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Summary
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PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST * NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST * Named A Best Book of the Year by The Washington Post and The Denver Post * P raised by Fareed Zakaria as "intelligent, compassionate, and revealing," a powerful journey to help bridge one of the greatest divides shaping our world today.
If the Oceans Were Ink is Carla Power''s eye-opening story of how she and her longtime friend Sheikh Mohammad Akram Nadwi found a way to confront ugly stereotypes and persistent misperceptions that were cleaving their communities. Their friendship-between a secular American and a madrasa-trained sheikh-had always seemed unlikely, but now they were frustrated and bewildered by the battles being fought in their names. Both knew that a close look at the Quran would reveal a faith that preached peace and not mass murder; respect for women and not oppression. And so they embarked on a yearlong journey through the controversial text.
A journalist who grew up in the Midwest and the Middle East, Power offers her unique vantage point on the Quran''s most provocative verses as she debates with Akram at cafes, family gatherings, and packed lecture halls, conversations filled with both good humor and powerful insights. Their story takes them to madrasas in India and pilgrimage sites in Mecca, as they encounter politicians and jihadis, feminist activists and conservative scholars. Armed with a new understanding of each other''s worldviews, Power and Akram offer eye-opening perspectives, destroy long-held myths, and reveal startling connections between worlds that have seemed hopelessly divided for far too long.
Praise for If the Oceans Were Ink
"A vibrant tale of a friendship.... If the Oceans Were Ink is a welcome and nuanced look at Islam [and] goes a long way toward combating the dehumanizing stereotypes of Muslims that are all too common.... If the Oceans Were Ink should be mandatory reading for the 52 percent of Americans who admit to not knowing enough about Muslims."-- The Washington Post
"Journalist Power writes about her year studying the Quran with a Muslim scholar she befriended while working at a think tank in London. For some, this will be a strong introduction to Islam. To others, it''s fodder for discussion on the Sheikh''s views, how Westerners (such as Power) interpret those views and the interplay of culture and religion." -- The Denver Post
"For all those who wonder what Islam says about war and peace, men and women, Jews and gentiles, this is the book to read. It is a conversation among well-meaning friends--intelligent, compassionate, and revealing--the kind that needs to be taking place around the world."-- Fareed Zakaria, author of The Post-American World
"Carla Power''s intimate portrait of the Quran, told with nuance and great elegance, captures the extraordinary, living debate over the Muslim holy book''s very essence. A spirited, compelling read."-- Azadeh Moaveni, author of Lipstick Jihad
"An inspiring story of two [people] from different worlds who refuse to let religious and cultural differences, prejudice, and ignorance get in the way of their friendship, If the Oceans Were Ink is as thought-provoking as it is elegantly written. It takes a difficult, highly charged topic and puts it into terms that are not only understandable and eye-opening, but beautiful."-- Bustle (11 Beautifully Written Memoirs by Women)
"Unique, masterful, and deeply engaging. Carla Power takes the reader on an extraordinary journey in interfaith understanding as she debates and discovers the Quran''s message, meaning, and values on peace and violence, gender and veiling, religious pluralism and tolerance."-- John L. Esposito, University Professor and Professor of Islamic Studies, Georgetown University, and author of The Future of Islam
"A thoughtful, provocative, intelligent book."-- Diana Abu-Jaber, author of Birds Of Paradise and The Language of Baklava
" With a journalist''s mind for the story, a born traveler''s heart for the adventure of crossing borders, and a seeker''s yen for the poetry and mysticism of belief, Power creates an exceptional record of a timeless quest."-- Merritt Tierce, a National Book Foundation "5 Under 35" honoree and author of Love Me Back
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this engaging memoir, Power, who was a foreign correspondent for Newsweek, recounts the year she devoted to studying the Qur'an with Sheikh Akram, a friend and former colleague from Oxford. Recently, the Sheikh's scholarship, which "challenges bigots of all types," has found a much wider audience. His work of 10 years, compiled in a 40-volume treatise, details the historical contributions of thousands of women scholars to Islamic literature, back to the time of the Prophet. Power attended both public lessons and one-on-one discussions with the Sheikh. She spent time with his family in Britain and traveled to the village in India where he grew up, in an effort to understand how his family implemented the Qur'an's teachings into their daily lives. Power and the Sheikh touch on historical and contemporary topics, especially in respect to women's rights. Together they explore homosexuality, Muhammad's wife who operated a caravan business in Mecca, the significance of veiling and unveiling, the struggle against unjust rulers and jihad, and contemporary wars. Power's narrative offers an accessible and enlightening route into a topic fraught with misunderstanding. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Power, a secular American journalist who had seen firsthand the clumsy attempts by the media to cover Muslims in the West, partnered with Mohammad Akram Nadwi, a madrasa-trained sheikh, to delve into the true teachings of the Qur'an. They already knew that the ancient text went far beyond the out-of-context passages used to justify violence and oppression of women. For one year, Power met with Akram for personal lessons, shadowed his lectures at Oxford, and followed him on a trip home to his ancestral village in India for deeper lessons on the teachings of the Qur'an and his scholarly work challenging the marginality of women in Islam, uncovering histories of thousands of learned Islamic women, from the time of the prophet Muhammad to today. Akram taught her the differences between cultural and religious traditions and the resistance to change even when the Qur'an is cited as the authority. Their yearlong debates on issues ranging from the veiling of women to calls for fatwas challenged their own understandings of religion, culture, politics, and friendship and offer powerful new insights into Islam.--Bush, Vanessa Copyright 2015 Booklist
Library Journal Review
What happens when a secular, feminist journalist spends an entire year studying with and interviewing an Islamic scholar? This memoir-style narrative addresses this question, as journalist Power documented her year with Sheikh Akram Nadwi, who resides in Oxford, England. Yet this story is not just about the interactions between two people from very different backgrounds and belief systems. It also, through the experience and the insights from the Sheikh, provides an introduction to Islamic thought and practice. With clarity and wisdom, the Sheikh responds to difficult questions, such as ones concerning Islamic Jihad movements in Palestine as well as the Prophet Muhammad's marriage to a nine year old. One is struck by this conservative Sheikh's ability to address such questions and Islam in general in a thoughtful, perceptive manner. Interestingly, while Powers did not, after the year spent with the Sheikh, convert to Islam, she did come to deeply respect him and his religious perspective. VERDICT Readers interested in Islam or cultural studies will find this an informative and engrossing work. [See Prepub Alert, 10/20/14.]-John Jaeger, Dallas Baptist Univ. Lib. (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
Introduction: A Map for the Journey | p. 1 |
Part 1 The Origins | |
1 The Quran in Twenty-Five Words | p. 25 |
2 An American in the East | p. 36 |
3 A Muslim in the West | p. 47 |
4 Road Trip to the Indian Madrasa | p. 73 |
5 A Migrant's Prayer Mat | p. 97 |
Part 2 The Home | |
6 Pioneer Life in Oxford | p. 113 |
7 Nine Thousand Hidden Women | p. 128 |
8 "The Little Rosy One" | p. 138 |
9 Veiling and Unveiling | p. 156 |
10 Reading "The Women" | p. 175 |
Part 3 The World | |
11 A Pilgrim's Progress | p. 197 |
12 Jesus, Mary, and the Quran | p. 214 |
13 Beyond Politics | p. 229 |
14 The Pharaoh and His Wife | p. 240 |
15 War Stories | p. 259 |
16 The Last Lesson | p. 272 |
Conclusion: Everlasting Return | p. 290 |
Author's Note | p. 301 |
Glossary | p. 303 |
Notes | p. 307 |
Bibliography | p. 319 |
Acknowledgments | p. 323 |
Index | p. 325 |