Threading My Prayer Rug

Shortlisted for the 2018 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing

ONE OF BOOKLIST'S TOP TEN RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY BOOKS OF 2016

ONE OF BOOKLIST'S TOP TEN DIVERSE NONFICTION BOOKS OF 2017

Honorable Mention in the 2017 San Francisco Book Festival Awards, Spiritual Category

This enthralling story of the making of an American is also a timely meditation on being Muslim in America today. Named on Booklist's Top Ten Religion and Spirituality Books of 2016, Threading My Prayer Rug is a richly textured reflection on what it is to be a Muslim in America. It is also the luminous story of many journeys: from Pakistan to the United States in an arranged marriage that becomes a love match lasting forty-five years; from secular Muslim in an Islamic society to devout Muslim in a society ignorant of Islam, and from liberal to conservative to American Muslim; from bride to mother; and from an immigrant intending to stay two years to an American citizen, business executive, grandmother, and tireless advocate for interfaith understanding. Beginning with a sweetly funny, moving account of her arranged marriage, the author undercuts stereotypes and offers the refreshing view of an American life through Muslim eyes. Sabeeha was doing interfaith work for Imam Feisal A. Rauf, the driving force behind the Muslim community center near Ground Zero, when the backlash began. She recounts what that experience revealed about American society and in a new preface discusses Islam in America in the time of Trump.