The dramatic, spiritual memoir of a prominent Muslim woman working to empower women and girls across the world—for readers of Malala Yousafzai and Azar Nafisi.
Raised in a progressive Muslim family in the shadows of the Himalayan mountains, where she attended a Catholic girls’ school, Daisy experienced culture shock when her family sent her to the States to attend high school in a mostly Jewish Long Island suburb. Ambitious and talented, she quickly climbed the corporate ladder after college as an architectural designer in New York City. Though she loved the freedom that came with being a career woman, she felt that something was missing from her life. One day a friend suggested that she visit a Sufi mosque in Tribeca. To her surprise, she discovered a home there, eventually marrying the mosque’s imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf, and finding herself, as his wife, at the center of a community in which women turned to her for advice. Guided by her faith, she embraced her role as a women’s advocate and has devised innovative ways to help end child marriage, fight against genital mutilation, and, most recently, educate young Muslims to resist the false promises of ISIS recruiters.
Born with Wings is a powerful, moving, and eye-opening account of Daisy Khan’s inspiring journey—of her self-actualization and her success in opening doors for other Muslim women and building bridges between cultures. It powerfully demonstrates what one woman can do—with faith, love, and resilience.
Praise for Born with Wings
“A heartfelt, deeply personal, and touching account of a Muslim woman’s spiritual journey and her work to empower women and girls around the globe.”—Her Majesty Queen Noor
“Daisy Khan is one of the most prominent Muslim voices in America and an icon of female empowerment across the globe. This beautiful story of her spiritual journey is an inspiration to anyone who seeks to change the world.”—Reza Aslan, author of No god but God and Zealot
“At a time when news headlines cast Muslim societies as war-torn or rigidly traditional, Daisy Khan offers a subtler, and ultimately more optimistic, vision. Through her own story, and the stories of other change-makers, Khan reminds us how Muslim women are asserting their rights while holding fast to their faith.”—Carla Power, author of If the Oceans Were Ink
“A lyrical, poignant, emboldening, and, most of all, deeply important book.”—Bruce Feiler, author of Abraham and Walking the Bible
“A heartfelt, deeply personal, and touching account of a Muslim woman’s spiritual journey and her work to empower women and girls around the globe.”—Her Majesty Queen Noor
“[Khan] passionately tells her singular life story in this fine memoir. Destined, according to her family, to ‘climb the sky,’ Khan writes of her early years in a vibrant household in Kashmir and later moving to New York City, where she became a pioneering reformer, campaigner for women’s rights, and advocate for peace and equality. . . . Readers will be entranced as they see Khan’s persistent fight for peaceful dialogue in a world sometimes torn apart by religious conflict and misunderstanding. . . . A testament to courage and resilience as well as an important chapter in the story of American Muslims and women of faith.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Daisy Khan is one of the most prominent Muslim voices in America and an icon of female empowerment across the globe. This beautiful story of her spiritual journey is an inspiration to anyone who seeks to change the world.”—Reza Aslan, author of No god but God and Zealot
“At a time when news headlines cast Muslim societies as war-torn or rigidly traditional, Daisy Khan offers a subtler, and ultimately more optimistic, vision. Through her own story, and the stories of other change-makers, Khan reminds us how Muslim women are asserting their rights while holding fast to their faith.”—Carla Power, author of If the Oceans Were Ink
“Born with Wings is a lyrical, poignant, emboldening, and, most of all, deeply important book. Readers of all ages, backgrounds, and faiths will find themselves in Daisy Khan’s extraordinarily inspiring story—then rush to share it with a treasured friend.”—Bruce Feiler, author of Abraham and Walking the Bible
“Daisy Khan has written a beautiful coming-of-age spiritual memoir for our times. Recounting her girlhood in Kashmir in evocative prose that transports us to a rich and redolent faraway—similar to the Afghanistan of The Kite Runner—she then grows before our eyes into a thoroughly modern American woman. The story of her marriage to an imam and confrontation with destiny after 9/11 is riveting. Yet the great achievement of Born with Wings is the gift of this humane and wise voice speaking at a vexing moment in history. Her courage and clarity are a set of wings for readers everywhere.”—Brad Gooch, author of Rumi’s Secret
“In Born with Wings, Khan provides a fascinating account of her experience as a Muslim woman in America and the ways that she has fought for equality and justice for so many. Her life, as told here, is an inspiration.”—Jim Wallis, author of America’s Original Sin, president and editor in chief of Sojourners
