This novel is a sequel to her debut novel A Golden Age and spans the year from 1984 to 1985, with occasional flashbacks to the aftermath of the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.

In 1984, Maya returns home after almost a decade of absence and finds her beloved brother Sohail completely transformed.

He has embraced a version of Islam as defined by the Tablig Jamaat, which shuns the joyful life filled with music, friends and liberal values.

"[2] Praising the novel, The Guardian said "Powerful and ambitious, The Good Muslim more than fulfills the promises of Tahmima Anam's celebrated debut, A Golden Age".

It also offers a case study of one who has turned into a fundamentalist, or allegedly so, which is significant especially at a time when the world has been witnessing a rise in fundamentalism of various hues in many countries doomed to be war zones.″[6] It was shortlisted for the 2013 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature.