| By Mizan,
on 25-04-2003 17:08
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Published in : , Reviews |
A Review by M. "Musa" Moes:
One year after the tragic catastrophe of 9-11, I found the rage and hatred stirred amongst the general American public against Islam and Muslims. I was reminded of this book in part because of what I witnessed in the way of people resorting to what I consider "anti-American" behaviors of bigotry and racism.
I know these things have always been a component of our history. But somehow through the years I was brought up to believe that we were taught about our past so that we would not be doomed to repeat our mistakes. It might do the public some good then to read a book that links our ideals and their past with the Muslim civilization that preceded the western culture our country champions today. It is ironic that in our haste to demonize a religion because of the assumption that the 9-11 terrorists were Muslims, we find in this book a reminder that many of the ideals that Jefferson and Franklin based their revolution on are rooted in Islam and were manifest in the world power that preceded the rise of the west. It is equally notable that the author is as American as apple pie herself, being the daughter of none other than the "Little House on the Prairie" author Laura Ingalls Wilder. This book is actually only one chapter of a larger work on the subject of "freedom movements." After reading this, I have become interested in reading the rest of her book. This editon was edited by Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad in order to offer some notations and corrections from a Muslim perspective. But the larger work makes for an interesting comparison, I think, between Islam and the American Revolution. And in these post 9-11 days, such a comparison could provide a much needed alternative to the rhetoric being fed to public now that dances on the line between sanctioning a passive, secularist Muslim worldview and condemning the movement among Muslims to return to following the Quran as Gods word and the statements of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) . Such a return is being portrayed as a threat in the modern media, while this book provokes the reader to challenge this notion with a passionate reminder of what Islamic civilization was like in its glory days.
Last update : 25-04-2003 17:08
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