Muhajababes
Generational conflicts are nothing new in life or books, but one such conflict, at the center of a new read, has far-reaching implications.
This week, we examine Muhajababes: Meet the New Middle East – Young, Sexy and Devout by Allegra Stratton.
Stratton’s book is an international tour of the Mideast’s emerging youth culture, In it, she brings to life a world that is both charming and alarming as it tussles with a faith community whose global majority is under 25 years of age.
Although this book is very much promoted as an examination of Muslim youth, in many respects it is far more about the social pressure, religious and political winds and cultural tensions to which young people are more subjects than those who define their lives on their own terms. As a result, a good chunk of Muhajababes is dedicated to the adults whose visions are influencing the young. Stratton does a spectacular job of digging into these adults’ mindsets, be they conservative jihadis, feel-good moderates or well-heeled liberals.
Stratton also does a good job of bringing to a larger audience the alternate religious universe created for youth by these adults. Whether it is the video games aimed at glorifying nationalist fantasies and counteracting Western entertainment or Muslim leaders exhorting followers to gain wealth as a demonstration of Allah’s greatness, starkly different versions of Islam are pitched to appeal to youth in ways the casual reader probably would never otherwise know about.
The author will most certainly be criticized in this telling of Muslim youth life over what seems to be a lot of focus on largely middle- and upper-class Muslims, many of whom who have access to education, media and power that the poor do not. Indeed, it is difficult to ascertain how representative the Muslim youth culture Stratton presents is to the global Muslim experience. Let there be no question, however, that she has actively sought major cultural players for this book, and, in sharing a behind-the-scenes look at this generational shift, her work succeeds on many levels.
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