Dr. Akbar Ahmed, the Ibn Khaldu chair of Islamic studies, appeared on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" Aug. 5 to talk about his new book, "Journey into America: The Challenge of Islam."
For his book and documentary, Ahmed, a former ambassador of Pakistan to the UK, and his team of researchers traveled across the U.S., studying Muslim Americans in 100 mosques in 75 cities – from small towns to major metropolitan areas.
Ahmed began this journey on Sept. 11, 2001, the day he decided to dedicate himself to building bridges that would create understanding between Muslims and Americans. His first book, "Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization," took him and his team into the Muslim world to see how everyday Muslims viewed America.
"Journey into America," a 528-page book, was published in mid-July, and after Ahmed's recent appearances on "The Daily Show," Al Jazeera, FOX and C-SPAN, has jumped from a rank around 40-50,000 on Amazon to around the 300 rank currently.
" 'The Daily Show,' for so many people, is the peak of American media because it's intelligent, it's funny and it's relevant," said Ahmed, a personal fan of the Comedy Central show.
"Nothing is more complicated today than Islam in America," Ahmed said, which is why he found it a difficult subject to balance with humor.
However, Ahmed said he was able to keep both his poise and get laughs.
Stewart began the segment by saying that most Americans probably see Islam as "a singular movement hell-bent on the destruction of America," and asked Ahmed to explain why he thought that isn't true.
Ahmed said the founding fathers respected different religions, especially Islam. He added that Americans today could do well to go back to those values, particularly because of U.S. involvement in the Middle East.
"There is a danger of history being re-written," Ahmed said.
He also said that Americans need to understand that seven million Muslims are citizens in this country, and they should not be isolated and demonized, which is often stereotyped as "alien and foreign and aggressive."
The study that was conducted in the course of Ahmed’s research involved interviews of about 2,000 Muslims across America with a prepared questionnaire. The questions asked people about Islam and Muslims in the context of American history and culture, Ahmed said.
The findings from the survey indicated that there is a very strong African-American Muslim presence – about 30 percent of all American Muslims – something few people realize, as most equate Islam with Arabs.
Ahmed added that the survey, one of the first to study imams, noticed that these men are enigmas even to their own followers, as many cannot even speak English.
The last chapter of the book gives recommendations to move forward, to build those bridges between Muslims and Americans in the future that can now be understood after his two books.
"When you put the two together, you have a fairly complete picture between America and Islam," he said.
sdazio@theeagleonline.com
