I want to start by thanking my friends (and some strangers) who are not Muslim, but have ordered my book. I appreciate that you all want to support my writing endeavor and maybe to promote some diversity in literature. That’s awesome.
That said, I do feel compelled to disclose to you that Nusayba Knows Her Worth is not a book that happens to be about a Muslim character. This is not going to be comfortable token representation. On the contrary, Nusayba Knows Her Worth is overtly and unapologetically Islamic in its content.
By that I mean that the book is rooted in Islamic values and theology; namely, the belief that there is only one God, Allah, and that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was his final messenger to mankind. Nusayba Knows Her Worth celebrates a woman who held these convictions and fought courageously to defend this rising religion from those who sought to crush it.
I thought it only fair to go out of my way to clarify this for the well-intentioned people who want to support me. I do hope that it does not change your mind about ordering my book. If you’re having second thoughts, I would suggest that you come to it with an understanding that you may not believe what I believe or even understand why I believe this way, but we can still find some common values to uphold. This book is about a woman with a strong sense of her own worth, who was not deterred from participating in all aspects of her society (the spiritual, the political, the social/family, and even the military) simply because she was a woman. It’s about an individual who made a commitment to defend a cause close to her heart, by any means necessary. If you value either of these things, then there may just be something in this book for you.
True diversity and inclusivity mean we take the whole of people and not just the parts we like and understand. That’s really the only way to coexist.
Thank you for choosing to support a Muslim voice in children’s literature.
Golden Butterfly Books 