Literary Nonfiction. Middle Eastern Studies. African American Studies. Asian American Studies. In these thoughtful essays, Sheema Khan--Canadian hockey mom and Harvard PhD--gives us her own pointed insights on the condition of being a modern and liberal, yet practising Muslim, especially in Canada. Tackling a host of issues, such as terrorism, human rights, Islamic law, women's rights, and the meaning of hijab, she explains Islam to the greater public while calling for mutual understanding and tolerance. She tells us "Why Muslims are angry," and "You can't pigeonhole 1.2 billion Muslims" (post 9/11), while calling on Muslims to "acknowledge the rise of fanaticism." She explains the plausibility of Islamic financing and applies the Charter of Rights to Canada. "Can there be Islamic democracy?" she asks, and then, "Will Quebec adopt France's peculiar brand of liberty?" Provocative and original, even-handed and conciliatory, these essays are an important contribution to an urgent modern debate.

Author City: OTTAWA, ON CAN

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.

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