Heir to the Crescent Moon
Sufiya Abdur-Rahman
(Author)
Description
From age five, Sufiya Abdur-Rahman, the daughter of two Black Power-era converts to Islam, feels drawn to the faith even as her father, a devoted Muslim, introduces her to and, at the same time, distances her from it. Abdur-Rahman's father and mother abandoned their Harlem mosque before she was born and divorced when she was twelve. Forced apart from her father--her portal into Islam--she yearns to reconnect with the religion and, through it, reconnect with him. In Heir to the Crescent Moon, Abdur-Rahman's longing to comprehend her father's complicated relationship with Islam leads her first to recount her own history, and then delves into her father's past. She journeys from the Christian righteousness of Adam Clayton Powell Jr.'s 1950s Harlem, through the Malcolm X-inspired college activism of the late 1960s, to the unfulfilled potential of the early 1970s Black American Muslim movement. Told at times with lighthearted humor or heartbreaking candor, Abdur-Rahman's story of adolescent Arabic lessons, fasting, and Muslim mosque, funeral, and Eid services speaks to the challenges of bridging generational and cultural divides and what it takes to maintain family amidst personal and societal upheaval. She weaves a vital tale about a family: Black, Muslim, and distinctly American. Product Details
Price
$16.00
$14.88
Publisher
University of Iowa Press
Publish Date
November 15, 2021
Pages
218
Dimensions
6.0 X 8.9 X 0.9 inches | 0.9 pounds
Language
English
Type
Paperback
EAN/UPC
9781609387822
Earn by promoting books
Earn money by sharing your favorite books through our Affiliate program.
Become an affiliateAbout the Author
Sufiya Abdur-Rahman is creative nonfiction editor for Cherry Tree, and teaches nonfiction at Washington College. She lives in Annapolis, Maryland.