Salaam, Love
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Randy Nasson is not a New York Times best-selling author but will be one step closer if you purchase this book. Originally from the Boston area, Randy is a software product manager based in San Francisco, where he lives with his wife and son.
Zain Omar grew up in Leicester, England, and San Diego, California. He studied management science at the University of California, San Diego, and currently works in the online marketing industry in Los Angeles. In his free time, Zain likes to spend time with his lovely wife, play soccer (both on the PlayStation and in real life), and hang out with friends and family.
Dan I. Oversaw (pen name) is a Boston-based doctor of religious studies and pop-culture scholar whose wonderful family nevertheless cherishes their privacy. He writes both academic and creative works across a variety of media, lectures nationally on the engagement of pop culture and religion, and teaches throughout the Greater Boston area. The atomic Reform Jewish family of his childhood now also includes Catholics, Presbyterians, Mennonites, agnostics, atheists, and, of course, Muslims—all of whom get along dandily. In cryptological circles, “Dan” made a name for himself by decoding the Iliad.
Sam Pierstorff received his MFA in creative writing from California State University, Long Beach. He went on to become the youngest poet laureate ever appointed in the state of California when he was selected to the position in 2004 by the City of Modesto. He currently teaches English at Modesto Junior College. His debut poetry collection, Growing Up in Someone Else’s Shoes, was published by World Parade Books in 2010, and most recently, he edited More Than Soil, More Than Sky: The Modesto Poets, which reached number 1 on Amazon’s poetry best-seller’s list upon its release.
Yusef Ramelize is a New York City–based activist and graphic designer. He is the founder of HomelessForOneWeek.com, an initiative he began in 2009 to raise awareness about the homeless epidemic in New York City. He has raised over $10,000 for organizations that provide services for the homeless. In 2011, Manhattan borough president Scott Stringer proclaimed him an Artist and Activist against Homelessness. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he currently resides in the Bronx with his wife of two years.
Maher Reham (pen name) is a poet and an applications developer.
Mohammed Samir Shamma was born in 1972 to an Egyptian father and an American mother from Lamesa, Texas. His father died when he was nine and his mother raised him and his younger brother in Houston. Mohammed holds a master of arts degree in Middle Eastern studies from the University of Texas, Austin, and a master of information management and systems degree from the University of California, Berkeley. During the day, Mohammed writes code intended for computers, but at night, after his two kids, Kareem and Leila, are asleep, he writes and illustrates stories. His work is at www.interlinearist.com.
Anthony Springer Jr. is a freelance writer, communications professional, and questioner of everything. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Journalism and Media Studies from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. His work has appeared on Hip HopDX.com, BET.com, TheWellVersed.com, and Arena.com, in Ultimate MMA magazine, and elsewhere. He currently blogs about anything and everything on his mind at MrSpringer.wordpress.com. He can be found on Twitter in a never-ending quest for intelligent dialogue @SimplyAnthony.
Yousef “Dr. Yo-Yo” Turshani is an assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. He and his wife, Nadeah Vali, Esq., continue their journey together. After Nadeah’s time at The Hague, she joined Yousef in Zimbabwe on their first anniversary. They currently reside in Micronesia on the island of Saipan, where they work with the underserved, scuba dive, cook, and pray together. They have couch-surfed in Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore and now open their home to travelers.
About the Editors
Editors Ayesha Mattu and Nura Maznavi’s first book, Love, InshAllah: The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women, was featured globally by media including the New York Times, National Public Radio, the BBC, Washington Post, Guardian, Times of India, Dawn (Pakistan), and Jakarta Post.
Ayesha Mattu (right) is a writer, editor, and international development consultant. She has worked in the field of women’s human rights since 1998. She was selected a Muslim Leader of Tomorrow by the UN Alliance of Civilizations and has served on the boards of IDEX, the Women’s Funding Network, and World Pulse. Ayesha is an alumna of the Voices of Our Nations writers’ workshop and a member of the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto.
Nura Maznavi is an attorney, writer, and Fulbright scholar. She has worked with migrant workers in Sri Lanka, on behalf of prisoners in California, and with a national legal advocacy organization leading a program to end racial and religious profiling. She lives in Chicago.
Follow the writers of Love, InshAllah and Salaam, Love at
@LoveinshAllah
http://loveinshallah.com/
https://www.facebook.com/LoveInshAllah
Selected one of our anthologies for your book club? Find reading guides on our website and e-mail us at info@loveinshAllah.com to schedule a call or Skype session!
Beacon Press
www.beacon.org
Beacon Press books
are published under the auspices of
the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.
© 2014 by Ayesha Mattu and Nura Maznavi
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
This book is printed on acid-free paper that meets the uncoated paper ANSI/NISO specifications for permanence as revised in 1992.
Some names and identifying characteristics of people mentioned in this work have been changed to protect their identities.
Text design by Ruth Maassen
In the essays “The Promise,” by Alan Howard, and “Fertile Ground,” by Khizer Husain, the authors have cited Muhammad Asad’s translation of the Qur’an, The Message of the Qur’an (London: The Book Foundation, revised ed., 2008).
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Salaam, love : American Muslim men on love, sex, and intimacy / [edited by] Ayesha Mattu, Nura Maznavi.
pages cm
ISBN 978-0-8070-7975-1 (pbk.)—ISBN 978-0-8070-7976-8 (electronic) 1. Muslim men—United States. 2. Intimacy (Psychology)—Religious aspects—Islam. 3. Sex role—Religious aspects—Islam. I. Mattu, Ayesha. II. Maznavi, Nura.
HQ1090.3.S25 2014
305.31088297—dc23
2013035892