The Taqwacores Michael Muhammad Knight Author

A Muslim punk house in Buffalo, New York, inhabited by burqa-wearing riot grrls, mohawked Sufis, straightedge Sunnis, Shi'a skinheads, Indonesian skaters, Sudanese rude boys, gay Muslims, and feminists. Their living room hosts parties and prayers, w... Read more

A Muslim punk house in Buffalo, New York, inhabited by burqa-wearing riot grrls, mohawked Sufis, straightedge Sunnis, Shi'a skinheads, Indonesian skaters, Sudanese rude boys, gay Muslims, and feminists. Their living room hosts parties and prayers, with a hole smashed in the wall to indicate the direction of Mecca. Their lives together, which mix sex, dope, and religion in roughly equal amounts, is centered around an Islamo-punk subculture called taqwacore, named for taqwa, an Arabic term meaning consciousness of the divine. Originally published by the author on photocopiers and spiral-bound by hand, The Taqwacores has since been published in foreign translations, become the basis for two films, and is taught in various colleges and universities as a Catcher in the Rye for young Muslims. Less