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I love books. I have hundreds, as I suppose any aspiring academic should. I need to move out of Manhattan, because I can\u2019t afford an apartment large enough to house all these books. (Ask my wife: There aren\u2019t enough walls left and my attempt to shelve books on the ceiling has, one lawsuit later, failed.) If you ever invite me to speak at your library, mosque, Mediterranean cruise, church, temple, workshop, tropical resort or university, and you can\u2019t give me an honorarium, an Amazon.com gift certificate will find its way into my heart in a non-surgical and non-disgusting way. <\/p>\n
And now, for most Americans, it\u2019s the season of gift-giving. Some love the season, while some protest its commercialization. I suggest making the best of it. This holiday season, why not share the gift of good books \u2014 and all the wisdom they can provide? When misinformation on Islam, Muslims, and America\u2019s relationships to the Muslim-majority world is in oversupply, we need relevant and useful information. Conversations about Islam shape local, regional, and global affairs: to not know about Islam is to be left out of issues that deeply affect all of us. <\/p>\n
In that holiday spirit, I\u2019m sharing a list of great books about Islam and Muslims, in the hope that you\u2019ll share them too, as profound (and affordable) presents. What better way to create excitement on Christmas morning than by watching your loved ones unwrap presents to reveal the word \u201cIslam,\u201d and the noticeable, measurable, visible jump in their heart rate that follows? (Ask their doctors if they\u2019re healthy enough to unwrap books about Islam. Chances are, their doctors, being Muslim, will get it.) <\/p>\n
Or you can just gift them to yourself.<\/p>\n
Are Civilizations Clashing?<\/b><\/p>\n
Do Muslims hate the West? If so, why? Why do some Muslims radicalize? What cultural incompatibilities exist between Islam and the West? Building off of works like Samuel Huntington\u2019s The Clash of Civilizations<\/i> and Bernard Lewis\u2019 What Went Wrong?<\/i>, too many analysts presume that there is a core conflict, and that this conflict, of which Afghanistan and Iraq are manifestations, is cultural, and therefore both essential and inevitable. Don\u2019t believe the hype. <\/p>\n
Mahmood Mamdani\u2019s Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror<\/a><\/i> explains how and why radical Islam has become a threat, and how to comprehend radicalism not as an unavoidable cultural expression, but as a political grievance translated by the cultural world it emerges from. If you\u2019re going to read one book on the \u201cclash of civilizations,\u201d read Mamdani\u2019s. <\/p>\n Common Problems<\/b><\/p>\n Richard Bulliett\u2019s The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization<\/a><\/i> should be on every bookshelf. (Embarrassingly, it is not yet on any of mine). Bulliett, who is, like Mamdani, a Columbia Professor \u2014 Go Lions! \u2014 has written a fantastic book. He\u2019s not making a facile case for Muslim-Christian fusion; Bulliett\u2019s pointing out that Islam and Christianity spread across the Earth almost simultaneously, and produced similar institutions through their periods of expansion and entrenchment. An easy, breezy, bright introduction to history over the long haul, Bulliett neatly explains how Islam and the West are in fact comparable and relatable. Because Islam isn\u2019t immune to, or exempt from, history.<\/p>\n Who Let Shariah Through Passport Control?<\/b><\/p>\n You can\u2019t have a conversation these days without worrying about Shariah. The term is complicated enough to explain in a soundbite, never mind what hundreds of millions of Muslims all over the world make of it. And, of course, Oklahoma\u2019s out to fight back against Islam\u2019s conquest of Middle America, and will bury the Ten Commandments<\/a> in a panic over surreptitious Islamification, Muslimization, or whatever. Everybody needs to calm down. <\/p>\n Start your detoxification with Dalia Mogahed and John Esposito\u2019s Who Speaks for Islam? What A Billion Muslims Really Think<\/a><\/i>. It\u2019ll make you unthink everything you might think about Shariah. Next up: The best explanation of the political attraction of Shariah to many in the Muslim-majority world has to be Noah Feldman\u2019s The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State<\/a><\/i>; Feldman explains how Muslim societies had been structured in the past, the political shortcomings of many Muslim-majority states today, and how Shariah has become a symbol of democratic and Islamic reform, trashing any simple opposition of Islam and modernity. <\/p>\n If the topic deeply interests you, you may want to dig deeper with Geneive Abdo\u2019s No God but God: Egypt and the Triumph of Islam<\/a><\/i>, and Caryle Murphy\u2019s Passion for Islam: Shaping the Modern Middle East: The Egyptian Experience<\/a><\/i>. While these latter two titles concentrate on Egypt, the experience of other Muslim societies is quite different. Maybe one day I\u2019ll do an Islam outside the Arab world list. For Valentine\u2019s Day. <\/p>\n The Forest for the Palm Trees<\/b><\/p>\n Of course, one of the primary reasons for ongoing tensions between the Muslim world and the West has been differing interpretations of current conflicts. Did it start with Bin Laden? Is it about the Taliban, too? Is it about radicalism more generally? How do other Middle Eastern conflicts factor in? <\/p>\n There have been a huge number of works about America after September 11th, but certainly one of the most enjoyable and thought-provoking is Karen Greenberg\u2019s The Least Worst Place: Guantanamo\u2019s First 100 Days<\/a><\/i>. Greenberg is a fabulous writer, pointing out the larger issues at work while describing the day-to-day drama at Camp X-Ray and the decency of the men and women on the ground who pushed back against a dangerous direction in American policy. <\/p>\n Complement Greenberg\u2019s work with a broader look at the future of the Muslim world, going beyond the attention-stealing headlines, to the actual trends at or just below the surface \u2014 what the overwhelming majority of Muslims are doing and experiencing. If you\u2019ve got a special someone interested in business, trade, finance, or emerging markets, I\u2019d unhesitatingly direct your attention to Vali Nasr\u2019s The Rise of Islamic Capitalism: Why the New Muslim Middle Class is the Key to Defeating Extremism<\/a><\/i>. I reviewed<\/a> the hardcover edition of this work (which had a different title) some months ago; Christopher Schroeder\u2019s recent op-ed<\/a> may also be helpful in illuminating Nasr\u2019s general thrust.<\/p>\n American Muslims<\/b><\/p>\n Are we well-educated, suburban, often brown folks actually trying to take over your country, which is also our country? Why do some Americans believe that a tremendously religiously and ethnically diverse and also very tiny minority actually has any chance of taking over the country? Never mind that many American Muslims came here to escape the religious and political persecution our haters allege we\u2019re all about imposing.<\/p>\n Of course, Islam is far deeper and more profound than the events that have dominated the news over the past few decades. Don\u2019t mind those \u201cexperts on Islam,\u201d who make comments like \u201cIslam has existed in Europe since the 1960\u2019s\u201d (clear-up: there have been European Muslims on that continent longer than there have been Protestants in existence). Islam in the West is very often an indigenous<\/i> phenomenon. I must push you towards Geneive Abdo\u2019s overview, From Mecca to Main Street: Muslim Life in America After 9\/11<\/a><\/i>, filled with great stories, and Mustafa Bayoumi\u2019s troubling How Does It Feel to be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America<\/a><\/i>. (It\u2019s not about Islam per se, but does get to the heart of the conflation.) <\/p>\n There are voices from the inside that need to be heard. Wajahat Ali wowed audiences in New York last year with his hit play, Domestic Crusaders<\/i>, now available in book form<\/a>. His play takes you into a South Asian American family and the generational conflicts, cultural misunderstandings and religious tensions which shape what one Muslim family does and says at the kitchen table. How many artists can give you that intimacy? Comic book writer G. Willow Wilson traveled to Egypt, fell for Egypt (and an Egyptian); based on those experiences, she\u2019s written the beautiful memoir The Butterfly Mosque: A Young American Woman\u2019s Journey to Love and Islam<\/a><\/i>. Through anecdotes, observations, and tiny moments, she can speak to expansive questions of identity, faith, and practice in ways that supposed specialists cannot communicate, not only because they can\u2019t write nearly as well, but also because they don\u2019t even try to understand. I can\u2019t wait for her next book.<\/p>\n Fear of a Green Planet<\/b><\/p>\n What does Islam have to say about the environment? Does Islam have anything positive to offer the world? How do Muslims react to the same challenges that affect all people, because Muslims are<\/i> people? Ibrahim Abdul-Matin\u2019s Green Deen: What Islam Teaches About Protecting the Planet<\/a><\/i> outlines the ways in which Islam encourages stewardship of the Earth, and the many means by which Muslims are living a green practice of the faith. Structured to encourage short readings, reflections, and inspire local and national activism, Abdul-Matin\u2019s work suggests the ways in which religiosity and ecological consciousness are not just compatible, but mandatory. For the flipside, you won\u2019t be disappointed by Tom Bissell\u2019s amazing tour through Uzbekistan, Chasing the Sea: Lost Among the Ghosts of Empire in Central Asia<\/a><\/i>. Witty, erudite, fascinating and at times hilarious, Bissell\u2019s travelogue explores this young state as he trudges towards the disappearing Aral Sea, uncovering a social landscape ruined by Communism. <\/p>\n A Sound Heart<\/b><\/p>\n And, to end things, let us not forget that Islam is, at its heart, its beginning and in its ends, a religion. We hopefully don\u2019t need the Department of Justice to remind us<\/a> of this. <\/p>\n To better understand the Qur\u2019an, Islam\u2019s holy text, try Ingrid Mattson\u2019s The Story of the Qur\u2019an: Its History and Place in Muslim Life<\/a><\/i>, and then check out the following translations: Tarif Khalidi\u2019s<\/a> (which is just a translation, without commentary and with minimal notes) and Abdullah Yusuf Ali\u2019s<\/a> (the most popular translation among Anglophone Muslims); if you\u2019re looking for something inspirational, and easier to digest, Princeton Chaplain Sohaib Sultan\u2019s The Qur\u2019an and Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad<\/a><\/i> is worth checking out (his The Koran for Dummies<\/a><\/i> is, title aside, a wonderful introductory resource as well). <\/p>\n To understand the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and his place in Muslim life, either read Martin Lings\u2019 tremendously ambitious, but sometimes overwhelming study, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources<\/a><\/i> (only for the serious reader \u2014 it\u2019s easy to get lost in the details), or go for Karen Armstrong\u2019s much slimmer and more accessible biography, Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time<\/a><\/i>. To get a good sense of the place of Islam in the world, from its emergence to the contemporary, you\u2019ll certainly love Reza Aslan\u2019s book, also titled No God but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam<\/a><\/i>. And to perceive Muslim spirituality through a more advanced text, which requires a fair amount of background knowledge, pick up Diseases of the Heart<\/a><\/i>, by Hamza Yusuf, which does a good job explaining the core Islamic ideal of purification, which is central to the Islamic understanding of achieving nearness to God through a moral life.<\/p>\n Needless to say, I don\u2019t claim that I enjoyed all these books equally, or that I agreed with everything their authors assumed or argued; at times, I disagreed, and sometimes strongly. Occasionally I was even offended. But each of these books has something special to offer, illuminating and enlarging the discourse, changing or challenging what we think \u2014 an alternative to the usual fare. Shouldn\u2019t we know more about this topic, considering how many times it affects our communities and speaks to our priorities as a country? And with that: Happy shopping. Do your part to spread bookish sagacity and reignite the American economy.<\/p>\n