The Butterfly Mosque By Willow Wilson Summary

G. Willow Wilson’s “The Butterfly Mosque” is an autobiographical retelling of one American woman’s journey of self-discovery as a Muslim convert living in Egypt. Wilson’s story reveals her experience in Islamic, Arab, and American cultures, each of which leave their mark on her identity, forcing Wilson to re-evaluate her perceptions of herself and the cultures to which she is connected. But with this multifaceted identity comes significant internal turmoil, which torments her such that longs for the opportunity to “live beyond the threshold of identity” (Wilson 117). Based on the meaning of identity as suggested by Wilson’s description of her experience as a Muslim, it is clear that although Wilson’s engagement with Islam enables her to evolve

Wilson uses these words in reference to the instance when her parent and future in-laws meet for the first time. Of the meeting, Wilson says that “No one was quite an American or quite an Egyptian….it no longer mattered to me whose rules I followed, Arab or American or eastern or western, and the words themselves faded in significance” (Wilson, 117). This passage suggests that Wilson perceives an identity as a distinct way to label oneself, setting the self apart from others of another identity. She implies that to live beyond the threshold of identity would be to disregard the discrete labels that classify and separate people. At the end of this chapter, Wilson suggests that in that particular moment, she succeeded in surpassing this threshold. However, it would be erroneous to say that this moment is indicative of the way in which she perceives herself from that moment on. It may be true that in that particular moment, Wilson was unencumbered by the trappings of identity. but analysis of her experience of Islam shows that Wilson’s faith does not allow her to permanently shed the trappings of identity. Rather, she it enables her to expand her understanding of how her identities relate to each

She begins to understand that she can broaden her perception of herself rather than choose to view certain identities as mutually exclusive. This maturation of perspective is exemplified by Wilson’s insistence that she did not “become” a Muslim. Rather, she accepts Islam as a way to classify beliefs that were already an aspect of her identity; she does not consider her conversion to be a fundamental change in her character. “Faith, to me is not a leap but an affirmation of personal experience. With Islam I gave myself permission to live in the world as I saw it, not as I was told to see it” (Wilson 76). Wilson is using new terminology to define herself, not adopting totally new beliefs, and in doing so she adds greater complexity to her