Book Identity

 Tittle : If I Should Speak

 Writer : Umm Zakiyyah
 Translated From : If I Should Speak: A Novel
 ISBN Number : ISBN 978-602-8236-47-8
 Publisher : Al-Walaa Publications College Park, MD USA
Mizan Media Utama, Indonesia
 Edition : First Published, June 2009
Second Published, September 2009
 Translator : Ary Nilandari
 Editor : Adityas Prabantoro
 Proofreader : Eti Rohaeti
 Cover Design : M. Roniyadi
 Type Of Book : Fiction Novel
 Total Page : 380 Page
 Total Chapter : 15 Page
 Text : Indonesian
 Type Of Cover : Soft Cover

1. Summary
 “If I Should Speak” is an emotionally captivating story of 3 young college
girls- Tamika, Dee and Aminah. Tamika, the main character, is an African-American
soul searching young woman, soon to finish college with great ambitions. It all begins
when Tamika has a big fight with her roommate and is almost expelled from
university, only because of her ethnicity. Unable to fight racial discrimination, she has
no choice but to move in with Dee & Aminah. She is overjoyed to find out she had be
living with Durrah, or Dee as better known to people, a popular and talented
upcoming model & singer, entangled in the fitnah of her environment. She is surprised
to learn Dee is a Muslim. Do Islam & singing go together?

Aminah is the polite and perfect practicing Muslim who fulfills all her worldly
and religious obligations and is well read about her religion. How can Dee get along
with her? Confused, but still happy with her roommates, she watches them pray.
Tamika’s curiosity is aroused even more and so she decides to do her paper on Islam
for her Religion class. Her fitrah pricks at her subconsciousness as she has long
discussions with Aminah, who skillfully clears up common misconceptions of Islam
relating to Christianity, polygamy, hijab, etc and helps her with books and resources
for her paper. Aminah confidently does da’wah, careful not to offend her new
reflective roommate.

At the same time, Tamika finds that among the many interests she shares with
Dee is their passion for music. Drawn to Dee’s carefree personality, confidence and
talent, both sing together and aspire to become singers someday. As Tamika learns
more about Islam, she is torn between her conflicting struggles: fulfilling a lifetime
dream of becoming a singer or accepting Islam.

2. Target
This novel is recommended for any ages.

3. Spelling and Language Style

The text of the story use conversational language and daily conversation. So it will be
easy for us to understand the story. But beside those things, the writer insert some
figure of speech so, the literary of the story is more clearly visible.

4. Weakness Of The Book

It’s hard to find the weakness from the book, because everything just so great. But
also it has some weakness like hard words or figure of speech that can make us repeat
at the same sentence to understand what they are trying to explain.

5. Excess Of The Book

The book, full of life, has a perfect balance of literary techniques to keep our interest -
descriptive language, characters, emotions, settings, imagery, and a thrilling plot.
Once you pick it up, you will not be able to put it down. An outstanding work of
fiction, yet so realistic it pulls you along, with smiles and tears, to the very end. Oh,
and not only is it a bestseller in Islamic fiction across the globe, but also used in
 colleges! You will love every moment of it. If it does not change your life, it will give
you a lot to think about.

6. Conclusion
And by the explanation above, this novel is deserves to be a collection. This novel
have touched the lives of readers across the world, inspiring non-Muslims to accept
Islam, Muslims to renew their faith, and avid readers to enjoy compelling, heart-
moving tales. So certainly we can take the messages from the story so we can be a
better person.