If the oceans were ink
Subtitle: an unlikely friendship and a journey to the heart of the Quran
By: Carla Power
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
Published: 2015
Language: eng
Number of pages: 336
ISBN-13: 9780805098198
Subjects: Appreciation; Public opinion; Muslim converts; Essence, genius, nature; Islamophobia; Biography; Islam
Description: If the Oceans Were Ink is Carla Power's 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.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages [307]-322) and index.
Table of contents: title: A map for the journey; title: The origins. The Quran in twenty-five words ; An American in the East ; A Muslim in the West ; Road trip to the Indian madrasa ; A migrant's prayer mat; title: The home. Pioneer life in Oxford ; Nine-thousand hidden women ; The little rosy one" ; Veiling and unveiling ; Reading "The women"; title: The world. A pilgrim's progress ; Jesus, Mary, and the Quran ; Beyond politics ; The pharaoh and his wife ; War stories ; The last lesson; title: Everlasting return.