Connections Quarterly Winter 2018 - World Religions | Page 25

Literature in Review
by Richard Barbieri, Ph.D.
Letters to a Young Muslim
Omar Saif Ghobaish, Picador (2018)
What the Qur’an Meant: and Why It Matters
Garry Wills, Viking (2017)
F
or the past three years, I have been a facilitator in the Soliya program, in which college
students from North America, the Middle East, Europe, and parts of Asia come together
for eight weeks of online dialogue, often about East-West issues, but also about other
global matters. I have found the discussions enjoyable, enriching, and, I hope, a small contribu-
tion to international understanding. But what I find disheartening is that students from the
Middle East and Asia, almost entirely Muslim, know an astonishing amount about the United
States, while we know almost nothing about them. They are familiar with Oprah, American
foods (many have been here, but all are aware), and even an American’s reference to Sponge-
Bob SquarePants. We, on the other hand – including me – need to have much explained, from
holidays to books and music, to food. And this is before we even enter areas of controversy,
such as refugees, wars, climate concerns, and above all ideology.
Why does this trouble me? Because the so-called “clash of civilizations” between the West and
Islam is based largely on what Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie called “The Danger of a Single Story”
in her now ubiquitous TED talk. As Adichie says, “The consequence of the single story is this: It
robs people of dignity. It makes our recognition of our equal humanity difficult. It emphasizes
how we are different rather than how we are similar.” This review, therefore, aims to consider
Islam from both inside and out, by discussing two of the many stories we need to hear.
Garry Will’s What the Qu’ran Meant: and Why It Matters is the work of a prominent Catholic jour-
nalist and skilled expositor of both religious and secular texts, from the Gospels and Pauline
Epistles to the Gettysburg Address. In his newest book he begins by warning of the cost of
ignorance, which he divides into three headings: secular, religious, and fearful. Each of these, he
explains, has a separate impact on our caricatures and misrepresentations of Islam.
Continues on page 24
CSEE Connections

Winter 2018
Page 23