Despite the huge upsurge of interest in Islam by people around the globe and the over subscription of Islamic Studies courses in the US, what are Muslims doing about it? While 9/11 has shifted relations between Islam and the West in tectonic proportions, the responses by Muslims have been different. Some have continued to argue that 9/11 signaled the ultimate showdown between Islam and the West, others scramble reactively repeating the mantra that “Islam is a religion of peace.” A third group has decided it is time for some serious, critical reflection. Whatever you believe, these messages have been mixed and continually confuse many non-Muslims who cannot understand why so many Muslims are angry.
So what to do? Well, you could do as some Muslims have chosen, which is to continue to fuel the notion that Islam is an idiosyncrasy — a moral and social oddity that is incompatible with civil society, or you could choose an alternative path. Muslims suffer, but they also suffer from their own undoing. We continually fail to make our case to the world by allowing our anger to speak for us, and that is all the West continually sees: Angry “Moslems” and angry Arabs. Scary and threatening images for the average American, who doesn’t possesses a passport and has learned all they know about Islam through the event of 9/11. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “Don’t get angry,” and we would do well to heed his advice.
In 2001, I established a publishing house called Amal Press, that sought to educate Muslims about their own heritage while at the same time, discuss some of the most critical questions of the age. Rather than being architects of destruction, Muslims were builders: They built a magnificent civilization that was synonymous with life, celebration, purity and knowledge. Today’s news portrays a religion whose adherents want a religion to die for, as opposed to one to live for. These Muslims are replacing the foundations of that civilization with anger and hatred, traits that Islam actually views as detrimental to the human soul.
By probing the questions that have surfaced post-9/11 and tackling issues of foreign policy, colonialism, “blow-back”, secular and religious extremism, this modest publishing house has grown three-fold in three years. With our publications reaching non-Muslims around the globe and being incorporated into undergraduate and postgraduate syllabi in the US, UK and Australia, our messages are being read, taught, debated and discussed. With contributing authors such as Noam Chomsky, John L. Esposito and Hamza Yusuf Hanson; reviews of our books have come in from the BBC, producers of documentaries, professors of law, religion and politics as well as scholarly journals. Don’t underestimate the power of the written word. I am not saying that Amal Press produces the best books, but certainly, a strategy and a plan goes hand in hand with publishing any book.
In a post-9/11 world, there is an insatiable thirst for knowing more about Islam. The sad fact is, without recognition of the power of the written word, independent publishers like myself, will have to resort to donations and loans from friends, praying that they are sufficient to keep us going. Gulf-backed publishing houses are viewed with increasing suspicion in the West. While appealing almost exclusively to Muslims and focusing upon mass production, the money spent on the books produced by such publishing houses would be better spent on producing books that address the topics and challenges of Muslims living in the West, and on growing its distribution channels into the non-Muslim market. While finance for these publishing houses is no issue, without proper financing, independent publishers will have to settle for having their books being sold in Muslim bookstores to an audience who is in less need of them than the ones that are not even aware of their existence. When that happens, Muslims will continue to shout and rage about news reports and programs that “dishonor Islam,” but they will continue to fail to see that getting angry won’t solve anything.
— Aftab Ahmad Malik is the director of Amal Press (UK). He can be contacted at: [email protected]
