Customer Reviews

The Sun Is Rising in the West: Journey to Islam: New Muslims Tell About Their Journey to Islam

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

 

 

Very good book! I enjoyed it very much. The authors interview many new converts to Islam. It is interesting to see how these people from diverse background converge into one beautiful faith-ISLAM!

The author has done a pretty good job by interviewing so many new converted Muslims and kudos to the authors too. It's a very book for both Muslims as well as non-Muslims the reason being for the former as they are deviating from the path of Islam and being fantacized and glamorized by the Western culture whereas the new Muslims find solace in the teachings of Islam and accept it whole-heartedly. And for the latter they can see and learn the things that are not true in their religions that lead them in search of truth and they come to Islam ultimately.

"The Sun is Rising in the West" I felt truly captured the human essence of the religious revival that the United States is in the process of going through. Throughout most of its history, the United States was considered a overwhelmingly religious country. Christianity was at the forefront of the American theological hierarchy with Protestantism being the major sect. Today thanks to a blend of enforced secularism, increased multiculturalism, and the rise of cultural norms shunning religious boundaries the United States has seen an upswing in the number of people (especially the young) who identify themselves as atheist's and agnostics, but also the conversion of American's to different faiths has become a topic of great interest.

This book documents one of those religious revivals that's happening in the United States: American's in their Path to Islam. Having been raised in a moderate Catholic background but came to agnosticism in my teens I wanted to explore now as an adult a religion which peaks my interest and I already have some knowledge of in the form of having read the Holy Qur'an twice before. I loved how the authors not only provided a wide variety of experiences from those they interviewed but also provided an extensive summary of Islamic practices and traditions that could double the book as a beginner's guide to Islam. My only complaint is that a good many of the interviews were quite short and could have been extended by perhaps adding questions to the questionnaire or asking for more detailed descriptions from the interviewee's. I enjoyed the book in the end and recommend it to anyone interested in Islam in particular or the power of religious conversion.