A satirical follow-up to The Taqwacores finds skinhead Ayyub and burqa-wearing punk Rabeya kidnapping a Hollywood celebrity and demanding the production of a movie that reflects Muslims in a positive light in spite of their captives warnings that they are playing into stereotypes about terrorists, an effort that is complicated by Ayyubs scheme to eliminate a punk-rock band. Original. Amazing Ayyub, an Iranian Shiite skinhead, and Rabeya, a burqa-wearing punk, have kidnapped Matt Damon and are holding him hostage. They demand that Hollywood depict Muslims in a positive light—“just one movie where were not these two-dimensional al Qaeda stereotypes.” But Damons concerned theyre playing into that same terrorist paradigm, thereby furthering the neoconservative perception of Islam.Meanwhile, Ayyub embarks on a mission to rid the taqwacore scene of a Muslim pop-punk band called Shah 79. Along the way, he makes himself invisible, escapes punk-eating zombies in a mosque off the desert highway, and runs into some psychobilly jinns. Things turn existential when Ayyub finds himself face-to-face with his creator—no, not Allah, but the author. This riotous journey of enlightenment reads like a religious service for teenagers on Halloween. But it isnt all raucous fun; written into his own novel, the author finds he is at the mercy of his creation.
