With so much discussion about Muslim immigrants in the national conversation, it’s good to have a story with this unique perspective. Rehman’s personal journey is her own, but speaks broadly to all immigrant journeys in contemporary America. : Threading My Prayer Rug: One Womans Journey from Pakistani Muslim to American Muslim (9781628728620) by Rehman, Sabeeha and a great selection. The nuances of immigrant life show readers the various shades of assimilation and self-identity-all at the same time, and in various degrees, depending on one’s values. The narrative is conversational, as stories blend into one another. In the process we see how she navigates American society, retains her identity and passes it on to her children and community, accepts becoming an American, modifies some of her traditions while manufacturing new ones, and enriches her own life and the lives of those around her-thus weaving her contribution into the fabric of America, and enriching the American tapestry. In this autobiography, readers experience Rehman’s transformation from a young woman in Pakistan to a Pakistani American in New York. Threading My Prayer Book will inevitably receive plaudits, and hopefully many will mention Rehman’s astute, witty, and endearing style as she tells a story that began with a lastingly successful arranged marriage.The immigrant’s dilemma of retaining one’s identity while assimilating into American society is always a fascinating story. The segments switch back and forth from her early years to the present, each clearly identified to allow no mistake about the what and where of the events she describes.
Each challenge is described with a sense of fun as well as achievement, none more enjoyable than the Muslim Fair held on Mother’s Day when women competed for a raffle prize, circumventing the Muslim ban on gambling by allowing free entry.
The book, compelling on several fronts, shows how much energy she expended, holding tight to her own religious practices while helping to organize a mosque for Muslims who immigrated from countries beyond her own homeland, launch a newsletter for those keen to stay in touch with their traditions while adapting to an American lifestyle, stage a children’s play show-casing famous Muslims of the past, and taking a seat on several organization boards. Title: Threading my prayer rug : one womans journey from Pakistani Muslim to American Muslim / Sabeeha Rehman. When her physician husband’s career and her young sons’ schooling enabled her to continue her studies, she become a hospital administrator and found time to develop cultural and social ties for the initially small Muslims community on Staten Island. Her memoir reveals how she became a guiding light for other immigrant Muslims seeking a place among often ignorant and unwelcoming surroundings. Sabeeha Rehman has met successive challenges in adapting to modern America since marriage brought her to New York from her traditional Muslim Pakistani family in 1971.
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