By Shelina Begum
Asma Hasan - loyal American and Muslim
AMERICAN author Asma Gull Hasan is hoping to rock stereotypes about Islam through her latest book ‘Why I Am A Muslim’.
The self-styled Muslim feminist cowgirl felt Americans were misinformed about the true nature of her faith.
A regular on Fox News, where she gives her own views on being a Muslim woman in America, Asma was approached by publishers Harper Collins to write a book on the religion.
Boston, Massachusetts
This event is not open to the public, but, if you are interested in attending, please e-mail Miss Hasan at asma@asmahasan.com.
San Francisco Chronicle Magazine, Back Page
Don’t buy a PC. I’ll help you when you have problems.” My friend Andy was talking me out of my purchase. A devoted Mac user most of my life, I was frustrated that every time I had a problem with my Mac, no one I knew could help me because they were all PC users. Andy’s bravado made me realize that I shouldn’t let others’ shortcomings dictate my choice. Plus, since he was offering his unconditional IT support, I figured I couldn’t lose. So I bought a new Mac to replace my old one.
Asma Gull Hasan, 29, considers herself an All American Girl. Her hobbies include collecting Barbie dolls, skiing and snowboarding. But she is also a serious-minded Muslim who continues to be in her faith because of the guidance and ecstasy she receives from it.
Two years ago she published “American Muslims: The New Generation.” Now she has a new book “Why I am a Muslim,” published by Thorson Element, a division of Harper Collins in England and America.
Manhattan, NY
This event is not open to the public, but, if you are interested in attending, please e-mail Miss Hasan at asma@asmahasan.com.
Maharaja Restaurant
230 East 44th Street
between 2nd & 3rd Avenues
Reception at 6:30 PM
Talk and Q&A 7 - 8:30 PM
With Mahmood Mamdani, author of “Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror”
$5 for SAJA members & students
$7 for non-members
(includes admissions, appetizers and cash bar)
Out of all the cultures in the world… true Islamic values, as embodied in the Qur’an and the life of the Prophet Muhammad, most closely resemble American values.” So asserts Hasan, who has devoted much of her adult life (she is not yet 30) to combating anti-Muslim prejudice.
Asma Gull Hasan, 29, is the author of “Why I Am a Muslim” (HarperCollins Thorsons/Element 2004) and “American Muslims: The New Generation” (Continuum 2000). She calls herself a “Muslim Feminist Cowgirl,” reflecting her upbringing in Colorado. She has been a columnist for The Denver Post and The Pakistan Link newspapers, and her op-eds have been published in The New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, Beliefnet.com, and The Dallas Morning News among others. She is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel, particularly “Hannity & Colmes,” “From the Heartland” with John Kasich, and “The O’Reilly Factor.” Hasan has also been featured on: Fresh Air with Terry Gross, Morning Edition and Weekend Edition on National Public Radio, CNN, CNN International, C-SPAN, and Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher on ABC. She has been profiled in USA Today and interviewed in The New York Times. In September 2002, Hasan appeared in the History Channel documentary Inside Islam. Asma also contributes essays to collections including “Taking Back Islam,” “I Like Being an American,” and “It’s a Free Country,” and is an editor of the monthly online publication “The American Muslim” and a regular contributor to alt.muslim. Visit her website at asmahasan.com.
By Rashid Mughal
A born-in-the-USA Pakistani girl, Asma Gull Hasan, talks about her faith and how it’s in tune with American values.
Asma Gull Hasan is a sparkling young ambassador of her faith. Her simplicity is disarming and her sentiments tug at the reader’s heart-strings. Using an odyssey of personal anecdotes, she brings home the essence of Islam and its bond with Christianity and Judaism to Americans, Europeans and others who may or may not be Muslim.
Halal dating in the U.S.
When I was in middle school, I attended the wedding of a family friend’s son. The event seemed overwhelming, with Pakistani-Americans like my family–dads who were doctors and moms dressed in glittery, gaudy Pakistani dress. The groom was a Pakistani doctor, but his bride was not. She was white and non-Muslim. The fabric of her Pakistani wedding dress was a rich orange color that made her skin seem even whiter and her hair even more red. She complained about how itchy her blouse was. My sister noted later to me that she had it on inside out, so all the embroidery was on the inside, scratching her skin. But problems with her bridal outfit intrigued me less than the fact that she was a white woman marrying a man of Pakistani descent. How did these two meet, I wanted to ask my sister. Did their parents arrange their marriage?