Description:
In these thoughtful essays, Sheema Khan--Canadian hockey mom and Harvard PhD--gives us her pointed insights on being a modern and liberal, yet practising, Muslim. Tackling a host of issues, such as terrorism and fanaticism, human rights post 9/11, Islamic law, women's rights, sharia, and the meaning of hijab, she explains Islam to the greater public while calling for mutual understanding and tolerance.
Brief description: Sheema Khan writes a monthly column for the Globe and Mail on issues pertaining to Islam and Muslims. She holds a PhD from Harvard University in chemical physics, along with numerous patents on drug delivery technology. She has served on the Board of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (2004-2008), and is the founder of the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN) and its former chair (2000-2005). She testified as an expert witness on Muslims in Canada before the O'Connor Inquiry, and has appeared before a number of parliamentary committees. In addition, she has spoken at numerous NGO conferences and government agencies on issues of security, civil rights, and Muslim cultural practice. She is currently a patent agent in Ottawa.
Review Quotes:
"These short essays shift topics and connections readily, modestly advocating for intercultural dialogue in every compact paragraph." --Canadian Literature
"I will never see my own country quite the same again. I thank Sheema Khan for lending me her eyes and giving all Canadians the precious and welcome gift of her words. Her insight into everything from religion to hockey--often thought to be the same thing in this country!--is blessed with intelligence and humour." --Roy MacGregor, author of Canadians: A Portrait of a Country and Its People
"From women's issues to terrorism to Islamophobia, Of Hockey and Hijab takes the reader on a journey to explore many contemporary issues affecting Muslims in Canada and abroad. Khan's book is a must read for all." --Monia Mazigh, author of Hope and Despair
"Sheema Khan reflects on issues ranging from discrimination from others to religious patriarchy from within, faced by her Muslim coreligionists in Canada and abroad. She does so with empathy, wisdom, and humour, concluding that reasonable accommodation on the part of non-Muslims and a proper reading of the Koran and understanding of the teachings of the prophet Muhammad would lead to an Islam that would be perfectly compatible with Canada 's unique multicultural experiment." --Michael Adams, President, Environics Institute