- The Taqwacores
infobox Book |
name = The Taqwacores
title_orig =
translator =
author =Michael Muhammad Knight
cover_artist = Cover design by Ben Meyers
Cover Photograph by Mellissa Secore
country =United States ,United Kingdom ,Italy
language = English, Italian
series =
genre =Novel
publisher =Autonomedia (US) Telegram (UK), Newton Compton (Italy)
release_date = 2003 (self-published); 2004Autonomedia ; 2007 Telegram, Newton Compton
media_type = Print (Paperback )
pages = 254 p. add i(paperback edition)
isbn = ISBN 978-1-57027-167-0 (paperback edition)
preceded_by =
followed_by ="The Taqwacores" by
Michael Muhammad Knight is the author's debut novel, depicting a fictitiousIslam icpunk rock scene. The title is aportmanteau oftaqwa , an Islamic concept of love and fear forAllah , and Hardcore, thepunk rock subgenre.Taqwacore thus refers to a genre of Muslim punk rock, existing only in the novel at the time of its writing, but since emerging as an actual genre, inspiring taqwacore bands such asthe Kominas andSecret Trial Five . The novel has also been credited byAsra Nomani as first presenting her the idea for woman-led prayer, leading to a historic woman-led congregation on March 18, 2005.Knight originally self-published The Taqwacores in
DIY zine format, giving copies away for free until finding distribution withAlternative Tentacles , the punk record label founded byJello Biafra . After receiving an endorsement fromPeter Lamborn Wilson (aka Hakim Bey), the novel was published by radical pressAutonomedia . A UK version is published by Telegram Books. In its Italian translation, the novel is retitled "Islampunk."The narrator of "The Taqwacores," Yusuf Ali, is a
Pakistani American engineering student fromSyracuse, New York who lives off campus with a diverse group of Muslims in their house in Buffalo. Besides being their home, the house serves as a place to have punk parties and a place for Muslims not comfortable with theMuslim Student Association or localmosques to have Friday prayer.Censorship
Due to the Danish
Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy , the UK edition of The Taqwacores was partially censored. [ [http://autonomedia.org/taqwa_censorship Taqwacores: The Censored Bits - Autonomedia ] ]References
External links
* [http://www.autonomedia.org/taqwacores Autonomedia's official site for The Taqwacores]
* [http://www.eclectica.org/v7n1/knight.html "Muhammad was a Punk Rocker" in "Eclectica Magazine" Vol. 7, No. 1 January/February, 2003]
* [http://www.muslimwakeup.com/main/archives/2003/06/juma_with_the_p.php Jum'a with the Punks: An Excerpt from "The Taqwacores" @Muslim WakeUp! ]
* [http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/brian_whitaker/2007/03/sex_drugs_and_prayer.html Whitaker, Brian, "Punk Muslims"]
* [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Diw2ZzNZCXsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=taqwacores&sig=5FbQ5xoX1RFxiiNuubRNGgd57x8 Preview the novel atGoogle Books ]
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