A boss’s pointed question about Muslim practices framed a conversion away from Islam

Evidence

The fundamentalist religious schools she is compelled to attend, where Manji learns such truths as that Islam does not permit excessive laughter, and where she never hears stories and histories as she does in the Sunday school she was also permitted to attend because her father saw it as babysitting, provide the basis from which Manji learns that there is trouble with Islam. … Brushing aside the aggression of the question (could Manji, an employee, have asked her Jewish boss to defend Israeli policies towards Palestinians?), Manji appreciates only what she sees as the reasonableness of the question, and it launches her on a journey to determine if the fault really lies with Islam. She concludes that it does. — Sherene Razack, Casting Out, 232

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader framework of the book — how Muslim identity gets interrogated in liberal settings while other identities are shielded. Also resonates with the ‘complaints go way back’ piece about how Muslim dress/practice is policed asymmetrically.