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BreakBeat Poets
The BreakBeat Poets, Vol. 3: Halal If You Hear Me
A BreakBeat Poets anthology of writings by Muslims who are women, queer, genderqueer, nonbinary, or trans.
We live in an Islamophobic world, where Muslim people are constantly under attack, and must prove their innocence when they’ve not even committed a crime. We also live in a world of rigid gender roles and gender violence, where women, gender non-conforming and trans people are victims of violence, and have their gender expressions, freedoms, and desires policed. There’s pressure from both Muslims and non-Muslims to fit into severe stereotypes of Muslim identity and the ways in which it is acceptable to be Muslim.
The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 3: Halal If You Hear Me is a celebration of intersectional identity that dispels the notion that there is one correct way to be a Muslim, particularly for women, gender non-conforming, and trans people. In holding space for multiple intersecting identities, the anthology celebrates and protects those identities.
Halal If You Hear Me features poems by Safia Elhillo, Fatimah Asghar, Warsan Shire, Tarfia Faizullah, Angel Nafis, Beyza Ozer, and many others.
We live in an Islamophobic world, where Muslim people are constantly under attack, and must prove their innocence when they’ve not even committed a crime. We also live in a world of rigid gender roles and gender violence, where women, gender non-conforming and trans people are victims of violence, and have their gender expressions, freedoms, and desires policed. There’s pressure from both Muslims and non-Muslims to fit into severe stereotypes of Muslim identity and the ways in which it is acceptable to be Muslim.
The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 3: Halal If You Hear Me is a celebration of intersectional identity that dispels the notion that there is one correct way to be a Muslim, particularly for women, gender non-conforming, and trans people. In holding space for multiple intersecting identities, the anthology celebrates and protects those identities.
Halal If You Hear Me features poems by Safia Elhillo, Fatimah Asghar, Warsan Shire, Tarfia Faizullah, Angel Nafis, Beyza Ozer, and many others.
281 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 16, 2019
62 people are currently reading
2787 people want to read
About the author
Fatimah Asghar
15 books612 followersPoet, screenwriter, educator, and performer Fatimah Asghar is a Pakistani, Kashmiri, Muslim American writer. She is the author of the poetry collection If They Should Come for Us and the chapbook After. She is also the writer and co-creator of the Emmy-nominated Brown Girls, a web series that highlights friendships between women of color. Her work has been featured on news outlets such as PBS, NPR, Time, Teen Vogue, Huffington Post, and others.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews
March 24, 2019
This collection is the third in the BreakBeat Poets series, all of which are highly recommended - The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop followed by The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 2: Black Girl Magic. There are some poets shared between this volume and the others, although this one focuses on poets of Muslim identities, often at the intersection of blackness and brownness, or claiming space inside/next to Muslim identity for varying gender and sexual identities. All through words, transcribed, proclaimed, and collected here.
Two poets I have previously appreciated edited the volume - Safia Elhillo (The January Children) and Fatimah Asghar (If They Come for Us.) Some of my previous favorites are represented here as well - Tarfia Faizullah (Registers of Illuminated Villages: Poems) and Warsan Shire (you may know her best from being the poet behind the spoken parts of Beyonce's Lemonade.) Many of the poets I have encountered previously in some of the new-generation African or African American poet chapbook sets from Akashic, but it felt like most of the poems in this collection were new.
Some of my favorite discoveries in this volume:
Nadra Mabrouk - Memory in Which We Are Not Singing But You Are Home
Sahar Romani - Burden of Proof (available at The Offing Magazine
H.H. - QM
Zaina Alsous - On Longing (available at Glass: A Journal of Poetry)
But it's all good. All recommended.
I did receive a review copy of this from the publisher through Edelweiss, but this was pretty much a sure thing for me to read regardless. It comes out April 23, 2019.
Two poets I have previously appreciated edited the volume - Safia Elhillo (The January Children) and Fatimah Asghar (If They Come for Us.) Some of my previous favorites are represented here as well - Tarfia Faizullah (Registers of Illuminated Villages: Poems) and Warsan Shire (you may know her best from being the poet behind the spoken parts of Beyonce's Lemonade.) Many of the poets I have encountered previously in some of the new-generation African or African American poet chapbook sets from Akashic, but it felt like most of the poems in this collection were new.
Some of my favorite discoveries in this volume:
Nadra Mabrouk - Memory in Which We Are Not Singing But You Are Home
Sahar Romani - Burden of Proof (available at The Offing Magazine
H.H. - QM
Zaina Alsous - On Longing (available at Glass: A Journal of Poetry)
But it's all good. All recommended.
I did receive a review copy of this from the publisher through Edelweiss, but this was pretty much a sure thing for me to read regardless. It comes out April 23, 2019.
January 14, 2019
Halal If You Hear Me: The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 3 is a wonderful collection of poems and essays by Muslims around the world. The contributors talk about everything from pride in their beliefs, to how it feels to deal with prejudice, to what it's like to be an LGBQT Muslim, and more. I really enjoyed reading them, gaining a better understanding of what it's like being Muslim in a world where Muslims are often vilified. It is also eye-opening to see the range of beliefs held by Muslims. Just as there are many different beliefs held by Christians, so too do Muslims believe many different things. I am grateful to this book for letting me into the lives and minds, however briefly, of all these people, grateful to them for sharing their thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
I particularly enjoyed the LGBQT+ poems, being able to relate to a lot of what was written. Having read the galley version, I'm unable to quote any of the poems, but there are several that I loved! I think this is a very important collection, one that can help dispel stereotypes and prejudice against Muslims. I recommend it for that reason, and because so many of the poems are beautifully, honestly, and powerfully written.
Thank you to Haymarket Books and Edelweiss+ for providing me with a free DRC of this book. This did not influence my review in any way.
I particularly enjoyed the LGBQT+ poems, being able to relate to a lot of what was written. Having read the galley version, I'm unable to quote any of the poems, but there are several that I loved! I think this is a very important collection, one that can help dispel stereotypes and prejudice against Muslims. I recommend it for that reason, and because so many of the poems are beautifully, honestly, and powerfully written.
Thank you to Haymarket Books and Edelweiss+ for providing me with a free DRC of this book. This did not influence my review in any way.
August 6, 2019
crying bc the essays at the end on being queer and muslim literally felt like they were written for me, just to make me feel less alone
April 21, 2019
As a Muslim American who has questions about my faith, my cultural background and my society, this book is an amazing reprieve. It feels like being welcomed by a form of Islam that I wish I had when I was younger. An Islam that welcomes queer, questioning, non heterosexual, non cis gendered bodies. It was very healing.
August 10, 2020
You ever read something & think, "this is what I have been waiting for" ?
Fatimah Asghar & Safia ElHillo's 𝙃𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙡 𝙄𝙛 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙈𝙚 is an anthology of Muslim voices, Muslims who write, Muslims who are women, queer, genderqueer, gender-expansive, transgender. Of Muslim women who are Black, African-American, Arab American, from the "Middle Eastern" diaspora, mixed race/ethnicity, South-East Asian, Latinx, and more.
Reading these pieces was like coming home.. to a home that I had been dreaming of since childhood.
These pieces made me cry, made my heart FULL, made me want to read them over & over. People often talk about "the Muslim community" as a homogenous group of people... but we are so multi-faceted, beautifully unique, & as Safia ElHillo says in the foreword: "there are as many ways to be Muslim as there are Muslims."
Although most of us who identify as Muslim have stories of non-Muslims making us feel as if we should be ashamed of being Muslim, or stories of the terrorist jokes being thrown our way, (I know I do), often OTHER Muslims can be the biggest critics, can cause the most pain. Judging those who do not wear hijab, those who are queer or trans, believing that Black Muslims, especially African-American Muslims, are "not Muslim enough," & so on. Muslim men often tear apart Muslim women, policing their entire being.. dictating what a "good" Muslimah is. The most hurtful things can be said or done by those we are supposedly in community with, those with a "particular toolkit."
This anthology gives life & breath to the Muslims in the margins who have been here, who exist. In these pages, those of us who have been made to feel that we are performing "what a Muslim is" incorrectly, can feel free in our "otherness."
I hope every Muslim person who feels alone in the intersections of their identities reads this poetry collection & holds it tight.
Fatimah Asghar & Safia ElHillo's 𝙃𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙡 𝙄𝙛 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙈𝙚 is an anthology of Muslim voices, Muslims who write, Muslims who are women, queer, genderqueer, gender-expansive, transgender. Of Muslim women who are Black, African-American, Arab American, from the "Middle Eastern" diaspora, mixed race/ethnicity, South-East Asian, Latinx, and more.
Reading these pieces was like coming home.. to a home that I had been dreaming of since childhood.
These pieces made me cry, made my heart FULL, made me want to read them over & over. People often talk about "the Muslim community" as a homogenous group of people... but we are so multi-faceted, beautifully unique, & as Safia ElHillo says in the foreword: "there are as many ways to be Muslim as there are Muslims."
Although most of us who identify as Muslim have stories of non-Muslims making us feel as if we should be ashamed of being Muslim, or stories of the terrorist jokes being thrown our way, (I know I do), often OTHER Muslims can be the biggest critics, can cause the most pain. Judging those who do not wear hijab, those who are queer or trans, believing that Black Muslims, especially African-American Muslims, are "not Muslim enough," & so on. Muslim men often tear apart Muslim women, policing their entire being.. dictating what a "good" Muslimah is. The most hurtful things can be said or done by those we are supposedly in community with, those with a "particular toolkit."
This anthology gives life & breath to the Muslims in the margins who have been here, who exist. In these pages, those of us who have been made to feel that we are performing "what a Muslim is" incorrectly, can feel free in our "otherness."
I hope every Muslim person who feels alone in the intersections of their identities reads this poetry collection & holds it tight.
Want to read
April 23, 2019I learned of this collection from my poet friend s.penkevich , who shared this fantastic poem:
March 24, 2019
Halal if You Hear Me is the third volume of The Breakbeat Poets anthology series from Haymarket Books. This one is edited by Fatimah Asghar and Safia Elhillo, and features poetry and essays by Muslims who are women, queer, genderqueer, nonbinary, and/or trans, and seeks to “dispel the notion that there is one correct way to be a Muslim, by holding space for multiple, intersecting identities while celebrating and protecting those identities.”
It’s a fantastic anthology, full of excellent poetry. I have several new favorite poets. I dog-eared the pages with a small fold whenever there was a poem that hit me hard: now my book’s pages ruffle out past their usual limits to accommodate so much folding. New poets I must follow include Saquina Karla C. Guiam, Beyza Ozer, Dilruba Ahmed, Safia Elhillo, Khadijah Queen, Rasha Abdulhadi, Adam Hamze, and of course there are also the poets I knew of and love, Hala Alyan, Fatimah Asghar, Angel Nafis. And even then I had to force myself to be selective with my folds; the entire book of poetry was worth folding into my bookshelf. It’s an anthology full of life, flowing from poem to poem, section to section (Shahada, Sawm, Hajj, Salah, Zakat), and with much to learn and enforce in the wide range of Muslim identities and lives and loves.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Halal if You Hear Me: The Breakbeat Poets, Vol. 3 comes out April 2 from Haymarket Books.
It’s a fantastic anthology, full of excellent poetry. I have several new favorite poets. I dog-eared the pages with a small fold whenever there was a poem that hit me hard: now my book’s pages ruffle out past their usual limits to accommodate so much folding. New poets I must follow include Saquina Karla C. Guiam, Beyza Ozer, Dilruba Ahmed, Safia Elhillo, Khadijah Queen, Rasha Abdulhadi, Adam Hamze, and of course there are also the poets I knew of and love, Hala Alyan, Fatimah Asghar, Angel Nafis. And even then I had to force myself to be selective with my folds; the entire book of poetry was worth folding into my bookshelf. It’s an anthology full of life, flowing from poem to poem, section to section (Shahada, Sawm, Hajj, Salah, Zakat), and with much to learn and enforce in the wide range of Muslim identities and lives and loves.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Halal if You Hear Me: The Breakbeat Poets, Vol. 3 comes out April 2 from Haymarket Books.
Read
November 24, 2019This was awesome, both the poetry and the essays / literary nonfiction / etc. material at the end. Really appreciated that Muslim authors of various nationalities, races, genders, sexualities were included, in a very deliberate and emphatic way. I also felt that the anthology was both cohesive and multifaceted. It went beyond both the stereotypes AND the reflecting-on-stereotypes (I feel this is something minority authors have to do a lot...) in a very celebratory way. An advanced and simultaneously approachable book, IMO. (I'm not Muslim, I'm Jewish, but it was definitely approachable to me.)
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Source of the book: Anonymous Benefactor (I know who, but they asked not to be named)
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Source of the book: Anonymous Benefactor (I know who, but they asked not to be named)
July 19, 2019
It was great to have so many explicitly Muslim voices in a collection of poetry. These poems really highlighted the strength of poetry—making old things new and shifting perspectives. I learned a lot about all the different facets of Muslim life accompained with some hard-hitting lines. Again, I'm seeing that for me bingeing on poetry works with 80 page single author poetry collections but not on bigger anthologies. I also didn't love the prose selections at the end of the work; they were much less powerful. Overall, a great collection of vibrant voices and a goldmine for windows & mirrors depending on your identity.
March 15, 2021
This collection features Muslim poets. The beauty of the collection is the showcasing of the diversity of Muslims. Many of the poets take derogatory statements made about Muslims and turn them into brilliant works of poetry. Other poets in the collection write about family relationships. One of my favorites of the collection is the very sensual poem, Forbidden.
Lovers of poetry will enjoy this collection.
Lovers of poetry will enjoy this collection.
February 24, 2025
took me a long time to read it, but truly beautiful.
July 2, 2025
really solid collection of work, felt like by the end i lost steam a little bit though - bangers not as evenly distributed as i would like.
April 27, 2020
This was my first Ramadan read and I'm so glad. I laughed and I cried and I learned so much.
May 19, 2019
I could relate to this story being Muslim is very scary for some people in America . Especially if their is no male figure I the home. They feel more vulnerable and afraid of gestures, remarks and actions of mostly white people whom never seem they will or want to understand what it truly means to be a Muslim.
July 21, 2019
“...I feel most Muslim when my hand is held, when my grandmother takes my feet into her lap, when the breeze brushes past, so gently that my fingertips ache at the promise of touch, or when a plum, cut in half, is glowing pink on the inside, shot through with little veins of gold, and it makes me want to cry.”
June 24, 2019
A beautiful collection of poetry from voices too often looked over. These poems emote love, joy, pain, questioning, among other stories from growing up muslim and poc. Cannot reccommend this book enough
February 18, 2024
ridiculous redonkulos. there was three “okay” poems, but an embarrassment of a book Astagfirullah.
June 9, 2020
The message that there’s no one way to be Muslim is beautiful. There were a few poems I didn’t really care for but that seems to be the case for any anthology. My favorite pieces were the ones that explored how being Muslim and Black or Muslim and queer intersect. Overall this anthology is a great way to start thinking about those experiences and those different parts of people’s’ identities and what it might mean for them.
September 14, 2020
Great poems and also a good way for me to find new writers to read.
April 19, 2020
Intense, beautiful anthology that embraces and celebrates the complex and intersecting identities that exist in Islam. Topics are varied, addressing love, belonging, sexuality, fear, violence, mass shootings, femininity, motherhood, displacement, authenticity, and queerness. Some poems resonated with me more than others. Favorites include:
- a study of anatomy, although I have no desire to study it
- hypothesis: bitch face
- mother, ka’aba
- nakba day dance
- elegy
- burden of proof
- a study of anatomy, although I have no desire to study it
- hypothesis: bitch face
- mother, ka’aba
- nakba day dance
- elegy
- burden of proof
August 31, 2020
I love this anthology so much. I have to be honest I feel a bit unsure about the repeated inclusion of more “successful” Muslim poets and how that speaks back to a culture of insiderhood that we still need to dismantle within the poetry community...idk. But also every work has its own place and time, it’s own audience and locality. I still really love the work so deeply and how it bravely and beautifully breaks out the concept of what being Muslim looks like, refracts it into so many gorgeous beings. Excited to read and reread this for a long time to come—I am really excited about the new Muslim writers it introduced me to, Lamya H most of all! Her essay is my favourite in the whole book. The loveliest part about this kind of anthology (an abundance) is that I will keep finding new favourites as I change and as I grow. A wonderful treasure.
December 13, 2019
4 stars. For me, it was closer to a 3-3.5 because I wasn’t as into the poems as I had hoped to be. But I know it wasn’t the fault of the poems — I just am not as much of a poetry fan as I imagine myself to be.
But the gems of this book were the short essays in the ending half of the book. I loved every single one and wish I could have had a whole book with more essays.
It’s so good to hear stories from Muslims. Our experiences are so varied. We are rarely given a space to share our stories — our authentic, true stories of how we live. It was so beautiful to read all the different lived identities we hold as Muslims. So powerful and magical and comforting.
But the gems of this book were the short essays in the ending half of the book. I loved every single one and wish I could have had a whole book with more essays.
It’s so good to hear stories from Muslims. Our experiences are so varied. We are rarely given a space to share our stories — our authentic, true stories of how we live. It was so beautiful to read all the different lived identities we hold as Muslims. So powerful and magical and comforting.
May 22, 2020
I absolutely love what this collection is doing, claiming space for all sorts of Muslim identities. The huge variety of contributors and all their different experiences offer glimpses into the emotions and lives of identity intersections that are often silenced or ignored. Although not every poem worked for me, I really appreciate what every author had to say and loved the understanding I gained from them. The essays were just as powerful as the poems and really helped expand the conversation as well!
August 26, 2019
bit of a mixed bag which is typical of anthologies. some of these are very good and i'll be looking for more from their authors; others i felt ehh about. i would be interested to read anything from the editors on how they assigned the poems for each section -- each is named after one of the five pillars and i had difficulty seeing the connection between them and the poems inside. overall glad i read it tho
3.5 stars
3.5 stars
August 4, 2019
It's been a while since I've read a good book of poetry, but I'm always glad when I do. This book was full of it from varying points of view of Muslim identity. The essays at the end were also just as good and thought provoking. All these explorations into identity are incredible and shows just how varied people within the Muslim faith are.
August 21, 2019
Wow. This collection is intense. Topics range from mass shootings, racial profiling, Ramadan, queer love of all kinds, family, war -- past and present, immigration, separation, racism, and more.
Intense. Beautiful. You will not read poetry like this elsewhere. It will challenge your perceptions of what a Muslim is. You will not be the same and that is a good thing.
Intense. Beautiful. You will not read poetry like this elsewhere. It will challenge your perceptions of what a Muslim is. You will not be the same and that is a good thing.
October 11, 2019
Solace for the invisible Muslim or the best writing workshop ever for young thinkers, Halal If You Hear Me is the third in the fantastic BreakBeat Poets series determined to put forth the sharpest, most modern writing from a breathtaking and diverse spectrum of talented intersectional brown and black writers.
January 27, 2020
Well, that only took me 9 months. I love everything in the BreakBeat Poets series (this volume included) and am looking forward to the next release:
July 18, 2019
Really dug this anthology by Muslim women, queer folks, trans, and non-binary people. A great range of styles that approach reflections on Muslim identities in ways that felt truly polyphonic and radical. Recommend to anyone looking for an anthology that focuses on the writings on people of color.
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December 6, 2019811.608 H1283 2019
Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews