The Butterfly Mosque: A Young Woman's Journey to Love and Islam

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The Butterfly Mosque: A Young Woman's Journey to Love and Islam

by G. Willow Wilson (Goodreads Author)

3.9 of 5 stars 3.90 · rating details · 906 ratings · 178 reviews

The extraordinary story of a young North American's conversion to Islam and her ensuing romance with an Egyptian man, The Butterfly Mosque is a stunning articulation of a Westerner embracing the Muslim world

After graduating from university, Willow Wilson, a young American — and newly converted Muslim — impulsively accepts a teaching position in Cairo. There, she meets Omar...more

Paperback, 312 pages

Published June 7th 2011 by Emblem Editions (first published January 1st 2010)

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Jan 05, 2012 Catherine rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, egypt, islam, spirit, gender, iran

Despite what the subtitle of this book might suggest, this isn't a frothy little 'white girl has epiphany away from home' piece. Instead it's a wonderful, complicated, thoughtful exploration of Islam, politics, family, and belonging. Wilson became interested in Islam while in college in the United States, finding that it provided the best explanation for things she already felt and believed but for which she had no name. During a year spent in Egypt to teach English, she personally and formally...more Despite what the subtitle of this book might suggest, this isn't a frothy little 'white girl has epiphany away from home' piece. Instead it's a wonderful, complicated, thoughtful exploration of Islam, politics, family, and belonging. Wilson became interested in Islam while in college in the United States, finding that it provided the best explanation for things she already felt and believed but for which she had no name. During a year spent in Egypt to teach English, she personally and formally converted (the two are quite different things, the former being an act of faith, the second an act directed by the Egyptian bureaucracy) and she met, and fell in love with, a Muslim man whom she married (an act that again occurred more than once according to the dictates of faith, culture, and state).

Wilson is adept at describing what she finds fulfilling about Islam, and particularly good at unpacking the meaning of prayer and ritual as means of submitting to something greater than the self. She's also an astute witness to her own liminal existence, an American Muslim in an Arab place, joined by religion to those around her, set apart by the danger she represents to others because of the Egyptian police force's interest in her life, and by American military and diplomatic policies in the Middle East (the latter of which are not really diplomatic in any meaningful sense of the word). She tries to write about her experiences and publish them in the US - feels beholden to try and explain her corner of the Arab world, her family, her neighbors, and her adopted culture to Americans who seem hostile to learning about concepts they would rather demonize, but finds her efforts frustrated not only by people in political and religious opposition to her, but American Muslims too.

One of the most compelling parts of the book is the unfolding tale of how Wilson and her family and friends end up under surveillance - and even detained - by the FBI because of her adopted faith and country. As Wilson so deftly and ably describes, the actions that many people in the United States decry in other areas of the world are exactly the same actions they adopt out of fear of some Other they will not try to understand.

Wilson offers no easy answers - her life is a daily tightrope walk between the culture of her birth and the culture of her adopted homeland, with Islam as a place of safety, support, and refuge, but also a place of contradiction and confusion. A truly excellent, thought-provoking book.(less)

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May 29, 2013 Nezha rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"I had gained so much more than I had lost." Truly love this book. Motivates me to open the Quran and read it again after she describes, "Nothing felt as right as what I had seen in the Quran." And I agree with Islam as antiauthoritarian sex-positive monotheism. It is because that opinion puts so much faith in honouring your own body and self; how grateful we should be to come to this world from a sacred marital relationship between our parents. I am not a saint to condemn sex before marriage an...more

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Feb 26, 2013 SISTERS Magazine rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Written down to precise perfection, G Willow Wilson’s memoir about her journey to Islam is rich and intense. Reverting in Egypt, Wilson’s wonderful experiences of navigating through love, faith and culture add a new dimension of a convert’s sojourn. Her prose is lyrical and she has the canny ability to draw out profound lessons from each of the incidents. A bit controversial at times, Wilson is unabashed and rebellious. Her description of Cairo and the Middle Eastern culture also makes for an in...more

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Sep 19, 2012 Joanne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

Wilson grows up with atheist parents in Colorado, but in college finds herself drawn to religion. She explores several, and is most drawn to Islam, enough that she has "El Haq" ("Truth") tattooed on her back. But she can't quite bring herself to convert...until she takes a job in Egypt at a language school. Even then she keeps her conversion secret from her roommate and friends and family and colleagues because she can't quite bear to admit it.

The book is mostly about cultural clash, as she fal...more Wilson grows up with atheist parents in Colorado, but in college finds herself drawn to religion. She explores several, and is most drawn to Islam, enough that she has "El Haq" ("Truth") tattooed on her back. But she can't quite bring herself to convert...until she takes a job in Egypt at a language school. Even then she keeps her conversion secret from her roommate and friends and family and colleagues because she can't quite bear to admit it.

The book is mostly about cultural clash, as she falls in love with and marries an Egyptian Muslim man and is embraced by his family. Assumptions are constantly being explained, negotiated, and lived. And managing a household there is simply harder.

In light of this week's current events, it's especially helpful to read her explanation of why moderate Muslim imams do not critique radical Muslim imams - essentially because they're trying to work towards reform from within, and do not want to ally with radical Islam's perceived enemies.

Some of her early ramblings about faith are convoluted. She's a better writer than that, so I think the convolution is intentional to try to convey her thinking at the time, but it makes the book pretty slow going at first.

I liked this quote about faith towards the end:

Eventually I wuld meet other Muslims, as well as Christians and Jews, who had gone through something similar and knew what it was to be astonished by faith. It's a word that makes many people uneasy and embarrassed; like sex, we talk about it as if it performs some efficient, necessary but unmentionalbe function, and is somehow self-contained, affecting only a small part of daily life. But faith is in reality none of those things. I couldn't explain what it was to kneel to the inexplicable and feel not debased but elevated, in more complete possession of myself than I had ever been. I reminded myself that a few years ago these were not things I would have wanted to hear from a friend, that hearing them would have frightened me. When questioned as to why - why on EARTH -- I was not disappointed by the faith I had chosen, I only shook my head, barely understanding the answer myself. 231-232

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Aug 01, 2012 Ellen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

First off, I have to admit that the entire time I was reading this book, I was racking my brain to try to remember if I taught high school English to this student. She attended the school where I taught when I was there, and her name is very familiar. I've taught now for about 30 years, I've taught a number of students and that high school was a large one. Her name is so familiar, but I'm thinking that whilst she was friends with some of my students, I didn't actually teach her. Pity. I loved re...more

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Jul 05, 2012 Mal rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was lead to believe this book would explore a young woman's decision to choose Islam as her religion and every thing this decision would entail from the beginning to the current time in which the story was written. Although the story described Ms. Wilson's conversion it lacked the details and depth I was looking forward to reading. Rather than closely exploring her religious conversion Ms. Wilson focused on the cultural differences between the US and Egypt. I did find the differences education...more

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Mar 10, 2012 Andrew David rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is an important memoir, one that I think offers a perspective we don't hear in our culture today--an American woman moves to Egypt, converts to Islam, and marries a Muslim Egyptian. It's the kind of memoir I would encourage anyone to read who has a passing interest in how the Western world and Middle East can begin to understand each other or for anyone who finds the very notion of a Western woman converting to Islam--that oppressive, war-mongering, radical religion--absurd.

That said, I'm...more This is an important memoir, one that I think offers a perspective we don't hear in our culture today--an American woman moves to Egypt, converts to Islam, and marries a Muslim Egyptian. It's the kind of memoir I would encourage anyone to read who has a passing interest in how the Western world and Middle East can begin to understand each other or for anyone who finds the very notion of a Western woman converting to Islam--that oppressive, war-mongering, radical religion--absurd.

That said, I'm not certain Wilson was ready to write this book. Overall, her conversion is well-told and thoughtful, but I often found myself distracted by the flaws.

For one, I think Wilson has trouble finishing: several of her chapters end just as they begin to get interesting. The book itself begins by mixing personal narrative with commentary—a recipe that seems to work well—yet as the principle plot of the memoir begins to resolve, that balance becomes upset with more commentary than personal narrative, and I think the narrative may suffer.

She also does that thing that I find insufferable in memoir, where she brings something to the awareness of the reader but then abandons it. She’s a tease. For example, I am totally fine with the lack of sex scenes in the book—they would be distasteful and inappropriate for the book—but there were several instances where she begins to discuss sex, only to avoid the question her readers must be thinking: how does a Western spiritual atheist turned Muslim expatriate handle the volatile relationship question of sex? Or at other points in the memoir, she delves into a topic, building our interest in a character and issue, and then wiggles out from the narrative she’s constructed by admitting to the reader that she didn’t feel right pressing the character for more information. Instead, those seemed like moments where she either should have bit the bullet and done more research—Hi, I’m writing a memoir, I wonder whether you could tell me more about what you were thinking when x and y happened—or, more likely, written her way out of that lack of information. Don’t tell me that you failed to make this as awesome as it could be because you didn’t want to offend one of your book’s characters!

And finally, when I express uncertainty about whether Wilson was ready to write this book, it’s because she has the habit of making grand statements that I wasn’t always sure she could support. This is a habit of many writers but somehow I came away feeling that with more life experience and age, she might be able to pull this off better.(less)

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Jan 26, 2012 Erin Stuhlsatz rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was astonished by how much I liked this book. I can't remember why I put it on hold. Maybe it was recommended by a friend who studied abroad in Egypt? Who knows. Anyway, it is the memoir of an American woman, only a couple of years older than me, who moved to Egypt after college to teach English and learn about Egypt. She converts to Islam, falls in love with another teacher (a native Egyptian), gets married, and does indeed learn a lot about Egypt.

I really enjoyed how Islam was portrayed in...more

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Apr 12, 2011 Jane Turner rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction, awesome

Raised an atheist American, G. Willow Wilson’s Muslim conversion as a twenty-year old crossing into Egypt is a mix between her inevitable fate and her desire for a philosophy of feeling. In her memoir, The Butterfly Mosque, her new faith is an affirmation of personal experience, not a leap. She conveys her new religion and home as the best of the human heart.

With her hypnotic writing style, she explains Egypt: “This was the secret of life in the gullet of the Nile. Kun; ‘Be.’ Good and evil, chao...more Raised an atheist American, G. Willow Wilson’s Muslim conversion as a twenty-year old crossing into Egypt is a mix between her inevitable fate and her desire for a philosophy of feeling. In her memoir, The Butterfly Mosque, her new faith is an affirmation of personal experience, not a leap. She conveys her new religion and home as the best of the human heart.

With her hypnotic writing style, she explains Egypt: “This was the secret of life in the gullet of the Nile. Kun; ‘Be.’ Good and evil, chaos and order, joy and tragedy — they were all brought into being with the same single word. Kun, fa yakun; ‘Be, so it is.’ ”

But her let-it-be soul is just a butterfly in a world of rules. It is naïve to believe that live-and-let-live has a chance in a world that would crush a butterfly upon a wheel, where great effort forces others into servitude, wars and ways of thinking. Obedience is prized in religion, politics and bureaucracy, and free will is dashed unless defended at every turn. But Willow wants the magical feeling of truth without opposite, and her ectstatic feelings of faith are the same as any novice to any religion. It is a gift, and it is unclear whether her idealism will grow from a caricature into something of lasting value.

In Egypt, Willow quickly falls for and engages Omar, a Muslim raised by a remarkable, centrist single mother, Sohair. She is the most intriguing character in the book, raising two boys who seem to respect women while remaining chivalrous.

While engaged, Willow’s life in Egypt is a continuation of her pluck and ambition, as she writes for a Cairo publication and learns fatwas are not to be feared. Fatwas are intended to make life easier, with rules against terrorist and for the mundane, such as a disbursement of inheritance. The more she learns of her new religion, the more she surrenders into her better self.

“I realized that despite the bewildering number of behaviors I had had to alter to survive in the public sphere in Egypt, I was not less myself – in fact, I was becoming a better self. I didn’t know I was capable of growing into the sort of person who stands up and walks toward a fight.”

As she walks toward a personal fight with her atheist past, she takes on the scarf, and comes to the realization that each side fears the other for its own reason: “We are cruelest to those who remind us of our capacity for cruelness….This is the heart of the clash of civilizations: not the hatred of the Other, but the self-hatred produced by the Other.”

She says Muslims are The Surrendered, which means free will is second to God. But her life outside her memoir raises even more contradictions. She wants to be a woman who is hidden and therefore appreciated, and she embraces a religion that despises graven images – but she writes graphic novels, such as Air Volume 4: A History of the Future. Her contradictions and fearlessness may bring her trouble in a culture that prizes obedience.

As Sana’I, a 12th Century poet quoted in Willow’s book, said, “One good woman is worth a thousand men.” I would add that one good book is worth a thousand lesser. Wilson’s The Butterfly Mosque is more than a good book. ****Reviewed at www.beyondbeautifulbabe.com

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Feb 28, 2011 Jennifer Abdo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Jennifer by: found at library

Shelves: memoir

If you're a Christian and still think all Muslims are secretly terrorists and the true Islam promotes terrorism, this is probably a book you should read. As an American convert to Islam, she has some good perspective and insights.

Again (as with Jehan Sadat), raised an atheist (Sadat being Muslim of course), I don't think she has a good grasp of Christianity when she talks about it. She contrasts Islam with Calvinism and Catholicsm and lists a bunch of things I as a Christian don't believe in eit...more

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Dec 08, 2010 SaraKa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

With nearly palpable descriptions of Cairene life through the eyes of a former atheist, her story is simply beautiful. Wilson is extremely insightful, candid and open-minded in her exposition of Islamic and Egyptian traditions and perspectives through the eyes of a newcomer; she is always sure to incorporate and understand divergent opinions and ways of life, which is why I found her journey to be both fascinating and refreshing in these times of misdirected hostility and unjust treatment of Isl...more

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Oct 09, 2010 Aban (Aby) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This memoir written by a young, white American woman, explores her journey from atheism to adoption of Islam as her religion. Once this decision is made she goes to live in Cairo, falls in love with a Moslem Egyptian, marries and adopts her husband's way of life. None of this is easily done, especially as the conversion and move occur soon after the horrors of September 11, 2001. In Cairo, Willow Wilson has to change from being an independent American to living within a culture which values 'int...more

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Jul 15, 2010 Joseph rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

A highly thought-provoking book. Wilson does a magnificent job of using her own life as a way of presenting a very nuanced picture of Islam and life in the Middle East. The Boston Globe recently ran an article about her, and, reading the book, I was reminded of the comments left by readers, exposing a lot of fear and bigotry while accusing Wilson of simple-minded naivete. Her writing, however, shows her to be both wise and level-headed.

If I had any complaints, it would be that she tends to rush...more

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Oct 26, 2011 Ellen Keim rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: religion

The title promises more than the book delivers. It's been a while since I read the book, but I remember being disappointed by how little she discusses about her conversion to and love for Islam. This is mostly about her experiences living in another culture. Even the love story seems dispassionate, as if she is merely recounting facts. I ended up with the feeling that there was far more to the story.

This isn't to say that the book isn't worth reading. The author offers valuable insights into wha...more

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Jul 22, 2010 Eliza rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: memoirs

This book resonated a lot with me. It tells the story of an American upper middle class woman that recently graduated undergrad w/ a history degree from Boston U. She decides to move to Egypt to work at an English school there. She converts to Islam, learns Arabic, falls in love with an Egyptian man, eventually marries him, and becomes part of Egyptian culture.

As the author discusses her first interests in Islam and the process where she learned more about it, partially thru her liberal arts edu...more This book resonated a lot with me. It tells the story of an American upper middle class woman that recently graduated undergrad w/ a history degree from Boston U. She decides to move to Egypt to work at an English school there. She converts to Islam, learns Arabic, falls in love with an Egyptian man, eventually marries him, and becomes part of Egyptian culture.

As the author discusses her first interests in Islam and the process where she learned more about it, partially thru her liberal arts education, I felt myself agreeing from where she was coming from. At first she was totally clueless, unsure between the difference of Arab & Muslim, vaguely knowing of Sunni & Shi'a as 2 different Islam sects. She started taking more classes in Islam & Arabic literature. She grew up in an atheist household, and it was difficult at first for her to embrace religion at all. What I found fascinating was how she decided upon Islam. She knew that she wanted a religion with one God, where there was no human representative of God on Earth, & where the religion believed in sexual freedom, not repression (upon marriage). She was also fascinated upon studying the Quran & hadith how open the religion is regarding gender & freedom of movement. The limitations put on these for women is cultural, not implied in Islamic religious texts.

The author found herself facing stereotypes and fears that she didn't realize she had. She secretly had an implicit fear that once she married her Egyptian husband, she would become basically a domestic slave, losing her rights as a free woman, and that her husband would change his actions towards her and become more violent -- her stereotype of an Arab, Muslim man.

Through her experiences she realized that although Islam in Egypt is far from perfect, with its share of fundamentalists that twist the Quran, and inequality for women, she found hope & peace through her faith & her life in Egypt. For me, because it was written by an American woman who grew up in circumstances not that different from my own, it made her account very relatable and gave more insight towards Arab Muslim life because of her comparisons between that and her life growing up in the U.S., more so than an Arab Islamic scholar would have.(less)

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Apr 13, 2013 Beth rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I liked this book a lot, though it made me annoyed at times.

The author describes her experiences in Egypt, her conversion to Islam, and her marriage to an Egyptian. On a personal level, I have to admit I don't really understand what would make someone convert from one religion to another, but that's probably because religion has always been a cultural identity to me, not a 'calling' or belief. So I found it hard to identify with the author at times.

That said, anyone with an interest in Muslim-b...more

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Mar 10, 2013 Sue rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: memoirs, philosophy-religion

I really liked this memoir. The author describes her conversion to Islam & her attempts (largely successful, as far as the memoir goes) to integrate into Arab society in Egypt. Largely, she avoids apologetics & give a clear-eyed description of her experiences.

(Interestingly, when she first started exploring, she also considered Judaism. "Judaism was a near perfect fit, but it was created for a single tribe of people. Most practicing Jews I knew took a dim view of conversion. To them, mem...more

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Dec 10, 2012 A. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: islam

I should probably add a "cultural studies" shelf, because that's where this book would best fit. Despite the subtitle ostensibly being about Wilson's journey to Islam, as some reviewers have stated, it feels more like a study of her acculturation into an Egyptian family and Egyptian life. This is not a bad thing. Certainly her embrace of Islam is a key topic (that is inextricably intertwined with her embrace of Egyptian culture), but that doesn't feel like what the book is necessarily about.

I p...more

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Mar 14, 2012 Sajda rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

While growing up, one of my favorite books was Road to Mecca by Muhammad Asad. It was a blend of adventure and spirituality - unlike any book I had read before. G. Willow Wilson's Memoir, The Butterfly Mosque, read in the same way; a female Muhammad Asad if you will. Her story was absorbing, well-written and nuanced on so many levels that I sighed at one point, reflecting on the power of words to so thoroughly stir us.
When I got to the last word of The Butterfly Mosque, only one word came to my...more

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Apr 20, 2011 Courtney Huber rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I appreciated learning about Islam and Egyptian culture, which was my primary reason for wanting to read this widely hailed memoir. I must say, though, I felt that the author skims the surface of some very important, complex issues. I often found myself thinking, "But, wait--what about...?" Aspects of Cairo's societal environment are frustratingly glossed over, such as how women are routinely harassed by men in the streets and frequently "groped" and "molested" during political protests. She bar...more

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Jul 07, 2012 Christina rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book grew on me. For the first hundred pages, I felt like I wanted to throttle Wilson for her youthful naivete. As a teacher and journalist, shouldn't she have done a bit more research into the Egyptian Muslim culture she planned to adopt and immerse herself in for the rest of her life? But then I began to appreciate the complexities of her situation, and I developed a deeper respect for her for navigating so many culturally and spiritually perplexing events as well as she did. Her assimila...more

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Mar 18, 2011 Carol rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a memoir of an American girl who converts to Islam, moves to Egypt, falls in love. I was expecting to look it over but not really read the whole thing. I found myself very drawn in. Wilson is an excellent writer. Two things I found very interesting:
First, her takes you deep inside the process of her spiritual journey from growing up in an atheistic family to embracing. I found this fascinating, and was surprised that at times I resonated with various aspects of her experience. Her exper...more

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Nov 10, 2010 Carrie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Given the current political, racial, and cultural tension between Islam and America, I found this book very interesting and timely. Wilson's story and her position straddling "East and West" is unusual and she's a very good writer. I was so riveted that I could barely put this down -- not my usual experience with a memoir.

It's evident that she's a thoughtful and intelligent person, but the regularity of wise summary pronouncements at the end of every chapter and idea added triteness to an other...more

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Sep 28, 2012 K. Bird rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Religious converts make me squirm. Especially those whose conversion entails a major change not only in their beliefs but also in their culture.

As a closet Unitarian myself, I find religious certainty at once fascinating and unfathomable. Having lived in Japan, and experienced both Buddhist Americans (of Christian background) and Christian Japanese, I still find it difficult to imagine leaving behind the customs of my childhood to pledge myself --body and soul-- to a culture I have known only a...more Religious converts make me squirm. Especially those whose conversion entails a major change not only in their beliefs but also in their culture.

As a closet Unitarian myself, I find religious certainty at once fascinating and unfathomable. Having lived in Japan, and experienced both Buddhist Americans (of Christian background) and Christian Japanese, I still find it difficult to imagine leaving behind the customs of my childhood to pledge myself --body and soul-- to a culture I have known only as an adult.

So I opened up "Butterfly Mosque" with mixed flutterings of unease and curiosity-- and found instead a story eerily parallel to my own experience creating a marriage with a Tokyo boy.

Wilson speaks of creating a "Third Culture" with her Egyptian/Sufi husband Omar; a term I'm not coming across for the first time here. And it's true that even husbands and wives from the same culture must create their own way of living together. However, when the husband and the wife are from radically different cultures it becomes more imperative to mindfully acknowledge the things we give up and the things we adopt for our spouse. The moments where Wilson shares how she and Omar navigate these tricky waters had me agreeing in my own gut.

Butterfly Mosque isn't really about why or how Wilson converted to Islam. She tells that story as if she was somehow mysteriously Muslim her whole life and finally just acknowledged it in Egypt. So my curiosity on that point is not really satisfied. What is satisfying about this book for post 9/11 adults is reading how a white, middle-class American weaves herself into an Arab/Islamic world.

The money shot for me:
"The struggle for the Islam I loved and the struggle for the West I loved were the same struggle, and it was within that struggle that the clash of civilization was eradicated."

Because when you choose to ally yourself with a minority or a foreigner, no matter where you live, you irrevocably make yourself an outsider to both worlds. You become a consummate apologist; explaining both cultures to the other side. At times you can feel traitorous, proud, deeply sad, conflicted, and ecstatic. But at no time do you get to be yourself without the trappings of one culture or another obscuring the view except in fleeting moments. That's the eradication I think Wilson shows so well- that the struggle itself erases the most dividing lines between herself and Omar, between myself and my Tokyo husband, between governments that spout hateful rhetoric.

I recommend this book to anyone wanting a more humane, family-oriented understanding of Egyptian Islamic culture, as well as anyone who wishes to find glimpses of their own struggles to maintain a cross-cultural marriage.

This Book's Snack Rating: Lemon pepper french fries for the elegant spice of Wilson's thoughtful prose on surprisingly near topics to my own heart
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Jan 17, 2011 Kate rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'd give this three and a half stars, really. I'm a bit torn. The subject matter - a young woman converting to Islam and moving from the U.S. to Cairo - is intriguing and the book is unquestionably well written. I learned more about Islam and Muslim beliefs, which (like all religions?) is basically peace-loving and with kind intent toward all - not counting extremists who distort religions' intent on so many levels, for so many purposes. It also confirmed my belief that Egypt, and Cairo in parti...more

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Mar 03, 2013 Kavitha Badhri rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am an atheist. I started reading the book because I wanted to understand a perspective of Islam from a westerner, more importantly, an American. Willow Wilson details her life story and shares her very personal insight into the life of a Muslim convert in Egypt. I found the book most intriguing and entertaining. Willow has tried her earnest to be balanced and honest. She gives very personal accounts of her choice; she details her internal struggles and describes the effort and strength needed...more

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May 05, 2011 Mkherbouch rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So, I'm a Muslim woman living in the US, no veil, not in the least conservative, etc. I'm always wary of those who have converted, they're usually a little too zealous for me. It was a little hard to swallow her conversion tale, it was all pretty glossed over - too smooth and existential. I really wanted to like her, I really did, I just couldn't quite get there. Omar was too smooth, too perfect. The relationship never felt explored,like why they really fell in love.

I did appreciate her introdu...more

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Oct 22, 2010 Beth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really enjoyed this book. It tells the tale of an average, upper-middle class white girl from Colorado who converted to Islam, went to Egypt for a job, fell in love and got married.
But what I liked best about it was that the author did not try to over-simplify her story. She allowed the complicated parts to stay complicated. She did not always pretend to know why or have answers to what happened in her life. She did a very good job of writing about vagueness in a way that kept it vague.
There w...more

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May 26, 2013 Usman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: religion, memoir

I started this book as the author's 'journey to Islam' as the subtitle of the book shows. It, however, is about what happened after her conversion. Raised to be an atheist, she became religious while feeling, during a period of illness, how organized the world is; a world that can easily be, and often is, disturbed. She recognized the sustaining force as God.

Semi-converted, Willow goes to Cairo to seek knowledge of Arabic and the Middle East, something necessary for her to get a job back in the...more

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Aug 02, 2012 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

(This review was originally published on my blog: http://amuslimahwrites.wordpress.com/...)

This startlingly lovely book gracefully and tentatively walks the tightrope between being a gentle narrative and a grimly realistic testimony to the growing divide between the East and West.

It’s not inaccurate to say that this book is about a woman’s conversion to Islam, her move to Egypt, her marriage to an Egyptian Muslim, and her struggle to come to terms with the American/Muslim/Egyptian dimensions of...more (This review was originally published on my blog: http://amuslimahwrites.wordpress.com/...)

This startlingly lovely book gracefully and tentatively walks the tightrope between being a gentle narrative and a grimly realistic testimony to the growing divide between the East and West.

It’s not inaccurate to say that this book is about a woman’s conversion to Islam, her move to Egypt, her marriage to an Egyptian Muslim, and her struggle to come to terms with the American/Muslim/Egyptian dimensions of her existence. I feel, however, that even that description alone does a disservice to this story. There are so many ways Wilson could have written a book that fits this description. The precise way she wrote it and her specific treatment of her subject matter, however, are what make this book a must-read for both Muslims and non-Muslims. Here is what makes it so:

- The Muslim and non-Muslim reader of this book is on equal footing. I’m ashamed to admit this, but I assumed that I was not the kind of reader Wilson was writing for. I thought that her treatment of Islam’s tenets and history would be very basic, and that this would be a mere readable and feel-good record of her cultural immersion. I was so glad to be proven wrong: her account and writing can be revelatory for readers of all faiths. She remarks, for example, on the fact that the Islamic calendar are not fixed, and therefore occasions like Eid can occur during any season, reflecting that God does not want us to worship nature or become to attached to the material, even if it is through associating a certain type of season with a holiday. Such a description is only one example of how she can introduce a fact about Islam while introducing a refreshing perspective for a practicing Muslim.

- The book exhibits an honesty about Wilson’s romantic relationship and her struggle with it. I loved this honesty, which is more heartfelt than raw, and I loved how she is very upfront about the realities of loving someone from a vastly different background. It isn’t for no reason that love blossoms between Wilson and the man who would become her husband: they are passionate about Islam, about Egypt, about art and spirituality, and both are anomalies in respect to their indigenous cultures. He is amazingly tender towards her and they have a beautiful wedding. I really, appreciated, however, how Wilson makes a point that love stories, even in memoirs, often miss out on: love is a struggle. The more disparate your backgrounds, the greater a struggle it is. She writes: “Love is not a benign thing. No corner of my life remained unaltered by the consequences of what I loved. The most wonderful thing that had ever happened to me brought me neither peace nor comfort. But it did bring me Omar. And that was more than enough.”

- She gives a similar treatment to the Egyptians and Iranians portrayed in the book. All too aware that she does not speak for them, she carefully presents their attitudes and norms without apology and with careful explanation from within the cultural framework. In fact, she goes even further by posing some striking perspectives when it comes to being a woman in an Egyptian society:

"When people wonder why Arab women defend their culture, they focus on the way women who don’t follow the rules are punished, and fail to consider the way women who do follow the rules are rewarded. When I finished an article or essay, all I received was an e-mail from an editor saying, 'Thanks, got it.’ When I cooked an iftar meal during Ramadan, a dozen tender voices blessed my hands."

- Her description of Cairo is magnificent. Really, I’m at a loss to explain what made it so wonderful. I’ll only say that if I ever visit the city, I’ll make a point of re-reading the book and mapping out the monuments, buildings, and cafes she describes. I also greatly admire her for refusing to life the insulated life of an expat in the city and getting as close as she could to experiencing life as an Egyptian woman.

- This, a passage that made me experience a deep sense of kinship that had me reeling for days:

"In her book The Trouble with Islam, Irshad Manji smugly announces that . . . 'it was Islam’s job’ to keep her from leaving the faith. I never thought it was Islam’s job to keep me. My faith was not a contract, not a deal; there were no clauses I expected God to abide by and which, if violated, would give me an excuse to back out. . . It was certainty that animated me; it was certainty that allowed me to watch the progress of the extremists and feel anger and disgust, but never disappointment. It was not my place to be approving or disappointed: I had submitted too completely for either. Through the bile and ignorance of the radical imams and self-righteous apostates, through the spin of the news networks and the pomposity of academics, I saw a straight, unwavering line. How could I be disappointed? I did not believe in Islam; I opened my eyes every morning and saw it."

I have often wondered how it is that I could be confronted with a stream of staunch disbelievers, radically liberal reformists, and pathological conservatives and still believe. I now understand, for Wilson articulates in this passage what I could not put words to even after years of thought.

I don’t think it’s very often that one can get the kind of nuance and beauty in nonfiction this book offers, especially in nonfiction about transnational Muslims. By sharing her story, Wilson gives sensitively and remarkably-framed insights into the struggles of Egypt, the real struggle for the soul of Islam, and the turmoil that comes with being a Muslim who is forever battling the opposing sides of her cultural and spiritual heritage.(less)

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“to do the right thing you must sometimes defend people who don't understand you, or who fear you, or who are angry at you. There are times when you have to operate purely on faith and continue to trust human decency even when it is no longer visible.” — 4 people liked it

“Festivals and fasts are unhinged, traveling backward at a rate of ten days per year, attached to no season. Even Laylat ul Qadr, the holiest night in Ramadan, drifts--its precise date is unknown. The iconclasm laid down by Muhammed was absolute: you must resist attachment not only to painted images, but to natural ones. Ramadan, Muharram, the Eids; you associate no religious event with the tang of snow in the air, or spring thaw, or the advent of summer. God permeates these things--as the saying goes, Allah is beautiful, and He loves beauty--but they are transient. Forced to concentrate on the eternal, you begin to see, or think you see, the bones and sinews of the world beneath its seasonal flesh. The sun and moon become formidable clockwork. They are transient also, but hint at the dark planes that stretch beyond the earth in every direction, full of stars and dust, toward a retreating, incomprehensible edge” — 1 person liked it

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The Butterfly Mosque: A Young Woman's Journey to Love and Islam

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