Article Review: Muslims in Children's Literature (Khan)

Muslims in Children’s Literature by Rukhsana Khan

Khan, Rukhsana. "Muslims in Children's Books." School Library Journal 52(2006): 36-37.

This article regarding Muslims in children’s literature is written by Rukhsana Khan who is also the author of one of the books I chose for my text set titled Muslim Child: Understanding Islam through Stories and Poems. Within the article, Khan speaks of Islam, the Muslim religion and how it is depicted within children’s literature. She says that “It hurts that there are still so many misperceptions about Islam in Western society” and she points out some of these misperceptions that people make such as Muslim women’s rights are “trampled” by Islam, and that “Islam encourages terrorism”. Because so many people believe these misconceptions to be true, it is important for literature that challenges these beliefs to be available for readers of all ages.

Khan touches on the insider/outsider debate within the article, pointing out that often, a group that is underrepresented in literature will first be written about by outsiders. Often this results in books “dealing in such shallow stereotypes” and “these books do little to create genuine understanding” of Islam beliefs. Khan makes an important statement when she says “In the best of times, it is extremely difficult to write about another culture in a truthful and sensitive manner. In today's political climate, it seems even harder.” Because of the continuing conflicts going on between countries and peoples today, these topics often find their way into literature being published today. Stereotypes such as described above are often included in books that try to tackle these issues. Fortunately, there are books written on Islam that do not incorporate these stereotypes. Khan offers the titles of many such books within the article.

The amount of published children’s books pertaining to Muslims has increased post 9/11. Khan highlights the fact that these books are from a variety of styles including picture books, chapter books (novels), non-fiction and folklore. Even though the stereotypes of Muslims are found in literature being written today, Khan has a vision that this will change. She says “I'd like to see the trend move away from these ‘Muslim as victim’ scenarios. In these stories, being Muslim's part of the conflict. I'd like to see a character's Islamic identity be like wallpaper, part of the setting—providing flavor but definitely not part of the problem.”

Overall, this article makes valid and important points regarding literature that includes Muslims and Islam. Because Khan is considered to be an insider, her views and opinions can be taken to have more meaning than if an outsider were to make similar comments.