Customer Reviews

American Islam: Growing Up Muslim in America

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

 

 

Richard Wormser's American Islam does an excellent job in explaining just what this important world religion is all about. He does it in an easy to understand manner without boring the reader with unimportant details. Wormser explains the early history of Islam in the Arabian peninsula and the USA, how Americans Muslims have adjusted in Post-9-11 America, and presents Islam from a Muslim teenager's perspective, bringing Islam into a today's context-something that his contemporaries have failed to pull off.

In the second part of American Islam, Wormser discusses issues and problems concerning African-American Muslims, who make up the largest number of converts in America, and in an unprecedented heroic step, in Chapter 5 he narrates an issue that no Imam in America will tackle-discrimination against African-American Muslim males in love & marriage by other Muslims.

For that alone, Wormser and American Islam deserves a Pulitzer. Five stars Richard Wormser on a job well done!

This books starts out with lots of excellent information on Islam and various problems that Muslims in this country go through. An excellent easy reading for a new Mulsim convert such as myself.

However the second half of the book gets into topics such as racism, black history, ideals of Malcom X and Louis Farrakhan and the idea of white people being the devil. The author does't present these topics as something members of the Nation of Islam would have to put up with since these ideas are all not of the Quran. Rather the author provides way too much history and various ideals of Malcom X and Louis Farrakhan and in my opinion went way too far on this topic and it made the book an overall negative for me.

The book is really good when it came to discussing the Muslims and their views. There are a lot of interviews with Muslims on where they stand with parts of there religion. It is really intresting and enlightening. Except for when it comes to the Nation of Islam group, a little less then half the book then focuses on this African-American-Muslim religion. But doesn't give facts as the book did when it came to your ordinary Muslims. It then becomes more of a biografy of Malcome x and a few other gentle men. Excluding that part, because it really did not answer any of my questions, it just went on to explain this Nation of Islam group, the book was informative and an easy reading with intering facts and first hand stories!!!

While I don't agree with everything in this book, I can't deny it has some really good information in it and tells the story from another's point of view. I don't agree that all Muslim values coorespond with what have been traditional American values but people have a right to their religion and to live here in harmony and peace. This book gives many Americans something to think about about and appreciate. It is mainly the story of people who feel abused in the past or are being abused in the present. Life should be better for them and more fair. Right now, it isn't.