Customer Reviews

Journey to the End of Islam

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This book is offensive and might even cause some imams to issue a fatwa, but it's entertaining in every level. This was the second book that I read by Michael Muhammad Knight and after I finished reading it-after 5 hours-I was so blown away that I would've paid $100 for it. This book gives an insight into a man's quest for Islam, his Islam and not some artificial one. This book is brutally honest and makes you question your religion, whatever it may be. Completely worth your time, it'll leave you recommending it to your friends and family.

Journey to the End of Islam is author Michael Muhammad Knight's second travel book about experiencing and documenting lesser known Islamic expressions throughout the world, the first being Blue Eyed Devil: A Road Journey Through Islamic America, which exclusively focused on exploring the United States' "weird" history of Islam. This book begins with Knight musing on the fact that nearly every minority religion has been persecuted and vilified at some point in American history, including its Mormons, Catholics, Jews, etc - and yet all of these faiths have become somewhat "mainstream" over time, especially Catholicism. He then wonders if Islam has become the most "un-American" religion in the nation's history, in terms of how many people regard American Muslims and their faith. Along the way, Knight discovers that there is no such thing as a "real", "fake" or "universal" Islam - and despite the claims of many "moderate" Muslims, culture and religion are intertwined. The only "universal" aspect of Islam is the holy Qur'an in Arabic, but even that is interpreted differently by different people - and even scholars who try to come to a consensus about what this or that verse means, disagree with each other. So nothing, literally no-thing binds Muslims together as a cohesive community - this to the chagrin of many Muslims as well as non-Muslims who want to believe that they are "all the same" for very different reasons. After having had that realization, that there is no such thing as a "universal" Islam, Knight was much more able to objectively explore different expressions of Islam without being overly judgmental.

At one point, however, his "inner fundamentalist" came out while in Pakistan as a man was trying to sell him what appeared to be a Sufi equivilant to a healing voodoo doll. This culminated when a man spoke glowingly about the Prophet and Sufi saints as if they were small gods, until Knight could no longer take it and said that he was a Muslim because Muslims don't worship human beings like the Christians worship Jesus. Indeed, as with many converts to Islam, the notion that Muhammad was fully human is what Knight found attractive upon discovering the religion. The same thing occurred during his pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, but this time his reaction was to extreme fundamentalism and the rudeness of people rather than mysticism. The Saudi government doesn't want Muslims to do anything that isn't "explicitly" recorded in the Qur'an and the Bukhari Hadith collections. So, they don't want you to pray for the Prophet at his tomb, they don't want you to go up on certain hills to say prayers, they certainly don't want you to break into chanting and drumming.

In Syria, Knight sees Islam through Biblical eyes. Whereas in Pakistan Islam had a "Hindu" feeling to it, in Syria many Islamic events and people were compared to Biblical figures. There was also the Mosque of the forty "Abdals." I had never heard of this before reading the book. "Abdal" literaly means "substitute", and the forty Abdals are believed by some Muslims to be the forty most pure-hearted individuals on the planet. Whenever one dies, God chooses someone else to take their place. While not gods themselves, the forty Abdals are regarded as nearly divine themselves, so much so that some Muslims believe the universe would cease to exist if they did not exist. When Knight traveled to Ethiopia, he was introduced to a semi-psychoactive plant known as "chat." Most of the religious authorities claim it is forbidden, but that doesn't stop many people from using it - even those who consider themselves devout Muslims. He also explored the connection between Marcus Garvey and Haile Selassie I. Selassie is regarded as the return of Jesus Christ by the Jamaican Rastafari movement, and is venerated as a hero in Ethiopia. While anti-Muslim himself, some Ethopians regard Selassie as a unifier of all Ethopians, regardless of creed. This is what sometimes happens as history turns into myth, and then myth is read as history.

In Cairo, Egypt, Knight is able to pray in the exact spot that Malcolm X and Denzel Washington portraying Malcolm X prayed at. This was a sacred moment for Knight, as the Autobiography of Malcolm X and the Spike Lee film about Malcolm were his bridge into an expression of Islam, like sacred texts, that he could identify with and as a rectifier of his father's racist ideology. He also spoke of how the Sphinx's nose was damaged. According to one account, Napolean ordered a cannon to be shot at the nose because it resembled a black person. Another account claimed that a Sufi Shaykh ordered the Sphinx to be destroyed upon discovering that Muslim pilgrims were offering their prayers to it, and leaving gifts. The culmination of Knight's journey was the pilgrimage to Mecca, the Hajj. On the way, he read through the booket that the Saudi embassy wants all pilgrims to read. It basically says that you will become a non-Muslim if you do any of a million things while on Hajj. You are not allowed to think (let alone say) that Shariah based penalties such as amputating limbs for stealing, are "harsh" or not conducive to a modern view of justice. You are not allowed to "worship graves". You are not allowed to ask the Prophet to intercede on your behalf when you pray, etc.

During the Hajj, Knight became severely tested and heard the voice of his ego screaming that he was better than all of his fundamentalist fellow pilgrims. People were rude, and didn't regard each other's well being. They pushed and shoved, and didn't even spare women and the elderly from their rushed behavior. Knight had to act as a "bodyguard" at several points, just so people wouldn't be crushed while trying to say a prayer for more than a second. A young "religious officer" (Mutaween) tried to intimidate Knight by asking to see what was in his bag. So Knight gave him the bag, and the officer said, "no, I'm just looking." Whereupon Knight said, "you look at the bag, while I look at you." The Hajj continued to test Knight as he was confronted with the literalism of Saudi doctrine. The story of Abraham and his intention to kill his son on God's "command" came to the surface of his mind. There was no way to dance around the meaning of it; submission to God was more important than love for your own child. Abraham would have been tried for murder had this happened today. Knight began to think of how this affected Ismail or Isaac (depending on the source) later in life, and the relationship between father and son. Or perhaps God gave the child his own holy book that explained everything to him, to soothe his mind - and only the rest of us have to wonder why. That idea made me feel better, that perhaps Ismail was made to forget or was given an explanation that none of us have, so he could live a normal life. Otherwise what a cruel thing that poor boy had to face in the name of loyalty.

If you are interested in the lesser known aspects of Islam and religion in general, and like the "gonzo" type of journalism, this is definitely a book you should read before you die. It's not structured to be neat and perfect, and sometimes the narrative falls away due to tangents. But there is a lot of valuable information in it that should be considered.

One of my favorite books. I understand Muslims' concern with the content of this book. What has to be understood is the perspective a "convert" has when embracing Islam. We embrace ALL of Islam. However, what has been linked to Islam culture ain't worth hugging. I enjoyed the focus on hypocritical practices, idolatry and mainstream acceptance of some of these practices. It needs to be identified to be addressed. If you are shaky with your Islam this might topple you off your deen. But I doubt it.

Michael Muhammad Knight's book is by turns smart, funny, wry, solemn, irreverent, surprising, and always extremely moving. It is ostensibly about the spiritual and physical journey of an American Muslim convert and his travels throughout the Islamic world. However, it is also a treatise concerning whether or not Islam is compatible with American-ness, if there is or ever was such a thing as an "orthodox' form of Islam, and a call for an authentically American form of the religion. What makes the work so fascinating is Knight's questioning, seeking mind and vast knowledge of arcana in both secular and spiritual history/matters.

I had never really had much of an interest in Islam or Muslim studies before discovering Michael Muhammad Knight's Journey to the End of Islam, but through his writing, I have found a voice which brings the misunderstandings and misconceptions of what a Muslim is or might be to a screeching halt and allowed me to see the very human side of one of the World's Largest Religions. Through his adventures in various parts of the Muslim and Non-Muslim world, Michael gives us a poignant look at the degree to which some aspects of Muslim culture do not meet the standards set forth by more conservative forms of the religion, as well as what is gained and lost through the variety of interpretations which those who practice it. Intertwining pieces of his past with what is present within the storyline of the book, Journey to the End of Islam is a great piece for those familiar with his work in further gleaning the insight he brings, while not being so steeped in the lore of previous writings to leave the uninitiated bewildered. I recommend this book to anybody seeking to balance the inconsistencies of what one is told with what one is presented, as well as anybody who seeks to learn more about that which they may not; sometimes what is not known is more familiar than one would ever think it to be.

I read The Taqwacores without having an appreciation for the journey and story of the author, but after deepening my own path and getting some strong recommendations, I was eager to read more of Knight's work. Journey is a unique work, both travelogue and spiritual autobiography. It is replete with religious and pop culture references, of which I knew an astonishing amount - so much so that I thought, why haven't this brother and I met, already? I suspect that to a general audience, much of it will lead to scratching heads. But if you are Muslim or simply looking to explore a path of Truth with a fellow human being, this book is absolutely worth your time. It demonstrates not only the value of travel on the journey, but also of faith in the driver. Knight isn't afraid to admit the small truths - for example, that his travel was being paid for by advances on the book. He also seasons his moments of Truth with flashes of uncertainty, even ugliness from himself and from the ummah at large. In the end, he succeeds in supporting his early hypothesis that America is perhaps the best place to be a Muslim today - at least to the kind of person, who, when asked if they are Muslim, replies "insha'Allah."

This is a confusing book. Knight seems to get all weepy over anything that goes against orthodox Islam. He venerates any saint he comes across and spends way too much time getting high and focusing on prophets that have come after the prophet Muhammad (pbuh). He is definitely not your average mainstream Muslim, but he is a capable writer, and you do feel that he is on a spiritual journey, though it seems that he is going in the wrong direction. He seems to think that everything white and American is wrong. He claims to be a heretical 5 percenter and I think it is best to take him at his word.

I would definitely not start my study of Islam with this book, and I don't think he is the future of Islamic thought that some have claimed, unless by that we mean on the thoughts that will lead to the death of the religion. If I were the reader I would forgo this work and read Martin Ling's biography of Muhammad or Tariq Ramadan's "In the footsteps of the Prophet." These works offer so much more hope and joy to the religion. But if you are really into non-orthodox angst, then maybe Knight is the writer for you.

From a religious perspective Knight is much more disrespectful towards the faith than Salman Rushdie was in "Satanic Verses." So I wouldn't be surprised to hear about a fatwa delivered against Knight as soon as someone in power notices this work. However, I think that might be a long ways off. I wish Knight the best on his journey, and do hope that he will find his way back from Islam's outer "imaginary" realms. Like Brother Malcolm he needs to find his way back into the mainstream.

I found almost every one of these chapters magical -- Michael Knight has more to say on a single topic than most writers grapple with in their entire careers. Think I'm exaggerating? He considers the Hermetic connections between the Abrahamic faiths, the uneasy role of Muhammad as both a religious and political revolutionary, Islam's crisis in accommodating the part of women, the charity shown by the faith's most intense acolytes, the harassment of its experimenters in the East and West - and these represent just a fraction of what he confronts. Knight proceeds always with literary precision, historical grounding, and ethical seriousness. Not to mention humor and a right dose of self-questioning. His writing brings a quality to the spiritual search that is missing in other books - a tectonic confrontation of the ancient and the new, with a deep sense of questioning and a willingness to sometimes get it right and sometimes get it wrong. There is just no voice on the literary world scene like Knight's.

Excellent reading, really draws you in and keeps the pages turning. If you're like me and have had a few introductory courses on Islam, South Asia, or/and the Near/Middle East, this will provide a very different perspective, and hopefully draw on and add to your current knowledge of the subject. Knight may not inspire a trip to Pakistan or conversion to Islam, but he'll certainly provide a vicarious reading experience that will get your own heart and mind involved, in both a cerebral and emotional context. I will also note that quite a bit of his writing may engender anger or irritation for the susceptible/sensitive reader. Not to judge a book by its cover, but the cover and title certainly are an amusing bonus.

You won't learn alot about Islam from this book.However you will learn quite a bit about Michael Knight.Born in upstate New York to an Irish mother and an English-German father he had an at least vaguely Catholic upbringing.By the time he became a teenager he conceived a full blown hatred for his own ethnic and religious background.He needed a way out and that way was Islam.It's pretty clear that Knights conversion had little to do with any real spiritual search,let alone the touch of God.It comes across as a radical act of self reinvention.With the conversion,Knight confected a new public persona.He combines an immersion in Indian sub continent Islam with African American Islamic esoterica and grafts it onto a punk sensibility.For Knight the unifying thread here would appear to be all these intellectual -cultural clusters are un ,if not, anti-American.Knight is nothing if not consistent,in his self alienation from Americaness.The viewpoint yielded by this expreses itself as a condescending superiority to any and all who come from the same place as he.He claims to resist the temptations of the Devil but vanity tends to get the better of him. He also tends to affect a rather tedious bad boy persona.He converts to Islam but he is too much of a free spirit to kowtow to Saudi orthodoxies.Where you really know this is a pose is when in Pakistan he reacts with horror to a kitschy shrine.His prim virginal horror of paganism is downright funny to behold.He calls what he witnesses Vodoo, apparently unaware that traditional African religion tends to monotheism at its core, which is precisely why Africans tended to be open to Islam and Christianity.Even funnier is when he sees a peacock while praying and tells you he won't pray to any peacock.Well who would but the insidious peacock cult!
When it comes to alleged statements of fact by Knight, beware!He tells you Christianity came to India with the British.Well he's only a millenium or so off on that one.There was a Christian community in India before there was a Muslim one.No Michael, Christians even those horrible Catholics don't worship saints or the Virgin Mary.That's a tired old horse and it's time to stop trotting it out.Of course you reject intercession and trinatarianism but at least try to embrace some intellectual subtlety.That is make an effort to understand what people actually believe and don't settle for cheap stigmatizing.On a lighter note ,he refers to Rimbaud as ,the gay French poet!Well yeah I guess(but is'nt that kind of like refering to Faulkner as the hetero American writer).
Did I like this book?Yes.Do I dislike Knight? No but I think he needs to "grow" a bit.He needs to sensibly come to terms with his own background.A person who doesn't is like a ghost.