Thai Fisherman Pants: what did I do before I had these pants? These are the most comfortable pants ever. So comfortable, and the deep thigh pocket is very handy. I ordered them (ebay- from Thailand- fair price sellers for fair wage workers) several times and each time the new pants came quickly all the way from Bangkok neatly packaged. The only down side is that I had to go to the post office to sign  for the pants- Homeland Security scrutinizing my magic pants! I thought they would be good for drumming, but now I want to wear them all the time. If I thought I could get away with these pants at work, I so would be wearing these every day. Love the pants.

Sumbul Ali-Karamali has written a prayer, and modestly called it a book. It is "The Muslim Next Door: The Qur'an, the Media, and that Veil Thing."

I don't care who you are or what faith tradition you follow, this book is necessary. I use the word necessary because it's the only one that fits. Really. This book should be required reading in America. Ms. Ali-Karamali has written gently, and repectfully, with humor, and also with an authoritative scholarly voice. I can't remember the last time I carried a book around with me the way I have carried this book. Part of the power of this book for me has been in the experience of carrying it with me and encountering the interest and puzzlement of other people simply in reaction to the title. Always with the "Why are you reading that as a kind of subtext. I have enjoyed carrying the book with me as a social experiment, and as a way to enter into the suggested topics for discussion in the back of the book. This book will stay with me a long time.

I read a review of the book that said something like it was a quick read and "not tiring." I would say, instead, that this book is very approachable. It is scholarly, with citations and recommendaitons for further reading. It is not, however, a "little book." My sense of this book is that it should be taught. How lucky would be the students of the author herself. She should tour. Seriously. At the least, this book should be required reading in curricula around the country.

I have gone over my copy carefully and have dog earred and post-it marked and highlighted and underscored. I have read the chapters in order and returned to them again. I have sat thinking deeply about the questions for discussion at the end of the book. I am hoping, selfishly, that the author will tour with this book and lecture. I hope that the author will be invited to universities and high schools across the country. I hope that the author will be invited to churches, synagogues and community  centers. I hope that the author will be the key note speaker at a long line of interfaith dialogue dinners.

As a Jewish Spiritual Director, I was looking carefully at each chapter of this book looking for a bone to pick with the author. I found only tiny nits to pick that arose from my own knee-jerk worries about anti-Semitism on the rise in America. I worried that some reference to a particular group of "Zionists" and Jewish Defense League might be misunderstood by common readers as representative of the opinions and activities of all Jews. But, the author was respectful to Jews and to Judaism and to Christianity as well. I will return to this book many more times in my life I have no doubt. I will give this book as a gift to our local library and URGE all of you to immediately get a copy from Amazon or to order it through your local bookseller. In fact, this book should be required reading for all candidates for political office and anyone sent as an emissary on behalf of the U.S. into Middle East. I learned a lot from this book, was reminded of more, and encouraged to delve deeper into the recommendations for further reading.

I found the book to be honest and well-researched. This author is the genuine article: a thorough scholar and a gifted writer. Throughout, I kept thinking that this American Muslim woman is a real patriot. Her writing is enhanced with love and hope and bravery and pride in the American ideal; specifically an a nation of tolerance for religious diversity. I found myself nodding in agreement at every turn of the page. When I got to the last page, I found that my notion of this book being a combination of religious, political and social educational tool, a personal memoir, and prayer for peace to be summed up in the most beautiful final paragraph. I hope the author will forgive me for reprinting it here:

 "I live inside my religion because it is sensible, simple, and it teaches good things like forgiveness, generosity, tolerance, and compassion. I live in America because I believe it can be a nation of many faiths, As people of all religions have urged, it is time for genuine understanding and dialogue, not media hysteria and anti-Islamic racism. If we can separate the daily distortions from the reality, perhaps we can break out of that medieval framework of domination and hostility. Instead of working toward a "clash of civilizations," perhaps we can avoid a "clash of ignorances."

 This just reads to me like prayer....like a prayer for all of us. Isn't it?  For my part if we redact "anti-Islamic" ...that sentence would read ...it is time for genuine understanding and dialogue, not media hysteria and  racism. 

Amen.

Kol ha kavod, Sumbul.