“It’s been an emotional rollercoaster … of high highs and very low lows.”

HASAN’S NEW BOOK EXPLAINS HER FAITH IN ISLAM

By PETER ROPER
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

Asma Gull Hasan is afraid that for too many Americans, Islam has become the deadly, placid face of Osama bin Laden or the resolute stare of a Palestinian suicide bomber. So she is trying to make her voice heard amidst the anger and static of the debate so that United States’ war on terrorism does not become a war with Islam.

“I think most Americans are open-minded and on the fence about Muslims,” the 29-year-old writer and lawyer explained in a recent interview. “My purpose is to explain how tolerant and diverse Islam really is, the way it is practiced by the majority of Muslims in the world. But even Muslims struggle with having Islam hijacked by its most violent sects.”

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“I don’t think we should discourage people from going to church by making it sound like they’re going through airport security.”

WBUR Boston NPR

Fasting as a single woman, perhaps I will reach its truer meaning–sympathy for those who are hungry, hurting, and alone.

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“What’s got you so stirred up?”

“What do you think is going to happen as we move closer here to a battle … “

A young Muslim recognizes her immigrant community’s struggle in Gangs of New York

Interview by Paul O’Donnell

Asma Gull Hasan admits she might not have seen “Gangs of New York” had we not asked her to be part of this year’s Oscar series. She left the theater thinking the producers are marketing the movie all wrong: instead of “once upon a time in America,” the posters should read “A drama for our times.” At age 27, Hasan, the author of “American Muslims,” has become one of the country’s most recognized Muslim voices, dedicated to dispelling myths and stereotypes about the wildly diverse and quickly expanding Islamic community in the United States.

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“Or are innocent people being victimized?”

A new generation speaks up ‘Muslim feminist cowgirl’ tells her own American story

By Yasmine Bahrani
USA TODAY

When Asma Hasan was majoring in religion and American studies at Wellesley, she decided she wanted to read more about Islam, especially about American Muslims like herself.

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