Synopses & Reviews
One woman’s hilarious and thought-provoking quest to find love, Muslim-style
“At the age of thirteen, I knew that I was destined to marry John Travolta. One day he would arrive on my North London doorstep, fall madly in love with me, and ask me to marry him. Then he would convert to Islam and become a devoted Muslim.” When Shelina Janmohamed, an Oxford-educated Muslim living in the bubbling ethnic mix of North London, opted for the traditional “arranged” route to finding a partner, she never suspected it would be the journey of her life.
Through ten long years of matchmaking buxom aunties, countless mismatches, and outrageous dating disasters, Shelina discovers more about herself and her faith. Along the way, she learns that sometimes being true to her religion means challenging tradition, while readers learn much about Islam that may surprise them.
Gradually, Shelina’s search for a husband becomes more a spiritual quest of “seeking divine love through the medium of worldly love”—and in the end she is rewarded.
A memoir with a hilarious twist from one of Britain’s leading female Muslim writers, Love in a Headscarf is an entertaining, fresh, and irresistible insight into the struggle to be thoroughly modern and thoroughly Muslim.
Synopsis
When Shelina Janmohamed, an Oxford-educated Muslim living in the bubbling ethnic mix of North London, opted for the traditional “arranged” route to finding a partner, she never suspected it would be the journey of her life.
Through ten long years of matchmaking buxom aunties, countless mismatches, and outrageous dating disasters, Shelina discovers more about herself and her faith. Along the way, she learns that sometimes being true to her religion means challenging tradition, while readers learn much about Islam that may surprise them.
Synopsis
When Shelina Janmohamed, an Oxford-educated Muslim living in the bubbling ethnic mix of North London, opted for the traditional "arranged" route to finding a partner, she never suspected it would be the journey of her life.
Through ten long years of matchmaking buxom aunties, countless mismatches, and outrageous dating disasters, Shelina discovers more about herself and her faith. Along the way, she learns that sometimes being true to her religion means challenging tradition, while readers learn much about Islam that may surprise them.
About the Author
Shelina Zahra Janmohamed is an influential commentator on British Islam: a columnist for EMEL magazine, a regular contributor to the Guardian and the BBC, and author of the award-winning blog, Spirit21. Named one of the UK’s hundred most influential Muslim women by the Times of London, Janmohamed lives in London.
Table of Contents
Author’s Introduction
One: The First Time
Good Headscarf Day
Samosas
Safura
Two: Hyphenated
Innocence
Kulcha
Intertangled
Three: Process Princess
Biodata
Funny Valentine
Groundhog Day
Four: Only Connect
Waiting
Plus Ça Change
Lightning
Five: None of the Above
Six Stages of Self-Pity
You, Not Me
Hijab Marks the Spot
Six: Semiotic Headscarf
What Is It Like Under There?
E-veil-uation
Anti-repressant
Seven: Love
From a Single Soul, Created in Pairs
The Three Ms of Love: Method, Manner, Meaning
Quantum Theory
Eight: Multiversal
View from the Shelf
Marvelous Mary
In My Yin
Epilogue: The Beginning