away the misconceptions about Islam and why they flourish - media distortion, confusion about what is cultural rather than religious, the language barrier, and the old tall tales that still persist after thirteen centuries.
