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A review by wchereads
The Muslimah Who Fell to Earth: Personal Stories by Canadian Muslim Women by Saima S. Hussain
informative
reflective
3.75
This book is exactly as the subtitle suggests: a collection of personal stories by Canadian Muslim women. At some point I was feeling a little disappointed in the lack of commentaries about certain topics, but quickly realized that it may be an unfair expectation. The point of these writings are just that - to share a snippet of the writers' personal lives with readers. To show that they are humans. And humans are messy, prone to mistakes but they also never stop growing. I definitely hope that the person who wrote that she had wanted to be a cop growing up abandons the idea that cops are on the side of justice now!
My biggest takeaway is best summarized by a quote from the first piece: "it is not a piece of cloth that oppresses women. Oppression comes from discrimination, exploitation, inequality, domestic violence and... misogyny." Islam has been incredibly demonized for as long as I know it, though no religions I am aware of are free from people committing atrocities in their names either. Religions have been used as justification for oppression, but that does NOT mean the religions themselves are oppressive or that, god forbid, getting rid of the religion(s) is what will be good for society. It is just a tactic used by the elites to distract us from the real problem - the capitalist, white supremacist and patriarchal society we live in, that is condoned, upheld and prolonged by racist, sexist and elitist policymakers to keep power and wealth as contained as possible.
Before I go on another rant about the necessity of socialist death panels, let me just end this review by saying that I appreciated having the oppprtunity to reflect on my own Islamophobia and be a better person. Not to the level of required reading I don't think, but definitely helpful for readers like the clueless-about-Islam-and-have-no-Muslim-friends population.
My biggest takeaway is best summarized by a quote from the first piece: "it is not a piece of cloth that oppresses women. Oppression comes from discrimination, exploitation, inequality, domestic violence and... misogyny." Islam has been incredibly demonized for as long as I know it, though no religions I am aware of are free from people committing atrocities in their names either. Religions have been used as justification for oppression, but that does NOT mean the religions themselves are oppressive or that, god forbid, getting rid of the religion(s) is what will be good for society. It is just a tactic used by the elites to distract us from the real problem - the capitalist, white supremacist and patriarchal society we live in, that is condoned, upheld and prolonged by racist, sexist and elitist policymakers to keep power and wealth as contained as possible.
Before I go on another rant about the necessity of socialist death panels, let me just end this review by saying that I appreciated having the oppprtunity to reflect on my own Islamophobia and be a better person. Not to the level of required reading I don't think, but definitely helpful for readers like the clueless-about-Islam-and-have-no-Muslim-friends population.