America’s Imam (book review)
Author: Salahuddin Muhammad
A Book Review
Salahuddin Muhammad’s subtitle of this book speaks articulately to the importance of this work. He refers to it as “Warith Deen Mohammed’s interpretation of Islam in the milieu of the American society.”
I call the reader’s attention to two important aspects of this work: 1) the necessary interdependence of people of faith and 2) freedom and justice in the context of our American experience.
As for the first, Salahuddin Muhammad discusses the interfaith initiatives of Imam Warith Deen Mohammad. The significance of this points to the tendency towards religious group isolation in America.
Christianity, Islam and Judaism are referred to as the Abrahamic Faiths. In that Abraham is considered the father of all three, then Christians, Muslims and Jews are first cousins in faith. Wouldn’t America be a great country if we all learned to treat one another as family members rather than as infidels?
On recent trips to Accra, Ghana and Dakar, Senegal I was pleasantly surprised to see men and women of different faiths, sometimes within the same family, willingly working cooperatively to improve their collective community life. They acknowledged their different faiths but respected the rituals and holy days of each other.
Many Americans are quite comfortable in interfaith settings. There are some, however, that are antagonistic toward other faiths. This is unfortunate and Salahuddin Muhammad discusses why this approach was a central theme in the work of Imam W. D. Mohammed.
The second important aspect of this work was an examination of the relationship between freedom and justice. In the context of our partitioned society, we often speak of these two as co-components of American Democracy. However, our history paints a difference picture.
Initially at its founding, these ideals were extremely important — albeit for white males only. As time passed, greed and self-interest over-powered these ideals and individual freedom took precedence over social justice.
Freedom came to mean that one was justified in exercising their individual freedom even if it meant that equity and justice for others had to be sacrificed.
This book is a great read. It explains two important aspects of American society from an Islamic perspective. Simply stated, Social Justice can only be achieved through the interfaith cooperation of God-conscious people who understand social justice as Divinely decreed for all of the Almighty’s creatures.
