The Taqwacores
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| The Taqwacores | |
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| Author | Michael Muhammad Knight |
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| Cover artist | Cover design by Ben Meyers Cover Photograph by Mellissa Secore |
| Country | United States, United Kingdom, Italy |
| Language | English, Italian |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Soft Skull Press(US) Telegram (UK), Newton Compton (Italy) |
| Publication date | 2003 (self-published); 2004 Autonomedia; 2007 Telegram, Newton Compton; 2009 Soft Skull Press |
| Media type | print (paperback) |
| Pages | 254 p. add i(paperback edition) |
| ISBN | ISBN 978-1-57027-167-0 (Autonomedia edition), ISBN 1-59376-229-1 (Soft Skull Press edition) |
The Taqwacores by Michael Muhammad Knight is the author's debut novel, depicting a fictitious Islamic punk rock scene. The title is a portmanteau of taqwa, an Islamic concept of love and fear for Allah, and Hardcore, the punk rock subgenre. Some of the most popular taqwacore bands are: The Kominas, Secret Trial Five and the Sagg Taqwacore Syndicate. The novel has also been credited by Asra 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 with Alternative Tentacles, the punk record label founded by Jello Biafra. After receiving an endorsement from Peter Lamborn Wilson (aka Hakim Bey), the novel was published by radical press Autonomedia. 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 from Syracuse, 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 the Muslim Student Association or local mosques to have Friday prayer.
In 2008, the book was made into a feature film by director Eyad Zahra starring actress Noureen DeWulf as Rabeya, actress Rasika Mathur as Fatima, and actor Bobby Naderi as Yusef. The film is expected to be released sometime in 2009.
Soft Skull Press is publishing the revised edition, which became available in December 2008.
[edit] Censorship
Due to the Danish Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy, the UK edition of The Taqwacores was partially censored.[1]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- "Noureen DeWulf"
- Autonomedia's official site for The Taqwacores, now out of print
- "Muhammad was a Punk Rocker" in Eclectica Magazine Vol. 7, No. 1 January/February, 2003
- Jum'a with the Punks: An Excerpt from The Taqwacores @ Muslim WakeUp!
- Whitaker, Brian, "Punk Muslims"
- Preview the novel at Google Books
- "Soft Skull Press, publisher of the revised edition, 2009"
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