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Published Jun 2013
336 pages
Genre: Biography/Memoir
Publication Information
Amir Ahmad Nasr is a young Muslim man with something explosive in his hands: a computer connected to the Internet. And it has the power to help ignite a revolution and blow apart the structures of ignorance and politicized indoctrination that too often still imprison the Muslim mind.
Part memoir, part passionate call for liberty, reason and doing work that matters, My Isl@m tells the tale of how the internet opened the eyes and heart of a once fearful young Muslim to a world beyond the dogmatism of his upbringing, and recounts his transformation into a defiant digital activist.
In his honest, provocative, and courageous debut, Nasr – a popular Afro-Arab Sudanese blogger – steps out from behind the curtain of anonymity and emerges as a voice of a new generation of tech-savvy liberal Muslims.
Set in war-ravaged Sudan, oil-rich Qatar, multi-cultural Malaysia, the United States, Turkey and the new frontiers of cyberspace, My Isl@m is a fascinating prelude to the Arab Spring and a disarming and uplifting tale of doubt, soul-searching, and finding freedom.
A poignant, honest, and uplifting memoir of how blogging and the internet opened the eyes and heart of one young Muslim man to a world beyond his religious fundamentalist upbringing
"Starred Review. Nasr's insight into the world of young Arab bloggers, including many of the activists behind the Arab Spring, makes this a valuable and enjoyable read." - Publishers Weekly
"Structured wittily around a love affair with Islam, Nasr's account is straightforward, fluent and full of lively allusions for further readings. A candid, cosmopolitan look at the experience of Islam in the digital age." - Kirkus
"Amir is one of the most exciting and dynamic Muslim voices to come on the stage in years. Read this funny and enlightening book and find out why." – Reza Aslan, international best-selling author of No god but God and How to Win a Cosmic War
"As a former Christian fundamentalist, I deeply resonate with Amir's faith journey. Regardless of your religious background, if you're struggling with belief or if you're curious about how the digital revolution is impacting religious thought and empowering a new generation of young activists, this book is a must!" - Michael Dowd, bestselling author of Thank God for Evolution
"This is the passionate, skeptical, tech-savvy voice of a new age of Islam. Through the lens of his own life, Nasr sheds light on a generation of revolutionary life-hackers poised to change the global conversation about religion and politics." - G. Willow Wilson, author of The Butterfly Mosque and Alif the Unseen
"My Isl@m is a beautiful story about love, heartbreak, and redemption. Read it, and be inspired." - Salman Ahmad, lead-singer of Junoon and author of Rock & Roll Jihad
"My Isl@m is a love letter to freedom of speech. As Nasr wrestles with oppression, mental and physical, personal and political, his story consistently turns on his ability to find new information, often from surprising sources, and eventually from his own ability to speak as well as listen." - Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody
"My Isl@m is an important and significant book, especially at this time in our history. Amir shows both the downside and, as important, the beautiful upside of Islam as a religion, particularly when it is viewed through an Integral lens, which is how religion in general will need to be viewed if it is to survive into the future as a positive force. This is the right message, at the right time, from the right person." - Ken Wilber, author of A Brief History of Everything
This information about My Isl@m was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Described by The Economist as "puckish" and by WIRED as a "formidable speaker," Amir Ahmad Nasr is a veteran digital activist turned author, entrepreneur, and culture hacker. He regularly sheds light on one of the most important emerging trends of our time: how tech-savvy Millennials are hacking business, culture, religion, and politics.
Known as the cheeky voice behind the acclaimed sociopolitical blog The Sudanese Thinker - which he wrote anonymously until the revelation of his identity five years later during the Arab Uprisings of 2011 - Amir has shared the stage with Nobel Peace Laureates, former presidents, and fellow activists, and has been featured by The New York Times, The Guardian, The Weekly Standard, The New Yorker, BBC, Al Jazeera, and France24, amongst many others.
He's a digital nomad and travels internationally very regularly.
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