Growing Up Muslim: Understanding Islamic Beliefs and Practices

An American lawyer with a further degree in Islamic law, Ali-Karamali offers young readers an accessible introduction to Islam and to Muslim cultures, written in an easygoing style occasionally sparked with humor. Moving from the outside in, the author begins with the customs that make Muslims seem "different" (food and fasting, daily prayer, dress and head-coverings) to nonpractitioners, drawing helpfully on her own background growing up in Southern California, the daughter of Muslim Indian immigrants. The explanations of rules and practices allow Ali-Karamali to move deeper into her subject, and they lead naturally into good summations of Muhammad’s life and beliefs and the subsequent spread of the religion he began. Throughout the book, there is an insistent theme of the plurality of Muslim expression ("there is no particular kind of clothing that I must wear to be Muslim or that Islam says I must wear") and of the distinctions between the universals of the faith (the Five Pillars of Islam) and the many varieties interpretation and adherence can take. With a balance of facts, personal experience, and thoughtful discussion, this introduction to the world’s second-largest faith will serve for both personal reading and school research. Helpful notes, a lengthy bibliography, and an index are appended. roger sutton