Zaatar Days, Henna Nights: Adventures, Dreams, and Destinations Across the Middle East

(Paperback)

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When twenty-eight-year-old Maliha Masood, a burned-out dot-commer from Seattle, bought a one-way ticket to adventure and rejuvenation, she found it in the most unlikely of places: the Middle East. With an infectious love of adventure, a zany sense of humor, and serious questions about her Islamic faith, Pakistani-born Masood begins an unforgettable journey. She camps in the Sahara with a Bedouin "desert fox," is mistaken for a spy in Turkey, takes a lesson in beauty from a Kurdish family, and falls in love with a poet. She experiences souks and mosques, open-air lingerie bazaars and nightclubs grooving to hip-hop. In a region associated with terrorist havens, Masood meets ordinary Muslim men and women navigating the politics of culture, religion, and identity. Zaatar Days, Henna Nights offers a street-savvy take on the contemporary Arab world that's seldom seen on the evening news. This is a story of discovery and faith, of making bonds and breaking stereotypes, and of finding oneself where one least expects to. "

Author Bio

Born in Karachi, Pakistan, Maliha Masood grew up in Seattle. She is the co-producer of Nazrah, an award-winning documentary film exploring perspectives of American-Muslim women. A graduate of Tufts University with a master's in Law and Diplomacy, Masood has worked in her native Pakistan as a development consultant. Masood is also the president and founder of Diwan: Dialogue on Islam, a nonprofit institute based in Seattle, where she lives.