Border Crossings: My Journey as a Western Muslim

Description

Whether negotiating the mind-games of the Israeli intelligence services or performing ablutions in a London bathroom, Mohammad Chowdhury's life as a British Muslim travelling the world brings daily challenges. Border Crossings is the story of Chowdhury's journey, gripping in some parts and shame-inducing in others, as he describes a lifelong struggle to reconcile the British, Asian and Muslim sides of his identity, constantly dealing with the mistrust of Westerners alongside the hypocrisies of his own community and their misunderstanding of Islam. Chowdhury's story echoes the experience of thousands of Western Muslims who since 9/11 have been subjected to a constant barrage of questions that cast doubt over the very goodness of their faith. It is the story of a man who cries when England win the Ashes, yet still finds himself screaming in the face of racism and religious bigotry. This timely book powerfully rejects the poisonous narrative that Muslims can no longer be trusted as honest citizens of the West.

Mohammad Chowdhury was one of the first British-born Bangladeshis to study at Oxford, where he read Politics, Philosophy and Economics, following which he completed his master's at Cambridge and, later on, executive training at Harvard Business School. Having worked in eighty countries advising ministers and CEOs, Chowdhury is now a senior partner at a global consulting firm in its practice across Asia and Australia. He is recognised as a leading emerging markets technology expert by the BBC, the Financial Times, Forbes and CNN. @mtchowdhury

'His marginalisation in dual cultures ascribed to him allows him a brilliant birds-eye view of both, which he employs in his bid to untangle the cultural mindsets he comes across' Muslim News 'Offers invaluable insights into how a modern cosmopolitan navigates the complex and delicate contours of faith, identity and belonging in an otherwise globally, interconnected world' Ekow Nelson, reimagining