Muslim American Renaissance Project

This is more than a book; it is a manifesto. It advocates a project through which participants will launch an American renaissance movement inspired by a new, revitalized, and uniquely American expression of Islam. This book is the product of more than twenty years of extensive research and interaction with communities across America. That background preparation has given the author, Dr. Souheil Ghannouchi, a deep understanding of Islam, of history, and of the reality in which all Americans (including Muslim Americans) live. Additionally, the text benefits from Dr. Ghannouchis careful study and observation of world events, and from his comprehension of the universal rules that govern the rise and fall of both nations and movements. This volume was originally meant to be the intellectual foundation for a renaissance movement for all Americans, and it was to be aimed at reviving the American Dream and restoring Americas fundamental values based on the founding fathers vision. The idea of recruiting all Americans to the task was inspired by serious concerns about Americas current situation and future risks, and by a firm belief that America can and should be the worlds foremost champion for compassion, peace, justice, and prosperity. At the same time, the book was intended to spearhead the renaissance of the Muslim American community so that it would begin to play a meaningful role in making the needed change in America. However, even though both the entire country and, more specifically, the Muslim community are in dire need of fundamental change, it became clear to the author that the two objectives could not be adequately advocated with one publication. Thus, this book focuses mainly on Muslim Americans, and it constitutes a manifesto for a renaissance in the American Muslim community and a blueprint for our full integration into the greater American society. Stemming from the authors firm conviction that both our nation and our community are experiencing a severe crisis, this book is prompted by his grave concern for the future as well as his unshakable resolve to significantly contribute towards the fundamental change that is needed right now within our society. His concerns and his resolve are shared by other Muslim Americans who will join in launching this project. We invite all Americans to participate. Even though Islam and Muslims have been present in the U.S. in one form or another for a long time, the Muslim American community is still regarded as a newcomer. One reason is that the connections with the greater American society have been weak and complicated. The Nation of Islam, which is largely comprised of United States-born African American Muslims, is widely viewed as a Black nationalist movement rather than an Islamic phenomenon. And even though immigrant Muslims began to establish Islamic centers as early as the beginning of the 20th century and also despite the establishment of the first chapter of the Muslim Student Association (MSA) in 1963 the organized presence of orthodox Islam did not truly emerge in America until the 1970s. The real proliferation of mosques, schools, and Islamic organizations took place as recently as the 80s and 90s. Furthermore, the integration of the Muslim American community into the greater American society stalled because of some typical factors that were exacerbated by religious and political issues and by some domestic and global events. As a result, the Muslim community was plunged into a deep crisis and became, for other Americans, a puzzle and a source of major challenge, especially after the 9/11 catastrophe. A huge divide was established between the community and American society at large, and a vicious action-reaction cycle is only reinforcing the divide and widening the gap. Moreover, the attempts at healing undertaken by both sides are not really improving the situation because the efforts made are too few and too i

This is more than a book; it is a manifesto. It advocates a project through which participants will launch an American renaissance movement inspired by a new, revitalized, and uniquely American expression of Islam. This book is the product of more than twenty years of extensive research and interaction with communities across America. That background preparation has given the author, Dr. Souheil Ghannouchi, a deep understanding of Islam, of history, and of the reality in which all Americans (including Muslim Americans) live. Additionally, the text benefits from Dr. Ghannouchi's careful study and observation of world events, and from his comprehension of the universal rules that govern the rise and fall of both nations and movements. This volume was originally meant to be the intellectual foundation for a renaissance movement for all Americans, and it was to be aimed at reviving the American Dream and restoring America's fundamental values based on the founding fathers' vision. The idea of recruiting all Americans to the task was inspired by serious concerns about America's current situation and future risks, and by a firm belief that America can and should be the world's foremost champion for compassion, peace, justice, and prosperity. At the same time, the book was intended to spearhead the renaissance of the Muslim American community so that it would begin to play a meaningful role in making the needed change in America. However, even though both the entire country and, more specifically, the Muslim community are in dire need of fundamental change, it became clear to the author that the two objectives could not be adequately advocated with one publication. Thus, this book focuses mainly on Muslim Americans, and it constitutes a manifesto for a renaissance in the American Muslim community and a blueprint for our full integration into the greater American society. Stemming from the author's firm conviction that both our nation and our community are experiencing a severe crisis, this book is prompted by his grave concern for the future as well as his unshakable resolve to significantly contribute towards the fundamental change that is needed right now within our society. His concerns and his resolve are shared by other Muslim Americans who will join in launching this project. We invite all Americans to participate. Even though Islam and Muslims have been present in the U.S. in one form or another for a long time, the Muslim American community is still regarded as a newcomer. One reason is that the connections with the greater American society have been weak and complicated. The Nation of Islam, which is largely comprised of United States-born African American Muslims, is widely viewed as a Black nationalist movement rather than an Islamic phenomenon. And even though immigrant Muslims began to establish Islamic centers as early as the beginning of the 20th century and also despite the establishment of the first chapter of the Muslim Student Association (MSA) in 1963 the organized presence of orthodox Islam did not truly emerge in America until the 1970's. The real proliferation of mosques, schools, and Islamic organizations took place as recently as the 80's and 90's. Furthermore, the integration of the Muslim American community into the greater American society stalled because of some typical factors that were exacerbated by religious and political issues and by some domestic and global events. As a result, the Muslim community was plunged into a deep crisis and became, for other Americans, a puzzle and a source of major challenge, especially after the 9/11 catastrophe. A huge divide was established between the community and American society at large, and a vicious action-reaction cycle is only reinforcing the divide and widening the gap. Moreover, the attempts at healing undertaken by both sides are not really improving the situation because the efforts made are too few and too i

This expansive collection of A-Z entries offers a compelling look into hate groups in America. Focusing on organizations in operation today, this resource book for student and general audiences covers numerous hot-button issues in politics and culture. The Southern Poverty Law Center lists nearly 900 hate groups active in the United States today. Some of these, such as the KKK, have deep roots in American history. Others are newer, formed in response to policies and shifts in our cultural landscape. Often these organizations imply defense of America and political ideals in their names, such as "Council of Conservative Citizens" and "American Family Association." Some, such as "White Aryan Resistance" and "Supreme White Alliance," are more direct in their associations. Nearly all posit an erosion of rights and values; a way of life that is becoming lost to immigrants; a diffusion or integration of population; and government overstep. Many of these groups preach a necessity for violence, through either outright or thinly veiled language. Membership in these organizations poses another topic for investigation, as their ranks are not just anti-government or pro-gun rights types who seek to defend the Constitution. Many are simply citizens who see their ideal for America as under threat by various groups—whether ethnic, racial, or religious. This unique reference will allow readers to explore the underlying issues central to understanding them. How do these hate groups get started, and why do people join?

Highlighting a breadth of American individuals and groups that engaged in extremist behavior across history, this book provides a succinct, concise overview of extremist behavior in the past and examines today's increasingly common incidences of hate and extremism. Since the election of Barack Obama in 2008, extremist and hate groups have seen a resurgence on the American political landscape. Members of these subgroups within the American population have become concerned that the America that they have always known is fading into oblivion, with a majority of individuals in these groups holding fiercely anti-immigration views and adhering to the belief that the United States should not admit large numbers of any group that is not white, Christian, or predominantly European. Others believe that the principles and precepts of the U.S. Constitution have gone by the wayside and that drastic measures are required to protect the underlying tenets that were the essential elements of the Constitution and many of "their" nation's founding principles. How did these individuals come to feel this way, is it possible to bring these impassioned extremists back into the fold, and if so, how? This book provides comprehensive, illuminating, and sometimes disturbing insights into the individuals, groups, and events that have illustrated "extremist" behavior in post-World War II America. Ranging from the anti-communist rhetoric and activities of the John Birch Society, to the radical socialist ideals of the Black Panthers, to the goals of a "pure" America articulated by white nationalists, this book documents the various extremist elements that shaped the second half of the 20th century as well as the first two decades of the 21st century. Readers will grasp how events in the histories of individuals and groups as well as perceived injustices have lead to the incidences of hate and extremism in American society. The encyclopedic entries of the book are specifically written to accessible to readers without specific knowledge of extremism, political science, or sociology.

Confronting nationalistic and nativist interpreting practices in Persianate literary scholarship, Persian Literature as World Literature makes a case for reading these literatures as world literature-as transnational, worldly texts that expand beyond local and national penchants. Working through an idea of world literature that is both cosmopolitan and critical of any monologic view on globalization, the contributors to this volume revisit the early and contemporary circulation of Persianate literatures across neighboring and distant cultures, and seek innovative ways of developing a transnational Persian literary studies, engaging in constructive dialogues with the global forces surrounding, and shaping, Persianate societies and cultures.

This book introduces narrative justice, a new theory of aesthetic education – the thesis that the cultivation of aesthetic or artistic sensibility can both improve moral character and achieve political justice. The author argues that there is a subcategory of narrative representations that provide moral knowledge regardless of their categorisation as fiction or non-fiction, and which therefore can be employed as a means of moral improvement. McGregor applies this narrative ethics to the criminology of inhumanity, including both crimes against humanity and terrorism. Expanding on the methodology of narrative criminology, he demonstrates that narrative representations can be employed to evaluate responsibility for inhumanity, to understand the psychology of inhumanity, and to undermine inhumanity – and are thus a means to the end of opposing injustice. He concludes that the cultivation of narrative sensibility is an important tool for both moral improvement and political justice.

In The Name of Hate is the first book to offer a comprehensive theory of hate crimes, arguing for an expansion of the legal definitions that most states in the U.S. hold. Barbara Perry provides an historical understanding of hate crimes and provocatively argues that hate crimes are not an aberration of current society, but rather a by-product of a society still grappling with inequality, difference, fear, and hate.

This book adopts an integrated approach to the study of contact literature through collaboration between theories of World Englishes and translation studies. The author proposes an interactive framework that integrates linguistic and cultural perspectives, through the analysis of selected Anglo-Arab and Arab-American contact literary texts: Samia Serageldine’s The Cairo House (2000), Leila Ahmed’s A Border Passage (1999), Leila Aboulela’s The Translator (1999), Ahdaf Soueif’s The Map of Love (2000), and Abdelkebir Khatibi’s Love in Two Languages (1990). The author then discusses the pedagogical implications of bilingual creativity via a language in literature approach. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of translation studies, literature and cultural studies.