Select Books

Arabic language instruction

Reviewed by Ginan Rauf

for beginners---

Sing and Learn, A Language Series: Arabic (The Egyptian dialect) book and cassettes by Sohair Soukarry.

The Arabic Alphabet: How to Read & Write it.... Nicholas Awde

alif baa: Introduction to Arabic Sounds and Letters - Georgetown University Press- includes DVD; quite thorough

Easy Arabic Script---

Jane Wightwick and Mahmoud Gaafar have produced several user friendly books for beginners that include:

Your First Hundred Words in Arabic

Read & Speak Arabic for Beginners

Arabic Verbs & Essentials for Grammar

Easy Arabic Grammar

 

Standard text for college level---

 Al-Kitaab fii Ta allum al-Arabiyya with DVDs; beginner, Part 1 and Part2.

Georgetown University Press.

Koranic and Classical Arabic - see Wheeler Thackston

Shattering Stereotypes:Muslim Women Speak Out

Ed. Fawzia Afzal-Khan

Reviewed by BN Aziz

There are so many books being written about Muslim women today. (Nothing about Muslim men! But, that is another issue.) Meanwhile, how many of those authorities and testimonies are by ourselves— Muslim women? And how many are records of our objections to the way other westerners perceive us, patronize us, misrepresent us, and treat us? This is the first I know of.

The phrase ‘speaking out’ is a call to justice. We know justice often does not exist until one speaks out—for oneself. A collection of the writings of those who dare to speak out inevitably concerns itself with the awareness of injustices in their own society. This collection is more. These essays, plays, poems and critiques are reactions and statements mainly directed in to the self-assigned experts, the patronizing western feminists, the self-declared ‘free press’. In poetry, theater, memoir and social critique, they say—“these are who I am”. From the testimonies in the pages of Shattering Stereotypes, Muslim sisters are unquestionably multi-faceted and multi-cultural, creative and diverse, funny and perceptive, sober and analytical.

Mohja Khaf, following her list of clarifications re Islamic law and history relating to women, says “Of course there really is sexism among Muslims. We can start working on it together as soon as we sweep away the stereotypes about sexism among Muslims. Stereotypes cloud the air between us, make Muslims defensive and obscure the real issues….”

It is increasingly obvious to anyone who cares about justice and who is honest enough to know it is possible, that Muslim peoples themselves must lead the way in describing our lives and defining our future course.

Nawal El-Saadawi, in her introduction to this book, reminds us how ‘the personal is political’, how ‘personal stories resist vague and generalized abstractions, how they maintain the urgency, the intensity, the richness and vividness of the concrete.”

Indeed, the collection –by a wonderful group of active and talented women-- demonstrates the power of individual testimony, not as victims, but as fellow citizens-- ‘speaking out’. Many authors here are poets and creative writers; some write memories; there are four plays. I like the anger in these writings, the love of self, the reflections, the patience, the willingness to share. So here you are. Take these ‘speak outs’ and join them with your own.

Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits

Laila Lalami

Reviewed by BN Aziz

Those of us in touch with conditions in the ‘belad’, or with the world economy, know about the risks our people take to escape poverty and despair at home. They flee in search of often meager economic gains. Most of our American ancestors came here a century ago, impelled by similar conditions. Let’s face it. It’s not about escaping political tyranny, although that is a fair reason.

Dangers of illegal migration are subjects of films—Algerian-French films, Africa Diaspora films, Latin American films.

Yet few Arab writers in English have addressed this theme in their fiction. Laila Lalami’s Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits is the first novel in a long time to tell a bold, un-nostalgic migration story. And she does it well.

I read through this book in a few hours, gripped by the story itself and my identification with Murad, Aziz, Halima, and Faten, the four individuals whose tales she narrates. In the first pages of the novel, Lalami won my compassion for these women and men.

The first chapter in Hope… is a sea voyage of African Moroccan immigrants left a few hundred meters from the Spanish coast to swim ashore to an unknown fate. The following eight chapters are divided into two parts: a) flashbacks to the lives of four women and men before their voyage. b) seeing them after their failure, repatriated to Morocco and the misery they had tried to leave behind them, or at least to alleviate with hoped for remittance from overseas.

The ‘dangerous pursuits’ of these four Moroccans is the main story, and a compelling one. But Lalami is also using these lives to take us more deeply into this Arab culture, whether it’s a cynical view of the Paul Bowles’ mythology, family solidarity, or hypocrisy concerning women’s head cover. For more dynamism and scope from this promising, young author, see her web page, www.moorishgirl.com

Published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2005

Finding My Voice

Diane Rehm

Reviewed by BN Aziz

I've been listening to The Diane Rehm Show for several years. Recently I learned the celebrated host is an Arab woman. She is the child of immigrants--a modest family of grocers, the Aed--to the Washington area, and she grew up speaking Arabic as well as English. Today Rehm is a skilled and successful talk show host whose daily program on WAMU in Washington is nationally syndicated. The DR Show is in its third decade and boasts a listenership of 1.65 million weekly.

          DR's guests include US presidents, high ranking officials and celebrities of all kinds. Rehm often devotes the first hour to current affairs, discussing international issues with Washington insiders. In the second hour, also a 'talk' format, she reviews a new book with its author. Topics range from health matters, politics, environment, family, and social issues. I listen to her as often as I can, even on the web. This is not only because of the subjects. I want to learn from this skilled radio journalist at work. I enjoy her most when, unlike many radio/TV talk hosts, Rehm strongly challenges her guests and openly takes issue with their opinions. She is also very good at handling call-ins.

          I once wrote to Rehm to share with her my own Arab ancestry and my work as a radio host. (No reply.)

          Last week I read her two books. The most recent was co-written with her husband John Rehm of some 40 years. Toward Commitment is about their marriage. This book seemed to have developed out of a series of frank live on-air discussions they had about their marriage.

The earlier book, Finding My Voice, most interested me however. It's the story of a young woman who, without any early signs of ambition and promise and no college training, eventually makes her way through volunteer work, to step by step, to be given her own show. After regional success, in 1995 The Diane Rehm Show became nationally syndicated and widely praised. It is the story of success told with rare modesty, a manner readers may find instructive and encouraging. In many ways Diane Rehm's move from an unassuming past to national celebrity, is an American woman's story. It demonstrates how a skilled, determined person can succeed. Rehm weaves her gradual move into professional journalism with her emergence from being a not atypical unfulfilled Washington housewife and mother.

          Making her career success more interesting is a medial 'challenge' Rehm faced. Struck by a nervous disorder, her career seemed in jeopardy. Rehm eventually prevailed and she continues her on-air work as well as giving public lectures and tours, even though her medical problems have not ended. This garners even more admiration. 

          I did mention, as Rehm does at the outset of her memoir, that she is an Arab woman. But the Arab part of her history seems to have little place, positively or otherwise, in Rehm's story. She doesn’t even mention 'hummus' once in the book. Nor does 'tabouli' appear. Is this the real test of her Arab ancestry?

Not unusually, people find problems they encounter as adults related to their childhood. Rehm is no different than many of us in this respect except that she writes about it. In her case, it is the strains her mother Annette imposed on the young Diane. And this writer does not spare her mother blame. Many of us ay recognize some of the symptoms. Rehm, for better or worse, does not attribute any of these obstacles or problems to anything Arab, that is anything 'cultural'. Whether she consciously sought to avoid attributing blame to a people already so unfairly maligned and unable to claim its American children's achievements, I do not know. At the same time, in this memoir Rehm has nothing meritorious to say about her heritage.

Even as her success grows and her public recognition might give her some confidence to search for a cultural credits beyond her husband and network of Washington friends, she refuses. Sadly I think, the only lines in the book where she refers to her heritage at all, it is in a self-depreciatory way; late in the book on page 201, she simply asks "All the attention and excitement made me pause, however, wondering why I still feel like 'a little Arab girl' who really didn't belong."

Professionally Rehm seems more reasonable and even handed than many--most--radio and TV journalists when her topic is current affairs in the Middle East. Still there is no overt sign of her Arab heritage there either. Apart from the memoir, perhaps that part of her life is indeed pushed under the carpet. Still one wonders why we have not seen Rehm celebrated and honored by her own community. She is not even mentioned as an Arab American writer.

Brick Lane

Monica Ali

Reviewed by

The boundaries of inventiveness are continually being challenged and breached in literature. How glorious. The latest such outbreak is in the writing of Monica Ali. Brick Lane, Ali’s first novel, is a complex and satisfying piece of writing. Only recently, 5 years after its publication, I sat down to read this young woman’s work. What a thrill.

I knew that since the appearance of Brick Lane, Ali achieved wide recognition. But this book still astonished me; it is more than the work of a good storyteller. It is a multilayered story with a new kind of heroine, a British immigrant, a woman, a Muslim. (Ali’s characters in this novel are only excelled by those of Hanif Kuraishi.)

Brick Lane invites us to taste immigrant experience in full splendor. This novel blends fantasy, family conflict, letters from a sister in Bangladesh, and the ever so slow maturity of our heroine Nazneen. Nazneen had an inauspicious birth in the homeland, and was taught to ‘endure’… everything (at times infuriating for the reader.)  When swept into a marriage that lands her in London, she clings to that philosophy. Nazneen tolerates a failed husband Chanu who, although clumsy and pompous, clutches a commendable philosophy. While this does not bring him success in England, he speaks some truths.

Following the downturn of Chanu’s fortune and the emerging independence of Nazneen, we meet a host of believable, refreshing characters in the London council estate where Nazneen resides. Each one, whether a forlorn family doctor and his wild wife, neighborhood women who range from the naïve to the cunning to the dreamy, her own truculent daughter, her hapless lover, fill the British immigrant landscape.

Perhaps in an attempt at political reality Ali has Nazneen stumble into an organizing meeting of local Muslims. One the surface they represent hope... and danger. This may be Monica Ali’s attempt to acknowledge the real threats faced by disillusioned British Muslims. The eventual collapse of the group may be the author’s way of ridiculing immigrant Muslim leadership. Or it may serve to send our heroine elsewhere.

The heartwarming letters to Nazneen from her sister Hasina in Bangladesh may be another message from the author. That is, Hasina’ compassion tells us that humanity survives there, even though it may be missing from the lives of Bangladeshis in the UK. If Hasina can overcome what has befallen her at home, surely there is redemption for Nazeem.

          Our Muslim author also skillfully weaves the reality of migrated Islam. The people of Brick Lane are not pious Muslims (not at this point in the story), but their prayers and practices are ever present, in fragments, in a vague memory of home, in terms of habit, constantly interrupted by unimportant daily preoccupations. All religion-related episodes in the story tell us that everything in this arena of their lives is unsettled and unreliable. Nevertheless, our heroine can and does fine meaning.

The Secret History of Al-Qaeda

Abdel Bari Atwan

Reviewed by BN Aziz

Al-Qaeda and its founder have generated a great many seemingly commanding books in recent years. This one, by the experienced, articulate Arab editor of a major Arabic-language paper is by far the best, standing way above the others in its approach, research and arguments.

Unlike other authors who try to exploit an 'insider' knowledge of Osama bin Laden to clothe themselves with authority, Abdul Bari Atwan simply employs a vast understanding of international politics and the rising Islamic militancy against US and Israel, to give us a truly deep understanding of the movement, from its roots in the US-instigated holy war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, to the present.

I have rarely read a 250 page non-fiction book in two sittings. Atwan is a consice thinker, a good writer and a skilled analyst.

Although the author invokes his two day visit with the world's notorious leader to open the book, by far the most valuable chapters are those that follow. Step by step they offer the historical and political context of the rise of the anti-US movement. The first chapter focuses on the "historical inevitability of bin Laden". This is followed by two excellent presentations laying out the history, ideology and logic of "the holy warrior and the concept of martyrdom". Nothing I have read in all the expert descriptions flooding us with this subject comes near to Atwan's understanding. These discussions are followed by the chapter "Cyber-jihad" which goes a long way to helping us understand just how guerrilla war, often seen as a poor man's low tech response to occupation, in this case linked up with high technology to make this a truly global phenomenon.

The author rightly devotes considerable time on Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia where it originated and which remains a primary focus of the anti-American and anti-imperialist militant movement. We learn the historical roots of imbalances in Saudi policy and Saudi society as well as its dangerous liaison of this nation with the USA. In the final chapters, Atwan turns to Iraq and the expansion of the anti-imperial guerrilla war there. While I am not convinced that it is really an al-Qaeda war, at least the author shows how the insurgency may have taken some of its tactics and organization from bin Laden's organization. By viewing the legacy in Iraq, we are given a frightening picture of capacity of this now headless sprawling organization. One wonders how it will ever end.

Throughout his book, the author offers an intelligent perspective on the logic of the anti-American Islamic movement, including its use of seemingly heartless destructive practices. Atwan expresses no sympathy, neither for Al-Qaeda practices nor for its ideology. But nowhere does he lower himself to the emotional, hysterical presentations that most western 'authorities' engage in. This is particularly important because through Atwan's excellent portrait, the movement can be seen in terms of its own logic, rather than a frightening, emotionally driven extremism. When western policy makers can adopt this perspective, only then can they find an effective counter.

If anything, Atwan demonstrates that there is little secret about it. If anything, this book seems to remove a great deal of mystery surrounding the growth of the movement and its leadership.

The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini

Reviewed by BN Aziz

Two boys; two fathers; no mothers. It is the early 1970s. The story opens in a comfortable and seemingly secure home in Afghanistan before the arrival of Russian troops.
The narrator's family --a lad, Amir, and his father--is a well-off household where father and son live in comfort. Yet there is little affection between man and boy. In the other household Hassan, Amir's age, lives with his father Ali, a dedicated servant. They are poor but content, and the two families seem to have an established, agreeable equilibrium.
 Rahim Khan is a close friend of Amir's father. Recognizing that Amir does not enjoy much parental affection, Khan tries to make up for this loss; he is like an uncle to young Amir. Nothing however can change Amir's feeling that his own father prefers Hassan to himself. He cannot control his jealousy for Hassan and even though the two boys are playmates, Amir is unable to give his companion his complete loyalty. On his side however, Hassan demonstrates total trust in the family scion and declares his readiness to do anything for him.
 The boys team up to become a formidable pair in kite-fighting, a popular sport. Hassan is the 'runner', the team member who chases the kites that his team cuts down. Their victory in a local competition is short-lived when Hassan finds himself in trouble, cornered by thugs. Amir remains frozen, unable to go to his partner's aid. (His betrayal so troubles him that he conjures a way to rid the house of Hassen.)
 Following the incident, Amir precipitates a crisis and the servant family, Hassan and his father, departs. We never meet them again.
Not long after, the country is occupied by Russian troops, and Amir and his father are forced to flee the country altogether. They reach Pakistan and eventually arrive in the US. They settle in California amid a growing community of Afghan refugees. Here, the boy and father are finally able to build a close bond, and Amir becomes especially proud of the father whose depth of character and humanity prevail time and time again. Amir falls in love, marries and becomes a successful writer.
By this time, the Russian troops have been driven out and the notorious Taliban are in power.
Amir never thinks about returning to Afghanistan. Until one day, his 'uncle' Rahim Khan summons him to Pakistan. Thinking he will be away a short time, he departs only to find that he must undertake a dangerous mission into his homeland. He cannot deny Khan's request. It is a mission that will reveal the true identity of his old childhood friend. Finally, Amir is able to come to terms with his betrayal of Hassan.
 The story is simple. But in the hands of this master storyteller, this is extraordinary experience for the reader.
Throughout the book, the author dwells on underlying emotional relations among all the men in the story--Amir and his father, his father and the servant, and the two boys themselves. One does not often see male relationships explored and exposed as deftly and movingly as Khaled Hosseini has in this book.
The place and culture of Afghanistan itself are not central to the story. Nor are they particular to the relationships the author explores among his characters. Because of a war, the families are displaced and scattered. There is a gratuitous chapter graphically detailing the evils of the Taliban. But that has little to do with the main plot and the character of the protagonist.
The Kite Runner is a quintessentially a story of a man returning to his past and in the course of this journey, coming to terms with himself over his early betrayal of a childhood friend. I have rarely read emotions among men told so powerfully, and aware that the author is an Asian and of Muslim heritage, it is even more edifying.

The Girl in The Tangerine Scarf

Mohja Kahf

Reviewed by BN Aziz

Mohja Kahf, well know poet, scholar and satirist has given us her first novel. And its as much fun as her poetry can be.

Those familiar with Kahf's writing will welcome this book. Of course, it  brims with tongue-in-cheek humor and colorful, contemporary, multi-dimensional (Muslim) characters.

          Khadra is 'the girl' in the tangerine scarf, a teen whose family moves from the Rocky Mountains to flat, flat Indiana where they head up a new Dawah Center, anticipating a flourishing Muslim community there. Grandparents like Jiddo Candyman in the old country (Syria) are invoked. But Khaf relies on this likable immigrant American family and friends for the story's insights and good humor.

In Indiana, small town life is as bearable for these young Muslims as for anyone. We are privy to racial tensions, in this case between these Muslims and locals, and Kahf lets us see that racism flows both ways. Even these teens' reactions to their own Islamic rituals are 'cool'. Pork prohibitions, obligatory ablutions, and prayer conventions, presented through Khadra and her friends, lose their heavy, sometimes fearful image of absolute 'haram' and 'halal'. These youngsters are really integrated. Through them, Islam appears not only less doctrinaire; it is not always reasonable  and sometimes fumbling. Allah Akbar! Just as religious habits in this story lose their exoticism, they appear anything but threatening. In this respect, the novel is a kind of insider's manual of these little known American believers. Although one wonders if general readers will really appreciate Kahf's disclosures. She is letting us into some rather private closets.

          We travel with Khadra through her search, not for God but for a profession and for love. Like many other small-town young adults, Khadra leaves for the east coast. She begins a career in journalism--photographic journalism. Eventually this takes her back to Indiana for a visit, where she traces the fates of her ex, her friends and her kin. She also recalls her Haj with the family to Saudia Arabia years before. One of the most affectionate and developed characters in her story is Teta, Khadra's grandmother. She appears in the Indiana scenes, and in Syria when Khadra visits there.

          Kahf's characters offer lots of diversity; two brothers Eyad and Jihad, Ebtehaj and Wajdy, their parents, and other immigrants, African Americans, and white and Latino converts we can find in any across the country. All are wholesome and readily recognizable Americans. They spat, they pass gas, they dispute their Muslim mission, they pass through phases of zeal; they fall in and out of love. You see them everywhere: on their own in journalism school, on Haj, back in the old country with grandma, at home, in their islamic Center.

Whatever page they appear, the network threaded by the tangerine scarf is as American as any of us. What makes this collection special is that this is the first appearance in mainstream literary culture.

           A story like this takes more than skill. Real courage is needed to lay bare as much as Kahf decides. For while it is a novel, it is replete with American and being-Muslim realities. It works because nothing is sacred to Khaf. Those familiar with her writings in MuslimWakeUp.com know this already.

          I can't see my local library reader's circle discussing this book. I wonder if an interfaith dialogue would pick it up. But in a classroom of 13-16 years olds; definitely. Maybe even a group of MSA students could take this somewhere. 

Identity Card
...Write down!
I am an Arab
I have a name without a title
Patient in a country
Where people are enraged

My roots
Were entrenched before the birth of time
And before the opening of the eras
Before the pines, and the olive trees
And before the grass grew...

Therefore!
Write down on the top of the first page:
I do not hate people
Nor do I encroach
But if I become hungry
The usurper’s flesh will be my food
Beware..
Beware..
Of my hunger
And my anger!
Mahmoud Darwish
more from Mahmoud Darwish

There is none amongst the believers who plants a tree, or sows a seed, and then a bird, or a person, or an animal eats thereof, but it is regarded as having given a charitable gift [for which there is great recompense].

[Al-Bukhari, III:513]

Ramadan
Sept 2nd 2008

Tahrir Podcast

Now you can listen to our programs from our podcast pages.

Radio Tahrir Podcast

Tahrir Diwan

a poem.. a song..

"Write This"
by poet Kazim Ali

See poems and songs list

Qur'an Surat Mazzamil
Huzna Majid, NJ student, reading

See audio list

Book review

Abdel Bari Atwan's
The Secret History of Al-Qaeda
reviewed by BN Aziz.

See review list

Tahrir Team

Jad Abumrad

Read about Jad Abumrad in the team page.

See Tahrir Team

Select Links

• Africa/World International News
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• Arab American Journalists
• Arab Writers Conference, 2007
• AWAIR, Arab World & Islamic Resources
• Busboys and Poets; DC Bookstore & Cafe
• Electronic Iraq
• IndyMedia
• Journalists MiddleEast
• Majid Ali, MD "Science, Health and Healing" on WBAI
• Muslim Wake Up
• AlBasrah Iraq News
• American Muslim News
• Arab Civilization and Art
• Attorney Lynne Stewart--civil rights defender
• Baghdad 2003
• Electronic Intifada
• FSRN Pacifica Radio News
• Iraqi Journalist
• Kallimuna-Arab Writers Conference
• Moorish Girl
• Pacifica Radio Network