Customer Reviews

American Crescent: A Muslim Cleric on the Power of His Faith, the Struggle Against Prejudice, and the Future of Islam and America

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For many Americans, Muslims are a mysterious abstraction. Imam Qazwini's "American Crescent" helps to personalize and humanize the Muslim story by offering a well-written, accessible and engaging account of his family's journey through the centuries, from the shores of the Caspian sea to the shores of America. And what's most intriguing is how much Qazwini's story resembles those of so many other immigrants to America. Switch around some names and places and this book could easily be telling the story of an Irish, German, or Chinese immigrant.

Needless to say, Imam Qazwini is a far cry from the crazed stereotypes promoted by some anti-Muslim authors, commentators and religious leaders. Qazwini is nothing if not reasonable -- he's probably too conservative on some social issues for some liberals, and too strident on some foreign policy issues for some conservatives. In many ways, he most closely resembles a typical midwestern American. And his story is a welcome addition to the story of Islam, and to the story of America.

I highly recommend this book for insights into Islam and how it relates to the American Dream. Imam Qazwini comes from a long line of Imams and his father currently serves a very famous mosque in Iraq in Karbala. The Imam tells a fascinating story of being a Shiite Muslim whose family spent time in Kuwait and Iran while Sadam Hussein had them on an "enemies list." They end up in California where he struggles to learn English and adapt to the American way. Later he is called to head a community in Dearborn MI where in a relatively short time he has built up an amazing Islamic Center which responds to the needs of families with a variety of outreach programs, with a particular focus on the youth.

He has been recognized by President Bush as a leader of "moderate Arabs" in this country and he gives some background as to how he and his colleagues have responded to the current war in Iraq and the Patriot Act. He has spoken to a variety of groups across Michigan in the "post-9-11 era" trying to explain that terrorists have "hijacked" a religion which does not have violence as a founding principle.

This book makes a good companion peace to Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf's "What Right With Islam Is What's Right With America." The latter is a Sufi Muslim with a storefront mosque a few blocks from the World Trade Center in NY who has served extensively as an ambassador of his faith to the American public since 9/11. Both Imams return to basic principles of Mohammed and contend that there are many things in his teachings and that of Islam that are completely compatible with American institutions and practices. They give some context to the history of Islam as it has evolved over time and in different cultures. Both would agree that the radical "Wahhabist version of Islam" coming from Saudi Arabia has done much to isolate it from the development of western civilization and portray it as the "enemy of the people" among civilized nations.
Qazwini's story is a very important voice in the immigrant experience of America and it shines a bright light on issues that are vital to our growth as a nation.

Do yourself a favor and read this fascinating and timely story.

Imam Qazwini's book "American Crescent" is a much needed voice in America. Through the story of his life, he is able to relate to readers the importance of his faith and how his faith has shaped his life. Serving as the Imam of the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn Michigan, arguably the largest Mosque in America, has given Imam Qazwini a prominent position in which to spread his message of tolerance and understanding. His book promotes those two ideals without fail. Imam Qazwini shows how you can be unabashedly American without sacrificing his Muslim faith or ideals. He reminds us that America is built on the concept of religious freedom, and is one of the reasons that America is the greatest country on Earth.

From his humble beginnings to his having to flee Saddam Hussein's tyrannical reign in Iraq to his landing in Southern California to his becoming the leader of a huge congregation in Dearborn, this book will captivate you and hold your interest. You will find yourself relating your life to his, regardless if you are Muslim or not. Once I started reading it, I was unable to put it down. I look forward to reading it again and again.

If people are genuinely interested in understanding Islam and how a Muslim lives his life in this country, this is the book to read. The Islam depicted on television is as foreign to Muslims as it is to non-muslims. Real Islam, as practiced by Imam Qazwini, is beautifully illustrated in his book. I recommend this book without reservation.

i read the work in two sittings, and in the first sitting was simply captivated with the simplicity with which he contextualizes his entire life experience, of migration, within the American Context, starting from Iraq to Iran, Kuwait, LA and now Dearbon.

and when i say the American Context, it relates to the challenges that any immigrant faces, from culture, language, education, freedom, portrayal of Islam, arab and muslims (which i don't think were stressed enough in the work, and not to forget an imams interaction with the opposite gender, specifically within the mores of the arab Culture.

i found the work to be too arabicized - perhaps i need to finish the work first, i.e placing the motivation of the muslims in the United States and their political affiliations to either parties in the mirror of a 15 % minority within the Islamic world, i.e arabs. of-course he is a muslim and an arab, well versed in arabic, persian and judging from the work in english - but there is an arab identity to the work)

it is in-evitable, perhaps!!

him being the imam in Dearbon which is at the center of many arab shi'i Muslims, places/d him in the unique position to interact with individuals in the higher echelons of the political corridor.

his introduction to the work is simplistic:

relating his lineage to the Prophet him-self, peace and blessings be upon him, where is father now is the prayer leader at the Mosque in Karbala, Iraq, a place of spiritual pilgrimage for muslims, but primarily the shi'ites

the context of his families own history of muslim Scholarship, and the price they paid in blood for speaking against tyrants during Iraqs history

the out-spokeness of his uncles against the Iraqi regimes that were oppressive,

their state of migration out of Iraq to Kuwait, Iran, and how he ended up in the United States.

he calls a spade and spade and highlights the fact that Saddams H regime was an equal opportunity employer of oppression. reading the work, he doesn't belabor much on this subject of victimization - albeit in the context of the migration that he had to bear.

at the same time he is also honest with the mistakes that he has made - one of them, endorsing the Faith Based Initiatives, which in his opinion benefitted Pat/Falwells likes more than anything else. he sets to task and criticizes

1. US double standards in Foreign Policy in Latin America as he speaks of the Middle East. devotes quite a few pages on it

2. critical of Thomas Friedman (Editorial writer @ NY Times), for his lack of judgement, awareness and the placity of the roots of violence in the muslim Community as it relates to how elements like al-Qaeda create terror and fear and very much resort to violence, to dissuade other muslims. the placement of US strikes against sunni towns in Iraq, was in-fact preceeded by al-Qaeda operatives engaging them-selves and terrorizing the Communities, which then lead the US forces to their actions

i tend to dis-agree here with him. muslims need to take --some-- ownership for much of what is happening in their midst as well. they can't squarely lay the blame on the West. certainly, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Countries are not subject to the sort of economic challenges and are well entrenched in the tribal affiliations that have fostered their sense of cohesiveness (i.e asbiyya, to use ibn Khalduns term!) most of the terrorists are either from Jordan, Saudi Arabia or eevn Syria and the US Government is drumming the war beats against Iran. capture a few Iranians and it is headlines, and have dozens and dozens of foreign elements from foreign Countries - turn a blind eye. thus the author is skeptical that the US wants an Iraq that a democracy that would respects the rights of the majority will exist, and in this case the shi'ites.

the author shares his discussion with Sistani, where Sistani is more interested to know of and hear of American Politics from him - by virtue of his presence in the US, a sort of a meta knowledge.

3. when Tom Ridge/Paul O Neil called upon arab leaders in Dearbon, he was direct to call Ariel Sharon a terrorist, after he solicited a definition of terrorism from them

4. many of you will find his take on 'Halls of Power' rather simplistic, and i will leace it at that.

the work is very well thought out - it is easy to read, especially for a non Muslim - who i belive are the direct audience. the reviews on amazon are also a testimony to it.

i can't stress enough how well he is stayed away from the fray of shi'i and sunni tension with the life experience he, his family had to go through. it is obviously a tribute to the open mindedness that God his gifted him with

he obviously has an agenda that caters to the youth here. following imam Chirris (his work on the life Imam Ali in english is simply brilliant!) foot-steps, he stays above the pettiness of a victimized mentality, which is so permeating the shi'i discourse, particularly during the peak days of black observance.

for the most part, most of the public libraries that i visited in NJ had the work, and i was able to acquire from there - the $$ is a bit steep ~ 28 with tax (ouch!)

in the second sitting he highlights his

frustration of US Foreign Policy in Iraq vis a vis Iran. the US is suffering from the Iran Syndrome (the hostage Crisis), to borrow the words from the Lebanese Christian Scholar, Fawaz Gerges (wrote an out-standing work on al-Qaedas genesis, 'The Far Enemy: How jihad Went Global). they confuse the system and rule of governenment in Iran, thinking that they same would transpire in Iraq. Sistani, the spiritual leader of the shi'ites in Iraq and also world wide has kept him-self from politics, and has absolutely, absolutely refused to meet any US representative, since he considers them as an Occupier force. this also represents the essential charismatic persona that is so particular within shi'ite Islam. no wonder that Sistani spent more than 30 years of his life under house arrest, yileding him-self away from politics and having earned the mantle of spiritual leader-ship and respect un-paralled in Iraq, equally respected by all

the struggles of US foorces in dealing with general ignorance of Iraqi Culture and how the Iraqi Quagmire was handled post Invasion - despite his suggestions to the Halls of Power. meetings with Paul Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, interfaith dialogue with arab Communities (Eastern Christians are even Ignored by the Western Christians - infact the entire edifice of the dispensation theology is responded to mostly by Eastern Christians!)

the need for the muslim Younger younger generation to be involved more locally. to a certain extent i agree - 15 % of the arab agenda in the Middle East (read muslims) hijacks the entire domestic agenda of the muslim Vote during the presidential elections in the US. this is highly UNFAIR.

it seems that muslims in the United States are immigrants first, and not conscious of their roles and responsibilities first towards changing the policies in this Country

lastly, you must be wondering: why did i title this 'Ramadhan and Ramada Inn'. he shares an e mail from a non muslim inquirer, asking what relation was there in bombing 'afghanistan' in Oct and Ramada Inn. obviously the non muslim inquirer was not aware of what Ramadhan stands for, particularly when the bombing in Oct of afghanistan happened during the month of Ramadhan.

easy read, and i highly recommend it - particularly those who want to make a sense of the persecution of Iraqis in Iraq, and the quagmire that the US is in, and their failure to heed to any advice from prominent Iraqis: perhaps out of hubris, willful ignorance or a state of inertia.

Iman Qazwini's _American Crescent_ intersperses Islamic (primarily Shia) history with his own autobiography. Qazwini tells of his early childhood in Saddam's Iraq, his family's flight to Kuwait, and then in (Shia-friendly) Iran. Eventually, after his religious training in Iran, Qazwini came to the United States, and he describes his interaction with both the Muslim and non-Muslim cultures there.

Most Americans did not know much about Islam until 9/11. After that event, they have a very unfavorable impression of the faith. Imam Qazwini strives to improve relations with Americans of all faiths, while denouncing extremism of all kinds.

Later in the book, Qazwini returned to his family in Iraq, and described some of the experiences he had there. The book ends with "20 Questions about Islam", where some of the misconceptions about the religion are dispelled.

I learned a lot from this book, such as Wahabi persecution of Shia Muslims in Saudi Arabia (Shia have as much trouble practicing their religion in the Kingdom as do Jews, Christians, etc.)

This is a First.
And, that's a remarkable statement to make in the overflowing realm of religious publishing. But I've been watching nearly all of the new books on Islam flow out of American publishing houses for years and "American Crescent" does, indeed, seem to be a First.

Exactly what is this milestone?
Well, we're finally seeing a major U.S. publishing house, Random House, releasing the inspirational memoir of an American imam, Hassan Qazwini, who writes not only to explain his faith to non-Muslims in an uplifting way, but also to critique American culture. And, in the end, he points out eloquently why he has such boundless optimism about Americans' spiritual potential.
He's not talking about converting Americans. He's talking about his pride and optimism as an American himself about our respect for cultural diversity and our desire to make faith an essential part our daily lives.
In other words, this is a Muslim Brian McLaren emerging in the American heartland. Or, given the size and youthful demographics of Imam Hassan Qazwini's congregation in Dearborn, Michigan, this is more like a Muslim Rob Bell emerging to carve out a whole new direction for Islam in America.
This is an impressive milestone because major publishers tend to place their spiritual bets on the U.S.'s largest religious groups: Protestants in particular and often Catholics.

Those of us with long enough memories in this field will recall the 1988 publication of Archbishop Iakovos' "Faith for a Lifetime" by Doubleday. Like Qazwini, this primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America represented a minority religious community. But Iakovos' dramatic life, which included his personal involvement in the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, and his pastoral style of writing made him a spiritual celebrity for a while.
The closest we've seen to "American Crescent" in the flood of books about Islam are books like "The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity," by Seyyed Hossein Nasr, although Nasr is an educator rather than a pastoral figure and his book isn't really a memoir.
And, there are similarities to Qazwini's approach to explaining the faith in Reza Aslan's highly readable "No god but God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam," but Aslan is mainly a journalist and his book isn't intended either as pastoral or inspirational.

Qazwini and his memoir with its big-name publishing house behind it are something new in American publishing. But, please, don't misunderstand what I'm saying here.
Qazwini isn't a reformer or a critic of the faith, although he takes a stance that many American observers of Islam would describe perhaps as "moderate" or even "progressive."
To truly understand Qazwini, you need to read his entire story. Quickly, in the opening section of the memoir, readers realize that he is a living pillar of Muslim tradition. He carries the title "Sayed" (pronounced sah-eeed and spelled various ways in English, including Seyyed), which means that he is a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. He comes to Muslim leadership from generations of top Islamic scholars and leaders who lived, until the bloody reign of Saddam Hussein, in Iraq and Iran. He's as steeped in Muslim theology and history as any scholar in the U.S.
In fact, his father, Ayatollah Mortadha Qazwini has returned to Iraq and now ranks among the handful of top Shi'a Muslim scholars in that war-torn country, risking his life daily to promote peace and the construction of hospitals and orphanages. Just last year, Qazwini's father suffered a near-fatal attack in the streets near his home, surviving bullets in one of his arms and one of his legs.
In the decades before the fall of Saddam Hussein, the Qazwini family lost many relatives to Saddam's savage secret police. His father moved to the U.S. for a number of years, and brought his sons to this country, in a desperate attempt to preserve their branch of the clan from Saddam's henchmen.

So, there is a suspenseful edge to this story as Qazwini and his family flee the bloody purges in Iraq.
But even the quieter passages are fascinating. Qazwini describes the rigors of Muslim seminary life in Iran and then the initial difficulties of adjusting to American culture.
His heart and soul clearly is directed toward young Muslims in particular and his passion is for carving out an authentically American life for his community. In some passages of his book, he's downright patriotic in his love for his adopted homeland.

You don't have to agree with everything the author says - I certainly don't - to still get a lot out of it.

This is one man's attempt to explain his version of Islam in America - with football games and cookouts - while set against a his origins of an Iraqi dissident family.

This is an excellent rejoinder to those endless questions about "Where are the Moderate Muslims, and Why Are They Silent?" The author shows that they are all around us, and they aren't.

The first portion of the book was very moving as it was quite personal. I really enjoyed this part. The second half of the book devolved into people he didn't care for and the failings of the west, and generally defensive arguments about Islam. Some points were quite incorrect, (such as the CIA supporting Osama Bin Ladin, although the text was pretty wishy washy on this).
The author portrays himself as someone who bridges the distance between Islam and the west. This was obviously not the case. It was a real shame as I liked the first portion of the book.

In all of the books I have read on Islam, I have yet to read a book so well written by an Imam who resides in michigan and participates in so much interfaith activities. This book gives the perspective of an imam who immigrated from war torn Iraq to Kuwait, to Iran, and finally landing in what he calls in his book "home" in America.

The book tells the tale of the Imam with an infusion of Islamic principles and beleifs. And its all done in a way that makes you want to finish the book. I didn't stop once I started. It took me a week and I was done. By the end I could remember so many of the high points. The Q&A section really highlights the books percpective as the imam addresses the most pressing questions of Muslims and their integration in America.

The book, while inspiring and interesting and heart felt ignores a number of things and has one giant contradiction. The author was born in Iraq and claims descent from Mohammed. His world view is primairly that of an Arab and a Muslim. America gave him opportunity and he points out that Muslims up untul 2000 supported the Republican party. He does not describe the logic whereby they switched allegiance to the Democratic party and became allies with radical feminists and Homosexual rights activists and anti-Americans such as Chomsky.

But the biggest glaring contradiction is that while the author claims to be a 'patriotic America' he quite clearly shows through the title and picture on the cover that his ideal America is one with the crescent as the symbol of government. He does not understand the seperation of church and state and while the complains about the 'halls of power' he himself is in those halls, appearing on mass media and writing for major newspapers. It is an irony that the left wing people who celebrate this book are the very same people who condemn the religious right. But what is the difference between this books advocating of Islamic America and the Religious rights love of Christian Ameirica?

Seth J. Frantzman