Muslims and Islamization in North America: Problems and Prospects [Paperback]

Amber Haque (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1999

For the first time, many of the major concerns relevant to Muslims of North America are addressed. Many of its well-known Muslim and non-Muslim personalities speak their mind on the status of Muslim Americans in the realm of politics, education, mass media, economics, as well as social and dawah issues. Subjects ranging from the concept of "Islamization" to more practical matters such as dietary requirements and social mixing are examied from a wide range of view points.

Product Details

• Paperback: 492 pages
• Publisher: Amana Pubns (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0915957914
• ISBN-13: 978-0915957910
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,123,009 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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8 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Promotes an ideology, December 26, 2004

By 

Alyssa A. Lappen (Earth) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Muslims and Islamization in North America: Problems and Prospects (Paperback)

When people start talking about organizing human life on earth and shaping it according to divine norms, I start to worry.

Divine impulses are certainly worthy, of course. But it is questionable whether any one group of people can claim to have a monopoly on an interpretation of divinity. It is further questionable whether any one group should try to dictate its will and interpretations of divine law on all of humankind.

Very basic laws of society such as prohibitions against murder, theft and violations of human rights may be interpretations of divine law. But beyond those, how ethical is it to assume that a whole way of thinking should be, as it were, codified for all? Isn't diversity the spice of life?

Be that as it may, one finds such a plan put forward in this book on, as its title suggests, how to Islamicize North America. In the opening essay, Jamal Barzinji refers briefly to past Islamic scholars who called for reform in the Muslim community (ummah), based on "mastery of both religious Islamic disciplines and wordly secular disciplines." This is by way of examining "what went wrong" in Islamic history, which various groups concluded was merely symptomatic of "the crisis in its thought."

Thus the Islamist Muslim Students Association of America and Canada founded an Association of Muslim Social Scientists, and in November 1977 convened the First International Conference on Islamization of Knowledge in Switzerland. This was followed by a second conference of the same name in Islamabad in 1983, a third in Kuala Lampur in 1984. and a fourth in Khartoum in 1987. These meetings concluded, and I quote, "Islamization of knowledge is viewed as an epistomological and civilizational necessity not only for the Muslim Ummah, but also for mankind at large."

They further concluded that the Islamic community was better equipped than any other to "reconstruct human knowledge through an integrative approach" and comprehensive readings of the Koran and other Islamic religious texts. What's missing, he says, is a methodology, but publishing in English seems to be a big part of the plan.

Another big part of the plan, according to Ibrahim Hooper, the p.r. chief of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, is media relations. "The news business is a bottomless pit that can never be filled," he advises, adding, "a journalist will thank you for helping to shovel." In other words, supply "news," and the mass media will print it. Furthermore, anything that promotes Islam is "good."

This is one of the scarier books I have read in a long time. Promoting understanding is one thing. Promoting an ideology in hopes that it will take over is quite another.

--Alyssa A. Lappen