An
Absorbing Book
By Blair Mersinger
Washington, DC
I just wanted to write a quick note
saying that I started reading Dr Akbar Ahmed’s
new book ‘Journey into Islam’ yesterday
and have not been able to put it down! The book
is so eloquently written and beautifully explained...
it brought tears to my eyes. Here's why:
When I decided to study abroad in Morocco and
Kenya, my parents were very supportive, but my
grandfathers feared that the "Muslims"
would want to hurt me, because "Muslims"
were "terrorists". During my travels
in both countries, I made great friends and gained
a greater understanding of the Muslim world. I
sent emails home to my family sharing my positive
experiences - the peace that Islam preached, the
kindness of all the people I met, and the desire
of those in the Muslim world to gain a better
understanding of Americans. Although I'm not a
scholar of Islam and couldn't pretend to answer
all the questions that my grandfathers had for
me, they started to change in their opinions.
When my roommate from Morocco, Zineb, came to
visit my family in Maryland for Thanksgiving,
my grandfathers I think truly realized that Islam
is not what is seen on Fox News. From the experience
of watching my own, staunchly set-in-their-ways
grandfathers change, I have made it my career
(and life!) goal of promoting greater understanding
between Islam and the West. I started by writing
a screenplay last year to that effect as a Senior
Capstone project.
In short (apologies for my long-winded email),
Prof Ahmed’s book has provided me with inspiration,
information, and a great enthusiasm to do what
I can to promote peace and understanding. I am
going to give both of my grandfathers a copy of
his book, to answer questions that they have often
posed to me about how Muslims think and feel.
Thank you for writing this book, and thank you
for inspiring me, Dr Ahmed.
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