“The Mosque That Is as American as Apple Pie”

My friend and BYU colleague Jim Toronto — a Harvard-trained Arabist and Islamicist who previously served as a mission president in Sicily and who is currently living in Istanbul, from which he presides over the units of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey itself, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan — has called my attention to this very nice little article:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/10/the-mosque-that-is-as-american-as-apple-pie.html?via=mobile&source=email

It tells a pleasant story of Muslims long residing in the middle of America, serving their community and their nation.

While I’m at it, I think I’ll mention Jim’s 2000 article in the Ensign, “A Latter-day Saint Perspective on Muhammad.”

It’s possible, of course, that Dr. Toronto’s extensive study and teaching of Arabic and Islam, further aggravated by his extended residences in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and now Turkey, has rendered him incapable of accurately understanding either Islam or Muslims.  (One or two readers of my blog have suggested that too much knowledge and understanding can render a person useless — on this unique topic, anyway.)  Still, myself warped and probably incapacitated by analogous experiences, I recommend both of these short pieces for anybody who is willing to risk learning and understanding more about Muslims and Islam.

Caveat lector!