Scheduled to be published May 2015.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 319-322) and index.

Introduction: a map for the journey -- The origins -- The Qurʼan in twenty-five words -- An American in the East -- A Muslim in the West -- Road trip to the Indian madrasa -- A migrant's prayer mat -- The home -- Pioneer life in Oxford -- Nine-thousand hidden women -- The little rosy one -- Veiling and unveiling -- Reading the women -- The world -- A pilgrim's progress -- Jesus, Mary, and the Qurʼan -- Beyond politics -- The pharaoh and his wife -- War stories -- The last lesson -- Conclusion: everlasting return -- Author's note -- Glossary.

If the Oceans Were Ink is Carla Power's eye-opening story of how she and her long-time friend Sheikh Mohammad Akram Nadwi found a way to confront ugly stereotypes and persistent misconceptions that were cleaving their communities. Their friendship-between a secular American and a madrasa-trained sheikh-had always seemed unlikely, but now they were frustrated and bewildered by the battles being fought in their names. Both knew that a close look at the Quran would reveal a faith that preached peace and not mass murder; respect for women and not oppression. And so they embarked on a yearlong journey through the controversial text. A journalist who grew up in the Midwest and the Middle East, Power offers her unique vantage point on the Quran's most provocative verses as she debates with Akram at cafes, family gatherings, and packed lecture halls, conversations filled with both good humour and powerful insights. Their story takes them to Madrasas in India and pilgrimage sites in Mecca, as they encounter politicians and jihadis, feminist activists and conservative scholars. Armed with a new understanding of each other's world views, Power and Akram offer eye-opening perspectives, destroy long-held myths, and reveal startling connections between worlds that have seemed hopelessly divided for far too long.