Jihad of the Soul: Singlehood in Muslim America

Interview with Zarinah El-Amin Naeem

1. Why did you write Jihad of the Soul? Jihad of the Soul is based on my Masters in Anthropology thesis. While conducting the research, my interviewees often had as many questions for me as I had for them. Plus, whenever I mentioned my research, people would say “wow, I can’t wait to hear about your findings.” After many inquires, I decided the easiest way to make the information available would be to publish this book.

2. How did you choose the title? The original title of this study was Single Muslim Young Adults: Negotiating Identity, Religion and Desire. During a conversation with my husband, we joked that singlehood can really be an inner struggle - hence Jihad of the Soul. My husband shouted it out and it just stuck!

3. What did you leave out of the book? What didn’t make the cut? I was forced to exclude a lot of material from this first edition; that was the hardest part about writing the book. If I'd included everything I wanted to say, it would have easily ended up at 400 pages. To narrow it down, I decided to focus on the challenges single Muslims face. Naturally there are many Muslims without problems, and who are comfortable in their singlehood. Still, I decided that my book would be of most benefit if I worked to ease the path for the majority of single Muslims who do indeed feel tension within their single lives. There are several topics I would like to address later including sexual abuse (rape, incest, etc) and its affects on Muslim marriage, homosexuality, the issue of marital endogamy and Imam's response to the issues raised.

4. Why did you self publish? As I mentioned, my primary purpose in publishing the book was to make my findings available to the Muslim community. Establishing my own publishing company to publish Jihad of the Soul was a difficult process but one I felt would provide the most editorial control over my content. The traditional publishing route can take years from submission to print and I did not want to wait that long.

5. What tips do you have for others who want to self-publish? Read! Read everything you can find on self publishing. Two great resources are Dan Poynter's Self Publishing Manual and Peter Bowerman's Well-Fed Self-Publisher. The Internet has a lot of resources concerning self-publishing. InshaAllah (God Willing) I will compile a list of resources and make it available on this site.

6. Who is the character Ali? For some reason, many people ask about Ali! Ali is a man who is coming into his own. He has established a relationship with God and is eager to find a spouse.

7. Are these people real? Yes, this is a non-fiction book - the stories are real. However, I have changed all identifying information including names, hometowns, and in many cases ethnicity.

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