The Taqwacores Summary

The Taqwacores Summary

A sophomore in university, Yusef decides to live with a group of Muslims like himself, instead of living with the general population in dorms, because he is deeply religious, and he wants the community that comes with his faith.

Although Yusef is conservative, he choose a group of Muslim punk-rocker types to live with. The friendships in the home are centered around the group's shared struggle to understand themselves as Muslims. One of Yusef's most important friends is a hardcore punker with a red mohawk who plays guitar.

Eventually, the musicians write a truly compelling song lyric, "Mohammad was a punk rocker." We learn about some friends of Yusef's in the house who are skateboarders, but still deeply Muslim and academic students of the Koran. There is even one girl in the house, who wears full-body burkas, but she often expresses extremely open-minded, liberal ideas, although she is most comfortable in her highly conservative garb.

Instead of plot, we see these short vignettes—each one a picture of diversity within the Islamic worldview.

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