Book Review: The Islamist by Ed Husain
Stuart Nachbar
June 25, 2009
In writing my novel, Defending College Heights, I had to do research into military recruiting practices on college campuses. I gathered information from the news and from the U.S. Army Recruiting Command as well as conversations with military recruiters and college career services officers.
In The Islamist, Ed Husain, a former campus activist, then later a banker and representative of the British Council, a non-profit educational and cultural organization, did a different kind of campus recruiting at British schools. He recruited converts to Islamism, a belief that Islam is both a religion and a political movement to create a sovereign Islamic State. More radical factions of Islamism believe in the overthrow of modern governments, including the British and American systems, in favor of rule under their interpretations of Islamic law.
Islamism is to be separated from Islam, the religious faith; the vast majority of practitioners separate religion from politics. Muslims may study and observe rituals in their holy work, the Koran in varied degrees, just as there are Orthodox and Reform Jews and Episcopalians and fundamentalist Christians. And members within religious factions do not necessarily share the same political beliefs; it is not uncommon to meet spiritual people who are apolitical.
But the mistake most often made is that Islam, the faith is misrepresented as a link to terrorism. This reached a head in the U.S. after 9-11 when Keith Ellison (D-Minn) was sworn in as the first Muslim member of Congress. Ellison, who was born and raised in the U.S., asked to be sworn in over the Koran instead of the Bible. One Republican Congressman, Rep Virgil Goode (Va), said that Ellison's decision to use the Koran was a threat to "the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America." Conservatives also used Barack Obama's Muslim parentage as a reason to ask voters to rebuke his candidacy.
Husain goes to great effort to separate how the various political factions in Britain believed, and the extent to which they pushed their beliefs on other Muslim students. He adds that Al Queda, led by Osama Bin Laden, is an organization with mixture of Wahhabi or literalistic religious beliefs, and terrorism. Husain adds that politically radical factions are tied to Saudi wealth, and that their leaders are not necessarily welcome in every Muslim nation.
As an adult, Husain studied the Koran in the original Arabic. He provides explanation of some of the beliefs and teachers of the Prophet Mohammad, among them the concept of jihad. In our country, jihad is a phrase that we associate with holy war. However, Husain explains that the Prophet did not use the term to symbolize a call for cowardly and suicidal attacks against innocent people.
The Islamist is interesting, but also troubling. Like the U.S., Britain has its share of extremists-Husain mentions that over 3,000 have been documented in his home country-but also that people, including media pundits, do not take the time to explain the basic tenets of an unfamiliar faith. This contributes to acts of bigotry and ignorance. While the U.S. can never become a nation under one faith, or a single interpretation of a holy book, the same is true of a nation dominated by the Muslim faith.
Stuart Nachbar writes on thought and fiction in education and politics. His new novel, Defending College Heights, is an investigation into the murder of a U.S. Army recruiter within a tumultuous and corrupt college community. Learn more at www.DefendingCollegeHeights.com
In The Islamist, Ed Husain, a former campus activist, then later a banker and representative of the British Council, a non-profit educational and cultural organization, did a different kind of campus recruiting at British schools. He recruited converts to Islamism, a belief that Islam is both a religion and a political movement to create a sovereign Islamic State. More radical factions of Islamism believe in the overthrow of modern governments, including the British and American systems, in favor of rule under their interpretations of Islamic law.
Islamism is to be separated from Islam, the religious faith; the vast majority of practitioners separate religion from politics. Muslims may study and observe rituals in their holy work, the Koran in varied degrees, just as there are Orthodox and Reform Jews and Episcopalians and fundamentalist Christians. And members within religious factions do not necessarily share the same political beliefs; it is not uncommon to meet spiritual people who are apolitical.
But the mistake most often made is that Islam, the faith is misrepresented as a link to terrorism. This reached a head in the U.S. after 9-11 when Keith Ellison (D-Minn) was sworn in as the first Muslim member of Congress. Ellison, who was born and raised in the U.S., asked to be sworn in over the Koran instead of the Bible. One Republican Congressman, Rep Virgil Goode (Va), said that Ellison's decision to use the Koran was a threat to "the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America." Conservatives also used Barack Obama's Muslim parentage as a reason to ask voters to rebuke his candidacy.
Husain goes to great effort to separate how the various political factions in Britain believed, and the extent to which they pushed their beliefs on other Muslim students. He adds that Al Queda, led by Osama Bin Laden, is an organization with mixture of Wahhabi or literalistic religious beliefs, and terrorism. Husain adds that politically radical factions are tied to Saudi wealth, and that their leaders are not necessarily welcome in every Muslim nation.
As an adult, Husain studied the Koran in the original Arabic. He provides explanation of some of the beliefs and teachers of the Prophet Mohammad, among them the concept of jihad. In our country, jihad is a phrase that we associate with holy war. However, Husain explains that the Prophet did not use the term to symbolize a call for cowardly and suicidal attacks against innocent people.
The Islamist is interesting, but also troubling. Like the U.S., Britain has its share of extremists-Husain mentions that over 3,000 have been documented in his home country-but also that people, including media pundits, do not take the time to explain the basic tenets of an unfamiliar faith. This contributes to acts of bigotry and ignorance. While the U.S. can never become a nation under one faith, or a single interpretation of a holy book, the same is true of a nation dominated by the Muslim faith.
Stuart Nachbar writes on thought and fiction in education and politics. His new novel, Defending College Heights, is an investigation into the murder of a U.S. Army recruiter within a tumultuous and corrupt college community. Learn more at www.DefendingCollegeHeights.com
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