Punk
The simile of punk has been used for Islam because the author says that Muslims are radically diverse people. Although the common view regarding them is that all the Muslims are same. The media portrays them as terrorists, but they are neither same nor vicious as they are usually conceived in the west. The author has demonstrated that the comparison of Punk culture with Islamic culture represents Islam as a code of life which provides individuality and diversity to its followers. It shows that there is flexibility in the religion and its traditions. The author has propagated that the Muslims are mistreated in the western society owing to the false conceptions regarding them.
Taqwacores
The metaphor of taqwacores has been employed for the people, who were following the Islamic religious traditions despite of living in western society. Taqwa means to have love and fear of Allah and cores denotes the group. Yusef and his friends have been defined through this metaphor because they offered their prayers and remained attach to Koran along with their western education. They kept the appearance of Muslims despite of opposition from society and the misunderstood stereotypical images, which were prevalent among their fellow students or western people.
Crazy
Yusef uses the metaphor of crazy ones for Ayyub and Jehangir because they were the musicians. Yusef was well aware of the false portrayal of Muslims in the west so he says that his friends can alter the image through their profession and attitudes. He says, “If Islam was to be saved, it would be saved by the crazy ones.” By living with a group of Muslims with diverse thoughts and views in a western society, Yusef understands about the diversity of thought in his religion.
