The Sun is Rising in the West:
New Muslims Tell About Their Journey to Islam
Muzaffar Haleem and Betty (Batul) Bowman
Amana Publications, Maryland, USA (April 1, 1999)
ISBN-10: 0915957922
ISBN-13: 978-0915957927
Pages: 320; Paperback
Price Rs. 1,926.82
Amazon In
Reviewed By Syed Khalid Husain
South-east Asia Correspondent
WHAT a former US presidential adviser, an ex-Ku Klux Klan (KKK) member, a Catholic missionary, an Internet junkie and a woman who read over 1,000 books have in common? They all embraced Islam, and are among 28 remarkable people from diverse backgrounds who converged into the beautiful faith and are featured in The Sun is Rising in the West: New Muslims Tell about Their Journey to Islam.
Ms Muzaffar Haleem, a Pakistani immigrant to the United States, and Ms Betty (Batul) Bowman, an American revert to Islam of Christian European origins, have teamed up to record the testimonies of these 28 new Muslims (starting with the junior author’s own). Ms Haleem emigrated to the US in 1980 with her husband and has been active in various Muslim community projects in California where she lives with her children and grandchildren. Ms Bowman embraced Islam in 1993 after reading more than 1,000 books in her search for the Truth. She has major interest in developing material for new Muslims.
Their joint venture chronicles stories told by new Muslims. The narratives “reflect the strivings and triumphs of the soul, as each person struggled to find a meaningful spiritual existence”, and describe the challenges of acceptance by family and “fitting in” to the Muslim community. All the stories are written by new Muslims who have come from a Western background, especially America.
The first half of the book – published under the auspices of the Human Assistance & Development International (HADI), a non-profit organisation working for the socio-economic, educational and scientific development of people worldwide – contains the accounts by new Muslims and acquaints them with others who are embarked on this demanding new life and with whom they can share their joy in Islam. The second half provides useful information and references, and invaluable short expositions of the basics of Islam. It consists only of a reprinted chapter and introductory material for new Muslims.
Those featured in the book other than Ms Bowman herself are Daaiy Allah Fardan (Allah is the Best Planner), Lita Salbi (My Salvation), Joan Nasr (A Big Shock), Abdur Rahman (Key to Success), Karima Razi (Door to Spiritual and Intellectual Freedom), Summeyah Shaheed (Beauty of Islam), Khadijah Folayemi (Respect Yourself and Others), Paul O. Bartlett (A Pilgrim’s Path to Islam), Ayman Abdullah Mujeeb (The Beautiful Family of Abdullah), Sha Marie (Closeness to Allah), Susan Khan (The Best Thing to Happen in My Life), Kimberly Khwaja (Turning Tragedy into Salvation), Mohammad Saeed (Allah Placed His Hand on My Heart), Ameena Rasheed (Self-Discipline and Self-Understanding), Cindy Webber (I Wanted to Change), Hajera Shaikh (I Have Been Walking on Air Ever Since), Hasan Pfefferkorn (A Journey Toward the Wise Creator), Juel E. Voit (The Gift of Islam), Sabah Muhammad (From No Direction to Divine Guidance), Dr Robert Dickson Crane (Patterns of Dawah in America: By the Hand), Clinton Sipes (I Was a Former KKK Member), Diana Beatty (Islam Changed Me Totally), S.S. Lai (Allah Is Ever-Listening and Ever-Present), Ulf Karlsson (Islam Made Me Grow Up), Diana (The Message of Truth), Sharon (Jesus Led Me to Islam), and Nuh Ha Mim Keller (A Quest for Meaning in a Meaningless World). Ms Bowman’s topic is “America is Ripe for Islam”, and “Journey to Islam” (an essay).
Dr Crane, whose Muslim name is Faruq Abd al Haqq, is the former foreign policy adviser to the late US president Richard Nixon, and former deputy director (for planning) of the US National Security Council. Since the early 1980s, he has worked full-time as a Muslim activist in America. He has authored or co-authored more than a dozen books and over 50 professional articles on comparative legal systems, global strategy, and information management.
Mr Sipes says he lived “a life of hate, crime and violence” that “changed to one of peace and faith”. He grew up in a dysfunctional family setting in the atmosphere of alcoholism, physical and emotional abuse that came from my father. He found the Light of Islam while in a US prison, where he was sentenced for possessing weapons.
Ms Sharon, a native of Texas, says it was her search for the Pure Gospel of Jesus that led her to Islam, while extensive search for the true Faith on the Internet guided Paul Bartlett to Islam.
In the second half of the book, Ms Bowman provides invaluable short expositions of the basics of Islam. These range from how to perform the obligatory formal prayer, and the role of prayer in the paradigm of Islamic law, key points in the history of Islam, a 60-page glossary of terms, which may be the most useful part of the book for some new Muslims, and selected bibliographies on the Quran, sirah or life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him), and Islam generally.
In the Preface, Dr Crane says this “how to” manual on learning and practising Islam in America helps to fill a long unmet need. Its very existence bodes well for the future of Islam in America and, In Sha’ Allah, for the future moral leadership of America in the world.
“The future of Islam in America will depend on how well America-born Muslims, African-American, Euro-American (including Hispanics), and Native American, can develop leadership within the overall Muslim community or Umma. If the Umma is finally maturing into a positive and creative force in America, capable of bringing out the best of America’s traditionalist past, the primary reason is the heroic effort of a few muhajirin and ansar, like Sisters Muzaffar Halim from Pakistan and Betty Bowman, who are the two authors of this book, The Sun is Rising in the West.”
A number of patterns stand out from the testimonies in the book. Euro-American Muslims (i.e., whites) usually discover Islam via a spouse or at the tail end of a long religious search that encompasses much reading and experimentation; curiously, in more than a few cases, these latter first become a Sufi. For African-American Muslims, the usual path is via the Nation of Islam. In both cases, it is striking to see how often the existence of an Islamic infrastructure (mosques, books, Internet user groups and sites, missionary activities) is critical to the process of conversion.
If whites frequently find their world “turned upside down” on becoming Muslim, blacks usually fit into an existing set of institutions and find the change far less radical. This makes the barrier to conversion for the former much higher.
Most converts agree that America’s allegedly terrible moral circumstances render it “ripe and ready” for Islam; some say this time is nothing less than American Islam’s “golden moment” (implying that if this opportunity is lost, it may not come again).
As someone said about the book, “When the sun is rising in the West, it is bad news for many, as it heralds the beginning of the Day of Judgment. But when The Sun (of Islam) Rises in the West, it heralds more light and warmth.”
There are more than six million Muslims in the United States where Islam is filling the spiritual void with purpose, guidance, discipline, and support. This book is a welcome and inspiring educational experience to new Muslims and those who are contemplating this great way of life. The authors interviewed so many new converts to Islam. For each story told here, there are many, many stories left untold, but which are nevertheless happening every day in America.
The Sun is Rising in the West is a very useful book for both Muslims and non-Muslims, as many of the former are deviating from the path of Islam and being fantasised and glamorised by the Western culture, whereas the new Muslims find solace in the teachings of Islam and accept it whole-heartedly. For the latter, they can see and learn the things that are not true in their religions that lead them in search of truth and they come to Islam ultimately.
[The reviewer can be reached at [email protected].]