SUMMARY

Why I
Embrace
Islam
By Mariam
Jameelah

Submitted To:
Sir Sajid Sheikh
Why I Embrace Islam Summary

About Author
Maryam Jameelah (May 23, 1934 - October 31, 2012) was an American-Pakistani author of over thirty books on
Islamic culture and history and a prominent female voice for conservative and fundamentalist Islam, known
for her disparaging writings about the West. Born Margret Marcus in New York City to a non-observant
Jewish family, she explored Judaism and other faiths during her teens before converting to Islam in 1961 and
emigrating to Pakistan. She was married to and had five children with Muhammad Yusuf Khan, a leader in the
Jamaat-e-Islami political party, and resided in the city of Lahore.

Jameelah started writing her first novel, Ahmad Khalil: The Story of a Palestinian Refugee and His Family at the
age of twelve; she illustrated her book with pencil sketches and color drawings. She also studied drawing in Fall
1952 at Art Students League of New York, and exhibited her work at Bahai Center's Caravan of East and West
art gallery. On her emigration to Pakistan she was told that art was un-Islamic by Maududi, and abandoned it in
favor of writing. Her writings are supplemented by a number of audio and video tapes.
Jameelah was a prolific author, offering a conservative defense of traditional Islamic values and culture. She
was deeply critical of secularism, materialism and modernization, both in Western society, as well as in Islam.
She regarded traditions such as veiling, polygamy, and gender segregation (purdah) to be ordained by the
Quran and by the words of Muhammad, and considered movements to change these customs to be a betrayal
of Islamic teachings. Jameelah's books and articles have been translated into several languages including Urdu,
Persian, Turkish, Bengali and Bahasa Indonesia. Her correspondence, manuscripts, bibliographies, chronologies,
speeches, questionnaires, published articles, photographs, videocassettes, and artwork are included in the
Humanities and Social Sciences Library collection of the New York Public Library. Jameelah's life is the subject of
a book by the biographer Deborah Baker.
Would you kindly tell us how your interest in Islam began?
Were you scared that you might not be accepted by the Muslims?

Did your family object to your studying Islam?

What was the attitude of your parents and friends after you became Muslim?

In what ways did the Holy Quran have an impact on your life?
Have you ever had the opportunity to talk about Islam to the other Jews?

What Impact did Islam have on your life?