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It has been a busy year for publishers with some 150 books related to 9-11 hitting shelves
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The
last year has been a busy one for those in the publishing business.
According to some estimates, some 150 books have been released on
subjects related to 9-11. In their rush to meet the growing demands
of the public publishers have been churning out works covering all
aspects of the tragedy from different viewpoints.
From
a feminist viewpoint (September 11: Feminist Perspectives By
Susan Hawthorne) to the perspective of cartoonists’ pens (BOK!
The 9.11 Crisis in Political Cartoons By Chio Bok) you will find
books from the entire spectrum of human experience. With the growing
interest in Islam & Muslims publishers have also been
re-releasing old works and publishing brand new titles on related
subjects.
Initially
there was such a tremendous demand that copies of the translation of
The Holy Qur’an had to be airlifted from the UK. Copies of any
books on Islam or Muslims flew away as they climbed the charts of
top-sellers lists at Amazon.com and the New York Times.
An
adverse effect of this was that pseudo-Islamic sects like Qadianis
and the “Submitters” also got their chance to push their works
as representing genuine Islam. The translation of the Holy Qur’an
by a Qadiani scholar Allama Nooruddin (The Holy Quran: An English
Translation By Nooruddin et al) was widely available at book
stores and was even recommended by sites like Salon.com. This
aberration not withstanding, translations accepted by mainstream
Muslims like The Meaning of The Holy Quran By Abdullah Yusuf
Ali & The Meaning of The Glorious Qur’an by Marmaduke
Pickthall also made record sales.
The
9-11 tragedy also gave an opportunity to Islam bashers to display
their new wares. The two veterans of this field, Daniel Pipes and
Steve Emerson, came out with new books once again displaying their
hatred of Islam and Muslims – Militant Islam and
American Jihad: Terrorists Living Among Us. Pipes repeats the
same arguments again and again even though they have been refuted
several times by scholars like Dr. Maher Hathout. Pipes'
intellectual mentor, Bernard Lewis (despite his biases), documents
the decline of the Islamic civilization in a balanced and
thought-provoking work appropriately titled What Went
Wrong—Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response.
Other
works by Western scholars who have tried to address the issue of
Islam and violence in a relatively balanced way include Dilip
Hiro’s War Without End and Milton Viorst’s In the Shadow of
the Prophet.
John
Esposito in Unholy Wars—Terror in the Name of Islam,
provides an accurate picture of Islam as practiced by most Muslims.
He argues that the Muslim world’s hatred of the West is not driven
by religion but by frustration over the inequities of American
policies. He rejects that idea of ‘clash of civilization’ and
urges the international community not to precipitate a global clash
of cultures.
Left-leaning
and anti-war American scholars have criticized America’s current
foreign policy and the ongoing war. The most notable among these
being Howard Zinn’s Terrorism and War and Noam Chomsky’s 9-11.
Christian
religious publishers came out with quite a few books about Islam of
their own. George Grant in The Blood of the Moon provides an
utterly nonsensical introduction to the struggle between Islamic and
Western civilizations. The title of this book itself is based on a
completely inaccurate translation of a Qur’anic verse. Evangelist
Franklin Graham in The Name again resorts to defaming through
his ill-informed comments.
Not
all Christian publishers have been bigoted in their products,
however. Lee Griffith in The War on Terrorism and the Terror of
God, debunks the myth that Islam has monopoly over terrorism. He
explains that violent traits are to be found in every faith
tradition. Dr. Bill Baker in More in Common than you Think
concentrates on the commonalities between the two faith traditions.
Muslim
authors, even though absent from the initial publishing rush, are
beginning to appear with appropriate works. Dr. Maher Hathout in Jihad
vs Terrorism demolishes the stereotypes associated with the
Islamic concept of Jihad. Seyyed Hossein Nasr in The Heart of
Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity, argues that the terrorist
perversion of Jihad has nothing to do with the Islamic concept of
just-war. Columnist Muqtedar Khan in American Muslims: Bridging
Faith and Freedom, critiques the extremist streaks within some
Muslim circles and highlights the tradition of peace and tolerance
inherent in Islamic teachings. Mustafa El-Amin in Christianity
and Islam highlights the similarities between the two religions
and how peace can be achieved through mutual cooperation.
The
sheer number of books that are being published seems overwhelming.
What impact all these books will have on future remains to be seen.
9-11 has created opportunities for Muslims as well as non-Muslims to
better understand each other. Books offer an easy window towards
this exploration. Muslims should rise to the occasion and do
everything possible to present the accurate picture of Islam through
this important medium.
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