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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
"Now, as in the eighteenth century, American Muslims symbolize the universality of religious inclusion and equality promised at the nation’s founding by Jefferson, Washington, Madison, Leland, and others, an ideal still in the course of being fully realized more than two centuries later. Any attack upon the rights of Muslim citizens should be recognized for what it remains: an assault upon the universal ideal of civil rights promised all believers at the country’s founding. No group, based on religion, should be excluded from these rights. To do so now would betray both our hard-won national legacy and the genius of those who conceived it."
All in all, a lively and engaging portrayal of the debates over religion and citizenship in the founding period of US history, if the courageous few who argued that the rights and liberties in the Constitution pertain to those who practice any -- or no -- faith, and of the echoes of these debates in post-9/11 America. Meanders a bit at times, but still well worth the read.
All in all, a lively and engaging portrayal of the debates over religion and citizenship in the founding period of US history, if the courageous few who argued that the rights and liberties in the Constitution pertain to those who practice any -- or no -- faith, and of the echoes of these debates in post-9/11 America. Meanders a bit at times, but still well worth the read.
This review will be forthcoming on my blog. Too many thoughts and feelings to fully articulate with the digital keyboard on my iPad. I'll need a real keyboard for this one.
This book is both fascinating and necessary, giving our present day twin obsessions with misinformation about Islam, and mythologizing the founders of the nation an opportunity to be aired in tandem. what Spellberg has done here is provide an engaging and enlightening context for a simple but profound and overlooked truth: Islam is no stranger to the US, and has been post of our dialogs on policy and culture almost since before the founding of the nation.
For anyone who has an interest in Jefferson, in the relationship between the United States and the middle East, and in understanding how Islam and american faith have been hand in hand helping to guide the growth of this nation for centuries, this is a book to read.
For anyone who has an interest in Jefferson, in the relationship between the United States and the middle East, and in understanding how Islam and american faith have been hand in hand helping to guide the growth of this nation for centuries, this is a book to read.
When I was a junior in high school taking IB History I HL (Spring 2010) , for my Internal Assessment (IA), I wanted to do a report on the influence that Islam had on the founding of the American Republic. My IA Advisor at the time, and another history teacher at the school discouraged me from doing so, arguing that even with Jefferson owning a Qur’an, the influence of Islam on the founding fathers and the Republic were minuscule at best.
This book, and the amazing historical research and evidence presented by Professor Spellberg dispel all of that notion. The book is a reminder of the unique nature of the founding of the American Republic - and that Islam, like Judaism and Christianity, played a role in the creation of the government and rule of law that we understand it today.
Professor Spellberg documents the Enlightenment thinkers and their influence on the founders coming from their contemporary peers in Europe, and the Islamaphobia that followed America and the colonies. She documents the dichotomy of the founders arguing and endorsing the right for hypothetical Turks/Mahmotens becoming citizens, while enslaving African Muslim slaves. She documents the libel and slander of reformist speakers being labeled as secret Muslims, paralleling the characterization of American Presidents Jefferson and Obama as Muslims to prevent them from seeking higher office - and showcasing how statesmen such as Washington, Adam, Madison, Paine, Jay, Hamilton and more encountered Islam in the larger debate of the rights and liberties of the American citizen.
Thomas Jefferson’s Qur’an is the definitive book to discuss the unique nature of the American value for not just tolerance - but assurance of religious liberty. It also showcases that the Islamaphobia of today is not unique - but also a staple of the American Republic.
This book, and the amazing historical research and evidence presented by Professor Spellberg dispel all of that notion. The book is a reminder of the unique nature of the founding of the American Republic - and that Islam, like Judaism and Christianity, played a role in the creation of the government and rule of law that we understand it today.
Professor Spellberg documents the Enlightenment thinkers and their influence on the founders coming from their contemporary peers in Europe, and the Islamaphobia that followed America and the colonies. She documents the dichotomy of the founders arguing and endorsing the right for hypothetical Turks/Mahmotens becoming citizens, while enslaving African Muslim slaves. She documents the libel and slander of reformist speakers being labeled as secret Muslims, paralleling the characterization of American Presidents Jefferson and Obama as Muslims to prevent them from seeking higher office - and showcasing how statesmen such as Washington, Adam, Madison, Paine, Jay, Hamilton and more encountered Islam in the larger debate of the rights and liberties of the American citizen.
Thomas Jefferson’s Qur’an is the definitive book to discuss the unique nature of the American value for not just tolerance - but assurance of religious liberty. It also showcases that the Islamaphobia of today is not unique - but also a staple of the American Republic.
All I could think while reading this book is that I really wish it had been included in the Religion, Law, & Politics seminar that I just took. It's definitely dense, so I think going through it with a class would be beneficial, but more than that, it's really important that Spellberg traces the ways in which non Euro-American Protestantism affected the founding. I particularly appreciated the attention she gives to race as well as religion. Her final chapter considers the contemporary context of Islam in America (and religious freedom in general), which is insightful and something I think would have really added to the seminar.
This one took some time to get through as it was thick with research (nearly a quarter of the book is footnotes). It took a while to get going, seeming to start well ahead of where it needed to be to lay the groundwork. However, by Chapter 5, it becomes clear what's important and we see the value in the book. It is definitely an academic work, but worth reading, particularly the later chapters that will touch on subjects that are relevant to today as opposed to just historical information.
Straight up, I can barely bring myself to care about American History, particularly the founding fathers, because of the simplistic, insidious and long lasting lies I was told in elementary and high school about the homogeneous picture of early America. Especially since the truth is much more complicated and interesting.
Confession two: I am not T. Jeff's biggest fan. I think he's a liar, a racist, and a hypocrite.
I am so pleased Spellberg wrote this book and doubly pleased to have read it. I begrudgingly award T. Jeff a few points, as he read the Qur'an and probably know all five pillars of Islam (which is something most US politicians today probably can't do).
This is not to say that T. Jeff supported Islam as a religion; in many ways, it just served as an example of how America should be free for all those other religions, even if they're dirty Catholics, Jews, or Muslims.
My favorite parts are where Spellberg reminds us that there probably were Muslims in the US at this time, thanks to the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Not being allowed to practice a religion is not the same as not having one at all.
Many Americans struggle with the same "issues" of Islam that T. Jeff and Co. did back in the 18th century. And interestingly, T. Jeff and President Obama have both been accused of being Muslim, but Spellberg and I both agree... "Not that there is anything wrong with that." Islam is still seen as dark and scary and mysterious and untrustworthy in today's United States, but that's only because we aren't educated about it.
Get it together, America.
Confession two: I am not T. Jeff's biggest fan. I think he's a liar, a racist, and a hypocrite.
I am so pleased Spellberg wrote this book and doubly pleased to have read it. I begrudgingly award T. Jeff a few points, as he read the Qur'an and probably know all five pillars of Islam (which is something most US politicians today probably can't do).
This is not to say that T. Jeff supported Islam as a religion; in many ways, it just served as an example of how America should be free for all those other religions, even if they're dirty Catholics, Jews, or Muslims.
My favorite parts are where Spellberg reminds us that there probably were Muslims in the US at this time, thanks to the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Not being allowed to practice a religion is not the same as not having one at all.
Many Americans struggle with the same "issues" of Islam that T. Jeff and Co. did back in the 18th century. And interestingly, T. Jeff and President Obama have both been accused of being Muslim, but Spellberg and I both agree... "Not that there is anything wrong with that." Islam is still seen as dark and scary and mysterious and untrustworthy in today's United States, but that's only because we aren't educated about it.
Get it together, America.
Probably one of the best books of the year. So much research has gone into this book by this excellent scholar; the notes are filled with great references and so many other books to read. Although some parts can be a bit repetitive (especially about the different people debating about imagined Muslim civil rights) throughout the author kept me interested and as I was reading it I would look up at a page and realize I was 10 more pages ahead than I thought. The most interesting fact I learned was not about Jefferson at all but about the interaction between a Native American delegation in Washington and the Tunisian ambassador. After first calling the Natives "vile Heriticks" later on he realizes that union of their beliefs and calls them brothers, even going as far as to say they are the descendants of Arabs from Yemen. The epilogue was also awesome, describing the discrimination Muslims face in contemporary America. The author made her argument very clear and argued it exceedingly well. Would recommend for anyone looking into early American, North African or intellectual history and for any non academics that want to know about the roots of Muslim civil rights in America.
Not terribly well written, but good as a reference book. Reading it straight through gets boring, especially since the author repeats herself often. It's more about religious tolerance in early US history than Islam in particular. And, despite the title, Jefferson's Qua'ran barely makes an appearance. Overall, a good book to have around if you're a Founding Fathers buff or interested in religion in America, but not a book I'd recommend for casual reading.
Really interesting and enlightening read. Never really even thought of this through my love of Revolutionary times. You wouldn't think there would be any Muslims in the colonial US, but then you think of all the western African slaves, and the book goes through that. Amazing to see Jefferson put down on paper the religious freedom for all, not just Protestants. Of course Catholicism is targeted as similar to Islam, due to the factor of thinking they can never fall in line with other leaders than the Pope.
Really enjoyed reading the other leaders throughout the colonies call for religious freedom, like North Carolina's Iredell.
Really enjoyed reading the other leaders throughout the colonies call for religious freedom, like North Carolina's Iredell.