We Have Always Been Here
A Queer Muslim Memoir
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4.3 • 71 Ratings
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- $0.99
Publisher Description
CANADA READS 2020 WINNER
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2020 EDNA STAEBLER AWARD FOR CREATIVE NON-FICTION
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
2020 LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD WINNER
ONE OF BOOK RIOT'S 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL QUEER BOOKS OF ALL TIME
How do you find yourself when the world tells you that you don't exist?
Samra Habib has spent most of their life searching for the safety to be themself. As an Ahmadi Muslim growing up in Pakistan, they faced regular threats from Islamic extremists who believed the small, dynamic sect to be blasphemous. From their parents, they internalized the lesson that revealing their identity could put them in grave danger.
When their family came to Canada as refugees, Samra encountered a whole new host of challenges: bullies, racism, the threat of poverty, and an arranged marriage. Backed into a corner, their need for a safe space--in which to grow and nurture their creative, feminist spirit--became dire. The men in Samra's life wanted to police them, the women in their life had only shown them the example of pious obedience, and their body was a problem to be solved.
So begins an exploration of faith, art, love, and queer sexuality, a journey that takes them to the far reaches of the globe to uncover a truth that was within them all along. A triumphant memoir of forgiveness and family, both chosen and not, We Have Always Been Here is a rallying cry for anyone who has ever felt out of place and a testament to the power of fearlessly inhabiting one's truest self.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Queer and Muslim are not always easy identities to reconcile, but Samra Habib’s ability to claim both left us in awe. A Pakistani refugee who has successfully forged a new community for themself in Toronto, Habib explores the extremely complicated intersections of their sexuality and religious faith. Their memoir will resonate with anyone who’s gone through a deep process of self-discovery. Reading We Have Always Been Here somehow left us feeling hopeful, despite the intolerant episodes Habib has faced on multiple fronts. Canada needs more people like them telling their stories.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Seeking a foundation rooted in home, family, and faith, journalist and photographer Habib explores her identity in a sincere debut that's articulate in its depiction of the immigrant experience but thin as a memoir of sexual awakening. As a five-year-old Ahmadi Muslim in Lahore, Pakistan, surrounded by "women who didn't have the blueprint for claiming their lives," Habib witnessed her pious mother buckle under the belief that "Allah hates the loud laughter of women!" When political upheavals escalated persecution of Ahmadi Muslims, the family fled to Toronto in 1991. There, 10-year-old Habib felt "transported to a different planet" with "boys and girls mingling freely." At 16, she endured an arranged marriage to an older cousin, later annulled after she attempted suicide; a second marriage at 19 offered escape from her family. By her mid-20s, a mentor opened a "window into a queer world." She divorced her husband and began traveling the world and taking sexual partners who shaped her "experience of how race and desire intersect." She writes candidly about her experiences: she joined a queer-friendly mosque, started a project photographing queer Muslims, and eventually came out to her parents. Habib's narrative is brave and unique, yet her most affecting descriptions speak less to sexual freedom and more to immigrant Pakistani culture. This sometimes falls short of its promise.
Customer Reviews
Great Pride month read!
For the Pride month, I thought I’d diversify my reading with a different book that’s atypical. I read the book of Samra Habib who is a Muslim woman who identifies as queer. You don’t often associate the LGBTQ+ community with Arabs even less so with the religion of Islam. This was an intriguing read because Samra introduces us to her Pakistani culture and her journey of immigrating from a patriarchal society to Canada. Her journey to finding herself as a queer is also presented but not the only story there. What you get from this book is the complexity of individuals that are being othered within a society that tries to conform everyone to a label with religion, ethnicity/culture and sexuality. It’s pretty interesting that there is some areas for Muslims to be able to practice their faith safely without their life being threatened. Great book! I recommend it!