Review of “Black Mecca: The African Muslims of Harlem” by Zain Abdullah

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Published: May 17, 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31947/etnosia.v5i1.8555
Keywords:
The African, Black Mecca, Ethnography, Muslim

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Imogen Spray
University of Auckland

Abstract

This article aims to review the book with the title of Black Mecca: The African Muslims of Harlem by Zain Abdullah. Abdullah’s (2010) Mec Black Mecca ’adds to the growing body of literature on Islam influenced by the post-modernists' challenges to neo-Orientalist Western representations of Islam (Al Azmeh 1993: 140). They are called for a historicized and contextualized view of Islam and Muslims, steering away from essentializing identity politics. Abdullah's (2010) thick ethnography, or as he describes it, "narrative style," presents a variety of anecdotes and experiences along gendered, class, and generational lines, with a common Muslim orientation towards environment and experiences.

Article Details

Issue
Vol. 5 No. 1 (2020)
Section
Review Articles

References

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