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Obras por Shahan Mufti

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American Caliph by Shahan Mufti is a deeply researched and wonderfully written account of one of the strangest events in US history.

The story has everything from major sports, politics, and religious leaders to murder, kidnapping, and even filmmaking. Yet the reader never gets lost thanks to the way Mufti keeps the story moving and the intrigue just getting higher. Simply as a history book this is amazingly readable and will appeal to even those who normally might refrain from reading history.

This is also a look at both the African American experience in the country as well as the intersection of that community with Islam. Like any religion, local or national forms take on distinctly unique forms from whatever that religion's origins might have been. Just as white Evangelicalism bears little or no resemblance to Christian thought for most of the last two millennium, so too there are some major differences between the Islam of the groups discussed here and much of the religion's history. So only a fool would take this as some kind of "insight" into Islamic beliefs as a whole, or, heaven forbid, even consider presenting it to students as an introduction to Islam. Yes, I saw a short-sighted (to be as polite as possible) alleged educator (hope not, for the sake of those future students) suggest just that. There are many places where this book would contribute to some coursework, but not as an intro to Islam text.

I would highly recommend this to those who might not know very much about this event, and in the process of explaining the background this does serve as a (not 'the') history of African American engagement with Islam. The book is both highly readable and very informative.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
… (mais)
½
 
Assinalado
pomo58 | Aug 5, 2022 |
Shahan Mufti has spent his life walking the line between two vastly different countries: the United States and Pakistan. Raised in Ohio by his parents who came to the US soon after their marriage, Mufti and his family return to Pakistan in his adolescence, the first in a series of moves between the two nations. When Mufti's work brings him to Pakistan to cover news of the Afghanistan War, he discovers documents from his ancestors that encourage him to dig into his family's past. He finds both an amazing family story and the understanding that his two homes have much more in common than many realize.

Both a personal and political memoir, The Faithful Scribe brilliantly blends the history of one family with the history of a nation as a whole. As he traces his family's past, Mufti writes with deep insight into the relationship between the two countries during the Reagan, Bush and Obama eras without ever feeling overly dogmatic. He is able to point out specific parallels between Pakistan and the United States that could have fallen flat in a strictly historical text, making The Faithful Scribe a readable, fascinating peek into the hidden connections binding the countries from around the globe.

See more at: http://www.rivercityreading.com
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
rivercityreading | Aug 10, 2015 |

Prémios

Estatísticas

Obras
2
Membros
76
Popularidade
#233,522
Avaliação
4.0
Críticas
2
ISBN
6

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