Media stereotypes and misinformation about Muslims are nothing new. In a post-election world, Muslims are finding more allies who often want to help but don’t know much about us. More and more of our fellow Americans have questions and need answers.
In on online forum recently, someone asked me about books I would recommend to those wishing to learn about Muslims. I’m happy that people want to learn — even though I think meeting Muslims is far more valuable than reading about them — but searching the sea of available choices can be difficult and dangerous. For instance, search for “Muslim” or “Islam” on Amazon, and the array of books that pop up is worrying. Not because there are so many, but because many of them are horrifyingly inaccurate and often downright false.
Many books that promise “the truth” about Muslims are actually full of hatred and bigotry. You can learn about Sharia from authors who have no clue what it means, or about the tenets of Islam from authors whose bias can be seen from a mile away. You might think a website called “the religion of peace” would be somewhat positive, but it turns out to spew vile hatred against a billion people who actually practice Islam as a religion of peace and love.
But knowledge is power, so here’s my list of books you can and should read if you want to know more about Muslims and Islam. It’s the list I recommend to my students when I train law enforcement and educational institutions, or speak at churches and synagogues. It’s a list of my favorites thus far.(Sadiq Faruqi):
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/13872346