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Irony? Paradox? Life?

Posted October 1st, 2013 by Lesley Hazleton

The resident feline got the worst of a cat fight, is groggy on antibiotics and pain meds, and despite all the TLC, has somehow gotten out of the houseboat and gone into hiding under the raft, somewhere in the six inches or so between the top of the flotation logs and the bottom of the raft itself.   I’m very much afraid she won’t come out at all.

High anxiety.

I kayaked around the raft in the rain, flashlight in hand, calling for her. No response. Nothing to do but dry off and try to distract myself online, where I found that I’d been emailed an article on TEDGlobal by Steve Marsh in the current issue of Delta Airlines’ Sky_Magazine, with this lovely couple of paras on me:

TED’s sangfroid is ultimately a good thing. Case in point is my favorite talk of the week, given by Lesley Hazleton… A self-described “accidental theologist,” she examines the essential role doubt plays in any faith, making an example of the divine revelation of the Koran to the prophet Muhammad on a mountain outside of Mecca in 610. “ ‘Doubt,’ as Graham Greene once put it, ‘is the heart of the matter,’ ” she says. “Abolish all doubt, and what’s left is not faith, but absolute, heartless conviction.

Between sessions on Thursday, I buy Hazleton’s book, The First Muslim, and tell her that her talk reminded me of the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard’s concept of despair. She uses the index in her book to find the passage that acknowledges the connection and signs my copy, ‘To Stephen—Knowing you’ll love a bio of Muhammad that bows in passing to Kierkegaard!’ Lesley Hazleton is cool.

Irony? Paradox? Life? All I know is that I just wish I could be cool about the missing feline…

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Update:

Uncool lasted eight hours.  Wounded cat finally emerged.  Florence Nightingale here back on the job.

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Further update, October 9:

Healing well in progress.  Florence Nightingale retired.

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File under: existence | Tagged: Tags: cat, doubt, faith, Sky magazine, Steve Marsh, TEDGlobal, The First Muslim | 10 Comments
  1. mary scriver says:
    October 1, 2013 at 9:49 am

    Not to panic. Cats survive by consolidating and waiting in a safe place. Anyway, cats can swim fairly well — though they might not like it. Siamese cats live on boats and will even jump in after fish!

    Prairie Mary

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      October 1, 2013 at 10:32 am

      Thanks, Mary, but this one is badly abscessed and in pain. She can swim, of course (cat paddle is like a frantically speeded-up dog paddle), but that’s not the issue. It’s dry under the rafts, and dark, and inaccessible to humans, and sick cats have gone to die there in the past. I’ll call in divers to try to find her if she doesn’t emerge by tomorrow morning.

  2. Karen says:
    October 1, 2013 at 1:56 pm

    Saint Anthony is the patron saint of lost items. I’m sure he hears the prayers of theologists first. (This was our childhood prayer — “Saint Anthony – Saint Anthony – please come around. Something’s been lost and cannot be found.”) I hope your feline friend returns home soon, Lesley.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      October 1, 2013 at 3:26 pm

      Hi Karen — just updated with return of the prodigal wounded feline (maybe she’s Catholic and responds to Saint Anthony?)

  3. Jane Spickett says:
    October 1, 2013 at 6:08 pm

    A hard loss but, if she has chosen her place to die, I can only admire her. Still, I hope she returns and you can be present to each other when she leaves.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      October 2, 2013 at 8:14 am

      Thanks, Jane. She’s emerged, and seems to be slowly healing. But yes, you’re right: my hope would be to hold her as she dies. Which I realize might conflict with her instinct. Like most cats, she’s remarkably independent minded.

  4. Lynn Rosen says:
    October 2, 2013 at 12:06 am

    So glad to learn of the return of the prodigal feline. Most all of us do go off to heal without sympathetic bystanders pestering us.
    St. Jude of the Impossible is also one of my favourites. He always worked when I was taking finals or facing something, well, impossible.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      October 2, 2013 at 8:18 am

      Looks like this agnostic Jew now has two patron saints: Anthony plus Jude the Impossible!
      I find it interesting that in my high anxiety yesterday, I lit a candle and put it in the window. This is uncharacteristic. I’m not a candle-and-crystals kind of person, as you know, but it did offer a small warm flicker of comfort.

  5. "Hatch" Khazvini says:
    October 2, 2013 at 9:17 am

    I am an admirer of your writing, having read two of your recent books with great interest – but being an animal lover, and more specifically, being part of possibly the only NGO in India that cares (mainly) for cats, I’m now an admirer of the person as well. Nice going, hope your liittle lady heals and is back in action soon.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      October 2, 2013 at 9:57 am

      Thanks, Hatch — fingers crossed.

Canceled in Turkey

Posted September 20th, 2013 by Lesley Hazleton

Under the heading Disappointing But Not Exactly Surprising:

taksimThere will no Turkish edition of The First Muslim.  My Turkish publisher received a reader’s report on the book from an un-named “academic member of Islamic history” at the Faculty of Theology at Marmara University, and today emailed to say that “The report showed more than a few aspects about your book which, considering the current political situation, might not be desirable and welcomed in Turkey.  I am apologetic to tell you that our company has decided not to proceed with your book.”

Since the book had already been translated and was ready for publication next month, this is a decision that comes at some cost to the publisher.

Here’s the upshot of the report:

The work seems successful in general.  However it has some lack of knowledge and misinformation.  Besides, it has an attitude imputing the prophet Mohamed and Muslims especially when it comes to Jews… The book is the product of a serious labor.  Nonetheless it is concluded that the translation of the book to Turkish is not appropriate when it is considered lack of information mentioned above and negative comments which are sometimes beyond the purpose and sometimes understood to be made consciously.”

The full report is here.  It seems I should have simply skipped over the tension between the early Muslims and the Jewish tribes of Medina, which culminated in the massacre of the men of the small Qureyz (Qurayza) tribe, and was, the academic reader argues, the fault of the Jews themselves.  (This argument is very familiar to me, since I’ve debated it many times with fundamentalist-leaning Muslims, both in public and in private.  I am equally familiar with most of the other points raised by “the academic member” — though the one about Jesus having or not having a father struck me as particularly picayune.)  The real complaint, of course, is that the book is not a hagiography, and does not conform to the requirements of piety.

As the publisher wrote, this is a political decision.  These are edgy times in Turkey, where Prime Minister Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party seem intent on deepening the instititutionalization of Islam despite strong secular resistance.  Three months ago, Taksim Square was the epicenter of the secular/religious clash.    Inevitably, my book falls into that same volatile intersection of religion and politics.  That’s the realm I’ve been exploring for years now, and will continue to explore.

Just not, it seems, in Turkish.

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File under: fundamentalism, Islam | Tagged: Tags: Erdogan, Marmara University, The First Muslim, Turkey | 52 Comments
  1. Chad says:
    September 20, 2013 at 1:55 pm

    It may still be explored in Turkish. Classic scenario: some book or newspaper or person is banned (for any reason). This gains some media attention. A translation makes its way online and cant be blocked by authorities, or banned person gets international media attention, shedding more light and giving more interest in it than if things were allowed naturally. My only other comment on this is that we have to keep in mind that lots of people in that part of the world WANT this institutionalization of religion believing that it will solve their problems. Hard to say whether they are a majority or minority. We’d like to think they are a minority but Im not so sure. Religion preys on the ignorant like a lion attacking the baby deer. And they dont know better.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      September 20, 2013 at 4:48 pm

      Just to clarify: the book has not been banned in Turkey. Rather, the publisher was apparently given to understand that it might be wiser not to publish a Turkish translation. Whether this would be so or not remains an open question.

      • Ross says:
        September 20, 2013 at 5:19 pm

        With my limited knowledge I find some difficulty in figuring out whether the authorities are being repressive or cautious: this brings to mind the conflicts when the vernacular Bible was undertaken: knowledge and perceived truth to be controlled by the elect.

        The caution angle springs to mind after the Turkish Government’s reaction to our ridiculous NSW State Government recent recognition of the “Armenian Genocide” recently. It seems to me that the Turks would rather deal with this matter–as they are slowly doing–on their own terms and with their perceived social cohesion preserved. Perhaps this applies to your book?

        Was “After the Prophet” translated into Turkish and published there?

        • Lesley Hazleton says:
          September 21, 2013 at 11:18 am

          To be clear, this is not a matter of the authorities clamping down on the book. It’s a cautious decision on the part of the publisher, taking account of a political climate that he fears may rebound against him. He may well be right.

    • Gozde says:
      December 8, 2013 at 3:57 pm

      It is a pity that the book’s publication encountered such an impediment in my country. Well, I would like to say that I’ve just finished reading the book and I truly enjoyed it. As I believe that there can be no “one, true” biography or historical account of Muhammad’s life, there is no meaning in criticizing the author for shaping the book as she wished or adopting the viewpoint that she had. As far as I know this is the first book about the Prophet’s life written by a woman, so for that alone it’s hugely important.

      Lesley Hazelton, from the moment I started reading the first few words to the very last chapter, your prose, your historical narrative, mesmerized me. The events and the characters are so openly and candidly described. Muhammad is portrayed as a (fallible) human being–which was exactly what was needed compared to the languid bibliographies penned by such authors like Martin Lings.

      Although I currently live and study outside Turkey, the book will definitely find its way to the hands of several friends. Maybe not in a Turkish translation, but in English.

      • Lesley Hazleton says:
        December 8, 2013 at 4:40 pm

        Warming words on a freezing day in Seattle. Thank you so much!

  2. Rashid says:
    September 20, 2013 at 3:16 pm

    Dear Lesley,

    I am quite a big fan of your work but just a side note you mention the “massacre” of the Qurayza tribe now I (from my humble understanding) read that the actual incident may not have even taken place as scholars such as Imam Malik and Ibn Hajar saw that this particular “report” (I’m guessing you mostly relied on Ibn Ishaq’s work) was lacking in authenticity and that as such cannot be taken as an actual historical incident but in fact it is related in the Bukhari and Muslim collections of hadith (which if I may note are the most authentic Hadith collections bearing also in mind that they contain some weak hadith but as whole entire work they are the most authentic out of the collections of Hadith) that the ruling was that only on the warriors or those who betrayed the pact during battle (basically committing high treason) and the numbers of 960 or so are not mentioned it is simply mentioned that those who committed the treason be executed.

    I recommend reading this webpage its a very accurate analysis about this particular subject by W.N. Arafat :

    http://www.haqq.com.au/~salam/misc/qurayza.html

    I just wanted to re-etirate that I deeply enjoy your work and had I not respected your sincerity and academic scholarship I wouldn’t have brought this matter to light I hope I didn’t offend you in anyway or come of as a pomps know it all .

    Wish you the very best,

    Rashid

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      September 20, 2013 at 4:58 pm

      No offense taken, Rashid. There have indeed been many reinterpretations of the early accounts in ibn-Ishaq and al-Tabari, and the argument as to which traditions are ‘authentic’ and which ‘inauthentic’ continues within Islamic theology. This is clearly a deeply disturbing episode in Muhammad’s life, especially for believing Muslims. My decision not to gloss over it, as many other modern biographers have done, was not taken lightly. It is, as I see it, a matter of according Muhammad the integrity of reality — of being human, rather than of being inhumanly perfect. (The same applies, of course, to my exploration of the ‘Satanic verses,’ an episode in which I admire Muhammad’s courage in openly acknowledging that he had been wrong.)

      • Rashid says:
        September 21, 2013 at 11:33 am

        May I say that I am deeply honored that you have replied to my message !

        I have to agree with you (as a Muslim) in that the Prophet Mohammed was human when it came to emotions, reactions and tendencies and thats why I have a deep respect for his character and connect with him as a person. I find the words of Thomas Carlyle to be very fitting “Faults? The greatest fault I should say, is to be conscious of none.” Truly as the Originator of the universe said in the Quran (( A man among you))

        I hate to sound so patronizing and obnoxious please bare with my poor tactfulness.

        The crux of the matter is that the majority of historians did not “re-interpret” the matter of the execution but found other separate reports which according to the requirements of verifying narrations or”Hadith” where far more authentic than Ibn Ishaq’s narrations.

        Ibn Ishaq’s and Al Tabari’s methodology of gathering reports was very shall we say poor and considered not on par with the very stringent requirements of gathering narrations (you may want to check out the book “Usool Al Hadith” or the Methodology of Hadith) that was used by many of their contemporaries thus the majority of Muslim scholar and historians today and previously take some acceptation on details in Al Tabari and Ibn Ishaq’s works.

        What my ramble is on about is that the details of this incident as related in Ibn Ishaq’s biography is academically and historically not proven.

        On a less bothersome note I really feel very exited and inthralled to be exchanging thoughts with a person as your self. I find sincerity a very rare thing today among academics (muslims as well as none muslims) but in you madam I find it and it is that very quality in you that made me love your books and talks (I’m ever the flatterer aren’t I).

        With outmost respect,

        Rashid

  3. Rashid says:
    September 20, 2013 at 3:21 pm

    P.S I forgot to mention that in another authentic Hadith it is mentioned that the actual number of those executed where 40.

  4. fatmakalkan says:
    September 20, 2013 at 6:23 pm

    I am very sorry. I was VP of my region for Prime Minester Erdogan. What this people are claiming totally none sense. And Erdogans party was build as a reaction to 85 years of harsh ruling of anti- Islamic anti any religion communists. I couldn’t teach at Turkish university because I cover my hair. I couldn’t run for parliament because I was covered. I can not enter any court even if i were a lowyer. i couldnt work in any goverment job because i was covered. i coulnt go to any school public or private with my scarve. There fore we builded AKP. And what happened at Istanbul Taksim was a similar game that removed Mursi from Eygpt. AKP or Erdogan is not fanatics. I know prime minister well personally and I was elected official of AKP. This is a sorry excuse of the person who wrote this letter to you. It does not represent truth. AKP has no goal of institutionalizing Islam in Turkey. As Muslim Turks we want to same freedoms secularist enjoying since years. Secularism means in their mind oppressing believers. it is not the same secularism we enjoy at USA. I have more rights at USA as a Muslim women than in Turkey. Isn’t this wrong? I am reading first Muslim and wrote comment last night to your blog. I loved the book. It is unique and filling very important gap about Prophet Mohammad’s biography . I didn’t see anything about you siding with Jews . As I said who ever wrote this letter to you did not even understood what you are writing at First Muslim.

    • Chad says:
      September 21, 2013 at 3:25 am

      Ms. Fatma, I do agree that there should be freedom of religion and freedom to dress or cover your hair in any supposedly free society. So secularism shouldnt mean banning you from wearing a head scarf. For a while, Turkey had gone a little overboard there.

      BUT, I think everyone should agree that an important aspect of Secularism is the separation of religion and state, which as it stands should not allow parties based on religion to be in the political arena. Thats the lesson that was learned in Egypt (the hard way). Even in the USA, the political party which doesnt separate church and state (guess which one, LOL) is the party holding us back from growth as a nation and people.

      • fatmakalkan says:
        September 21, 2013 at 8:50 am

        Chad, thank you for replying.
        Yes absolutely you are right. AKP ruling party doesn’t want to change regime . It has no agenda to replace secularism with Sharia law. In Democracy every group of citizens must be represented at political arena. Devout Muslims were always band out from elections. Their parties closed one after another. And their human rights were taken away. At AKP we respect all citizens of Turkey, from any religion or background. Secularism is assurance of that. But CHP leftist party wants to show AKP as if it is Islamist party. Which is not! Inside of the our party there are liberals, ex- leftist people, democrats, nationalists, and devout Muslims, and cultural Muslims, conservatives . Basically AKP is mainstream party sits on the middle. Neither left or right. Proof of this we got % 50 of the vote at general elections. Turkey will never become another Iran! But on the other hand we want to be independent. We can not be Saudi Arabia either. We want equality in the Turkey, equality in the Middle East, equality in the world for every human being.

        • Nasir Khanzada says:
          September 21, 2013 at 10:18 am

          Turkey was the last of the Islamists that singly ruled Asia, Africa and Europe for centuries and finally decayed. They lost to rising, fresh and superior Europeans who had come out (14th-17th CE) of the centuries of ‘Dark Age’ and burst out of their shell in all directions, as to this day. The non Arabs, especially Muslims of the Indian sub-continent and now Pakistan still value Turkey greatly. Turkey is again on rapid rise more than other Muslim states and we wish them well ahead -secular, Islam or headscarf aside for a while…

        • Lesley Hazleton says:
          September 21, 2013 at 11:45 am

          Well said, Fatma. Turkey has indeed been admired these past several years for its leadership as a modern Muslim-majority country, a bright antithesis of repressive regimes such as that of Saudi Arabia. That’s precisely why I was so delighted when ‘The First Muslim’ was due to come out in Turkish, and why I’m disappointed now that it won’t. I don’t see this as a reflection on the AKP — I see it as over-cautiousness in what seems, post-Taksim, to be an uneasy political climate. Please correct me if I’m wrong here.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      September 21, 2013 at 11:28 am

      Thank you, Fatma. Again, this was not a result of any government action. It was a reaction to a pedantically fundamentalist reading of the book, which is still available in English.
      The principle of freedom of religion, of course, is not freedom “from” religion, as extremist atheists seem to imagine, but freedom to choose and practice any religion or none. To be secular or to be religious is a personal choice, and as you note, a free government ensures that this choice is available to all, without discrimination.

  5. Nasir Khanzada says:
    September 21, 2013 at 12:04 am

    I must say that the Turkish authorites of the Unversity of Marmara have rightly pointed out many weaknesses in your work. At the same time, your publishing their comments is apprecaited. The Quran & Muhammad are told many times in your Scriptures and all evidence of truth have come to you and yet you remain ‘agnostic and accidental theologist’ and a sceptic clash with upright reasoning!

  6. Ali says:
    September 21, 2013 at 3:41 am

    Dear Lesley,

    There is a smear campaign is being executed against the AKP of Turkey by some of the illegal groups and secessionist organizations. It is unacceptable that any kind of idea or opinion against the governance should be under control or be banned by the government. I mean, there is a huge disinformation campaign is in action all around the globe by the individuals or the organizations who does not want the development of the country and the government of Turkey. In a world that people can criticize even the prophets because of their messages or sayings that right or wrong, it is so natural that you can make mistakes because of wrong information or lack of sources with a few viewpoints. By saying that I do not want to criticize or blame you as I am not a person like that. I’d rather prefer that the readers should judge you or make comments after reading your book. For this reason, please stop being a part of this campaign against the government in Turkey and approach the situation with a neutral attitude as I know your personality as an Agnostic 🙂

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      September 21, 2013 at 11:36 am

      Ali, I think you may be jumping to conclusions here. Once more, this was not, repeat not, the result of direct government interference, but a reaction to a general political climate. No matter what you think of ‘The First Muslim’ and no matter where you stand in the Turkish political spectrum, it seems to me that people should be free to read it in their own language and decide for themselves.

      • Chad says:
        September 21, 2013 at 12:05 pm

        Yes, I think people are jumping to conclusions. Lesley stated the facts of what happened and that it was not a government ban but rather a publisher who felt the sensitive political climate now made it not the right time fir the book.

        However, I must say I just feel this is an excuse. I’d like to see what other books this publisher didnt take. Did he skip pro-religious books too? I’m doubtful.

        You see, as a person from the middle east, I know how this works. Sure, Turkey may be different. But generally in that part of the world, books may be banned from the government, but a publisher may decide to skip on a book for fear of government retribution. A friend of mine was a journalist in another mid east country, published a newspaper article talking about some of the stories of Aisha and how Islam split. He was put in prison for a while along with the paper’s editors for “blasphemy”.

        • Chad says:
          September 21, 2013 at 12:07 pm

          Not saying that Turkish government would have put the publisher in prison, just saying its complicated and im not buying your publisher’s excuses…

          • Lesley Hazleton says:
            September 21, 2013 at 4:03 pm

            I get it, but he lives and works in Turkey and I don’t. Further, there’s no sign that he anticipated any government backlash. I think it’s more that, having sought out a conservative opinion, he feared he had then invited a fundamentalist backlash which otherwise may not have occurred. Obviously I am disappointed in his decision, but under the circumstances, I can understand it.

      • Ali says:
        September 21, 2013 at 2:56 pm

        At the 10th line of my comment I wrote that “the readers of the book should review, criticize and comment”. Maybe I couldn’t express my thoughts clearly before. I want to say that, your book or any other books of others, have to be published unless it is directly against to sensitive values. I was asking for your book always in the bookstores (After the Prophet) for more than nearly a year. I watched your videos and talks… The only thing here I question is, why your book is not accepted by the publisher with the given reason of “political situation” ???

        Please explain me what is the meaning of this paragraph taken from your article;

        “The report showed more than a few aspects about your book which, considering the current political situation, might not be desirable and welcomed in Turkey. I am apologetic to tell you that our company has decided not to proceed with your book.”

        and this also;

        “As the publisher wrote, this is a political decision. These are edgy times in Turkey, where Prime Minister Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party seem intent on deepening the instititutionalization of Islam despite strong secular resistance. Three months ago, Taksim Square was the epicenter of the secular/religious clash.”

        Frankly speaking, I am asking these questions because I want to make sure what was the “true” reason that your book not published here in Turkey. I want to read your books in my native language if possible. I watched your several videos and impressed too much about one on the TED talks, “A tourist reading Koran”, and telling about you to all my friends 🙂

        I am not agree with the publisher about the “edgy times in Turkey” when it comes to publishing a book or knowledge.

        • Lesley Hazleton says:
          September 21, 2013 at 3:57 pm

          Ali, I won’t try to explain what was not my decision. If you click on the link in the post, you can read the reader’s report for yourself. If you then read the book, you can judge to what degree it has merit.

          • Ali says:
            September 21, 2013 at 5:30 pm

            Lesley, I have read both your article and the reader’s report and I am still not satisfied with your replies. I do not want to be offensive but to be frank with you, I can not understand your post’s aim. I mean, you are gracefully complain about the situation with a heading “Disappointing But Not Exactly Surprising” and highlight the loss of the publisher with the statement “Since the book had already been translated and was ready for publication next month, this is a decision that comes at some cost to the publisher” but still telling me about the reader’s report. Reader’s report is not important for me at the moment because I will be the one who to judge the “degree it has merit” after reading the book as you stated (I am not a critic just for my own account).

            Again, as I mentioned before, I respect your work and studies and want to read your books in my native language.

            In this instance, I can not find your publisher’s explanation sincere…
            There are hundreds of publishings, more inconvenient than yours in the country.

            Hope I didn’t displease you with my messages but believe me I want everything to be crystal clear in the light of the facts and you will find another publisher who can be more efficient.

            Have a good day.

  7. Chad says:
    September 21, 2013 at 6:47 pm

    I would like to broaden this discussion somewhat if you allow me, just to wonder. Going back to the book, which I have already read and immensely enjoyed, I see Lesley really writing beautifully about the main character, generally in a positive light as a good husband and father, a teacher and inspiration, and most importantly a human. I think there is definitely a problem in anyone who will focus on specific sentences or words or events to initiate violence or problems in their country (be it Turkey or elsewhere).

    As children growing up, we learn about many myths and imaginary people (Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Sandman, Boogie man, Superman, monsters in the closet, etc.). These mythical characters are always classified as either good or bad. For the simple mind of a child, these tools help guide them to understand what is right and wrong. But as adults we know (or should know) that life is more complicated than that. Humans are capable of good and evil.

    What saddens me is that religions have used the stories and biographies of their leaders/ prophets and have had to inevitably edit some stories to cast them as pure good men that never make a mistake. Or glorify them to god-equivalent. Now we have grown adult men who still look at the world through the lens of a child and good vs evil as if people are an extension of the cartoon characters they watch on TV. and of course what THEY believe in is “good” and everyone else (including the person pointing out a different side to their prophet) is “evil”. Such a childish rhetoric and idea that only increases the amount of hate in the world and totally ignored the whole idea behind “the invention of religions” which is raising humanity to a higher level of love and understanding. When we view these prophets or leaders for what they are: people just like all of us who saw a way to make people better and life better and took it, regardless whether they made mistakes in their life too, I believe it makes us respect them more.

    I think it is pointless to pull up other sources of history to argue against Lesley’s ideas in the book and try to say anything in the book is not accurate. This is not the point, it’s not a history book to be taught in schools. It is a book that presents a viewpoint with which you may or may not agree. The point is to humanize a prophet who was before everything else human, before being a Muslim, Jew, Christian, Buddhist, Atheist, Agnostic. Gnostic Agnostic or whatever. and reflecting off of that, that we are all HUMAN FIRST.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      September 22, 2013 at 1:31 pm

      Well put, Chad. And totally agree re this idea of perfection — and perfectability — which seems to me inhuman. That is, it denies humanity. And thus dehumanizes both ourselves and others.

  8. Ross says:
    September 21, 2013 at 6:59 pm

    That last sentence in the Marmara report must have hurt: We have plenty of approved books on the subject already, we don’t need another one (if I interpret it correctly)

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      September 22, 2013 at 1:18 pm

      Not hurtful, more kind of exasperating. Note the phrase “approved books,” the question of course being by whom.

  9. HUGH MCCAULEY says:
    September 21, 2013 at 8:05 pm

    I’m not surprised but really sad about your post. As an old grad. student of Oriental Studies at U of P from the 1960s & ’70s it makes me weep to realize how things have gone so wrong, from bad to worse. Islam has become combative all over the world, not submissive to their Allah. Peace and reason seems out of reach when stubborn Holy War is preached by influential Imams and the ignorant faithful believe that the West is the Devil, worthy only to be killed and killed. Mohamed (BPUH), they say, was arguably just a simple man.

    Unlike Jesus, who sacrificed himself, Mohamed was not executed on a cross. The Prophet, died peacefully in his own bed and was buried under it. Who are now, since the 1970s, mounting Jihad everywhere? Fearful times, eh? Muslims, by and large, see you as a Jew and a Western Atheist, hated. Be brave, tell your story — until they come to get you.

    ________________________________

    • fatmakalkan says:
      September 22, 2013 at 8:46 am

      Hugh, certainly there are extremist that very ignorant about Islam yet can attract group of ignorant people and send them to kill. But view of Islam : if anybody kills one innocent person he will be punished as if He killed all human beings on the face of the earth! This is from Quran. Terrorist can NOT BE MUSLIM , Muslim Can NOT BE TERRORIST!
      But west ignite this terrible problem and fueled many many years by unfair foreign policies agains Muslims under occupation by non- Muslims commited atrocities in those lands. Than this sick mined persons became enemy of west and prayed on ignorant young adults turn them in to killing machines. We are in this mess as whole world. I hate to be in this situation as a devout Muslim. For many years western media saw this as a opportunity to mock Islam. They always said ‘Muslim terrorist” . They brain wash people putting Muslim term by Terrorsist. Why they did not call IRA As A Christian Terrorist for example? Muslims all over the world are very very sad about whole stuaition.

      • Chad says:
        September 22, 2013 at 9:41 am

        Fatma, i’ve got to agree with Hugh’s assessment. While the killing and terrorism happening seems to go against your interpretation of Islam, please DO NOT blame the west and/or other religions for this. The evolution of Islam over time, unfortunately has taken a more violent turn with ignorant religious teachers. As we speak, messages of hatred and classifying the other as evil are happening everywhere from ultra-religious people of all religions.

        A truly perfect religion from a perfect godly figure would be perfect enough not to allow these atrocities to be done in its name. It wouldnt allow god’s words to be twisted and misinterpreted in 1000 different ways. That goes for Islam and Christianity too. Alas, we reach a conclusion that just like everything humans make, just like humans themselves, these (man made) religions are far from perfect. I feel that Fatma’s defensive stance only proves my point of how religion makes us cast ourselves as good and the other as evil.

        • Lesley Hazleton says:
          September 22, 2013 at 1:35 pm

          Oh Chad — “a truly perfect religion”? But what did you just say (and I agree with) in your previous comment?! Religions, as you say, are human constructs, and while intended to bring out the best in us, they can also bring out the worst. Should we then blame the religion itself? Or should we acknowledge the multiple factors that go into religiously inspired extremism, as Fatma argues?

          • Chad says:
            September 22, 2013 at 2:54 pm

            I stand by the previous idea of religions being imperfect but intended to bring out the best in us, which you agree with. And I acknowledge the wide variety of factors leading to extremism. Thats exactly why I dont’ accept Fatma’s blaming “the West” for what we are seeing. My argument with Fatma is that I would have preferred to see acknowledgement of these imperfections in our Islam before we blame the West and other religions and people for our struggles. But if someone views their religion as perfect and ignores the issues, they start blaming the others. But they cant accept that there are imperfections when they believe it is all from god. I wonder if Fatma could accept viewing Islam as anything but perfect.

            Herein lies the problem, Lesley. Sure, like you replied to Fatma, the vast majority of Muslims refuse terrorists and their acts. But the vast majority will refuse to accept that what they believe in is something imperfect and that religion did plant seeds of hatred. That’s why you being non-devout Jewish makes you able to look at things in perspective. While a devout Muslim, Christian or Jew will be stuck in the mindset of “We are the good true believers and the rest of the people are evil doers out to hurt us”. And as a cause for that, there is some blame to go towards the religions themselves who present themselves in this light of perfection and plant seeds of hatred towards others. and these seeds of hatred grow in different directions, and one will be extremism and terror. It’s complicated…..

          • Lesley Hazleton says:
            September 23, 2013 at 9:28 am

            I think we’re in danger of over-generalizing when we talk about religion in the singular. No religion is monolithic. There is no single Islam, no single Judaism, no Christianity. Each is made up of many streams/denominations/traditions/sects, so that it would really be more appropriate to think in plural terms — that is, to talk about Islams, Judaisms, Christianities. For instance, contemplative Jews, Muslims, and Christians have far more in common with each other than with the hard-core dogmatists of their “own” faiths.
            The larger questions here are deep and fascinating:
            — Why do we need to be convinced of perfection?
            — Why do we insist on rationalizing faith?
            — Why are we so intolerant of our own doubts and our own imperfectability?
            I find it fascinating that the image of the perfect world — Eden — is one that depends on NOT eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge. And I’d argue that in that foundational story, humanity began not with the creation of Adam and Eve’s physical being, but with that first bite of the apple, which was the birth of consciousness.

      • Lesley Hazleton says:
        September 22, 2013 at 1:42 pm

        Fatma, you express in that one sentence — “I hate to be in this situation as a devout Muslim” — what I know the vast majority of Muslims the world over feel. (And that one sentence also expresses how I feel, as a non-devout Jew, about Israel.)
        As for the role of the West, yes, I think we’re still stuck in the backlash of 19th and 20th century colonialism, all of us still paying for that mind-numbing arrogance.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      September 22, 2013 at 1:23 pm

      Perhaps something of an over-reaction, Hugh? I assure you nobody’s coming to “get me”.

      • fatmakalkan says:
        September 22, 2013 at 4:02 pm

        Thank you Lesley. You do understand me.
        Dear Chad,
        We are human being and we are not perfect just opposite we have many imperfections. Islam is perfect but Muslims are not perfect. Every Human being has given intelligence to chose right or wrong. Belief or disbelief. No one has a right to judge each other. We can not say all believers are good non believers bad or opposite. I do not know you how can I say that you are a bad person because you don’t believe in God. Being Bad or Being Good has nothing to do with our religions or nationality or race. It has everything to do how we choose to behave towards other people or animals. One can be an atheist and yet very good person. Or one can be Muslim yet very bad person. I don’t have a right to judge others how can I while I have many shortcomings .
        When we oppress people and make them suffer treat them unjustly they will start rebelling if this continuous decades some of the people who are oppressed goes over the board and transgresses the limits becomes Terrorist. I am not blaming just western politicians I am also blaming terrorist for being ignorant and violent people. Education is the key issue. If we educate people more they will not transgress the limits. Biggest problem we are facing at Muslim world is ignorance. First of all about our own religion Islam.

        • fatmakalkan says:
          September 22, 2013 at 4:14 pm

          instead of Bushes being President if Al Gore was president I believe we were not going to have terrorism for example. Clinton and Obama as Presidents handled Middle East much better in my opinion.

  10. Chad says:
    September 22, 2013 at 6:16 pm

    Mrs. Fatma,

    I agree of course with what you say that someone’s religious beliefs don’t tell u whether they are “good” or “bad” people. But again, when someone says “Islam is perfect” or “Christianity is perfect” etc. that is automatically judging other’s people’s beliefs right off the bat. And again, if it was perfect, it would not have allowed this misinterpretation of religious texts to allow even this small percentage of people to become killers. You’ve blamed the West and blamed the terrorists too, but you absolve religion from any responsibility and that is where we disagree.

    Do you hear of the prophecies about the “end of days” on earth that different religions have? Do you know that most devout religious people believe in them? And that they involve people killing people of other religions to prove “righteousness” in the end? How ironic. Do you not see that killings and crimes that take place in the name of religion scar the religion itself? And what are current muslim scholars doing to counteract these acts of crime and terror that occur in religion’s name? Are they trying to spread the word of love and forgiveness towards all mankind and religions? I don’t think so. They continue to talk negatively about people of other religions in their sermons every week in every small and big town. I understand the way you have reconciled the ugliness out there with your belief that religion is perfect by finding other things to blame the ugliness on, I used to do that too when I was young. But, humanizing the religion and its source can be very liberating and allows a better perspective on life and the world.

    Your thoughts about Turkish governments in the past being anti-religion may be accurate. And the current Turkish government may be truly “secular” in the true sense of the word through separation of mosque and state, WITHOUT becoming anti-religion. But, I think it is generally agreed upon among most muslims and muslim scholars that they believe Islam is a way of life for them that governs everything they do including politics and government. Which goes against separation of religion and state. And that is not necessarily a knock on Islam. Devout Christians and Jews probably also believe that religion should be a big part of the political system that rules them.

    Interested to hear Fatma and Lesley’s thoughts on these points….

    • fatmakalkan says:
      September 22, 2013 at 9:33 pm

      Dear Chad, at Quran God says that: “today I perfected your religion for you. ” since I am a Muslim I believe my creator perfected my religion for me. That’s all I am saying. I am not saying any other thing. I can not choose some verses to believe some verses not to believe, in Quran. I have to believe all the verses in the Quran. That does not mean I am blaming you anyway.
      In my country you can not find any imam perching in their sermons hate against any other religion they concentrate about on muslim behavior and essentials of faith and worship and they condemn terrorist in every occasion. Have you heard Fethullah Gulan ? He is Turkish scholar lives at US and he always teaches tolerance, harmony and dialog and tries everything to stop terrorist.
      Yes religion encompasses all aspects of our lives but Islam is not against democracy. Quran teaches us to consult before giving decision at the family or at the government. In Turkey we have lived side by side since thousands years Jews, Christians and Muslims in peace and respect. We still do. Under the Ottoman Muslim Empire non Muslims were protected on religious rights and any other human rights issues. Today we have secular republic and nothing chanced. We live in harmony. We are building at Houston a synagog, a church and a mosque in the same “Peace Garden” to show everyone how Turkish citizens lives at Turkey.
      At you tube there is a song by Mahsun kirmizigül demonstrates this harmony. Please check it out. Name of the song “Bizden degildir” it means “who ever discriminates, tyrants, liars are not from us” as I said at the past for 600 years we had Islamic law now secularism we are equals as citizens of Turkey.

      • fatmakalkan says:
        September 22, 2013 at 9:49 pm

        I am not blaming Gods religion for any violence because 10 commandments are same in all Abrahamic religions: it says “Do Not Kill!” Murderers are humans against God will. They dis obey God and they will be punish greatly by God in this world and hereafter.

      • Chad says:
        September 23, 2013 at 12:16 am

        Fatma,
        As someone whose native tongue is Arabic, I have to say that the verse you refer to translates differently.

        اليوم اتممت لكم دينكم

        It means: today i’ve completed/concluded your religion for you. Shouldnt translate to perfected. It was one of the last if not the last verse to come in before muhammad’s death.

        But you do not need to turn defensive. Regardless how this translates, if u believe it is directly from god then u surely think its perfect. Thats your choice. But then I threw several questions your way pointing to religious imperfections and hate that you chose not to address.

        You claim that in Turkey, no preachers preach hate. I cant claim to know preachers in Turkey. But I am sure the secular government is involved in controlling the preached message. I assure you that even if your claim is true, this is not the case in the vast majority of muslim countries. In most places, sermon carries quite sone hate. About as much hate as in a Pat Robertson talk. Problem is you wouldnt even know because in most places, women dont go to the Friday prayer and sermon with the men. So sure, maybe you are right about Turkey, I have not witnessed this directly, but Turkey is not the norm.

        In terms of government, please do not try to convince me that islamic rule and government is democracy. Consulting people about big decisions or gaving a shura council is not the same as true democracy. Please check back with Saudi and Iran for the latest ideas of how political Islam is. Turkish democracy that you so enjoy is not islam based.

        You also defend islam using examples from Turkey. I think you are still in the mode of trying to defend both based on the original discussion about Turkey’s ruling party. My critique is towards Islam as the average person and country lives it. Turkey is definitely more progressive and may have less hate preaching but only because the secular government has historically controlled it. Funny that the scholar you named who has inclusive and humane ideals actually lives in USA not Turkey. And the mosque/church/synagogue combo is in USA too. I dont think such an inclusive building of worship would be accepted in any muslim country.

        Again, you did not address my specific questions about hate in religion, you only went back to saying religion shouldnt be blamed. Bringing up that the 10 commandments said not to kill. But killing in the name of god and religion has been going on for centuries. The best reason not to kill, or steal, or lie, is because its wrong from a humane standpoint. Not because religion told us so.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      September 23, 2013 at 9:53 am

      I think perhaps the basic principle here is that real freedom of religion entails the freedom to choose, which in turn entails not curtailing other people’s freedom of religion (or non-religion).
      The thing is that we tend to think of religion solely as a matter of belief. But I think it’s far more than that. It’s also a matter of identity, of loyalty to tradition and family, a framework within which one lives one’s life. It provides the narrative of one’s life, as it were. Which means that religious difference is all too easily seen as an attack not only on belief, but on one’s very identity.
      At its most simplistic, and thus its most ugly, religious righteousness (I am right/you are wrong) can be manipulated for political purposes, especially when civic government is weak. Thus the ongoing carnage in Iraq and Syria and Pakistan, in Nigeria and Somalia, where the sense of citizenship is fragile, fractured into sectarian affiliation.

  11. Nasir Khanzada says:
    September 23, 2013 at 1:49 am

    ‘The Marmara University comments’ must have come as a surprise to many liberals, seculars, agnostics and accidental theologists, gays and atheists who thougth that Turley is secular, anti Arabs, pro western, Latin script, etc. where headscarf, beards, Adan and all things Islamic are banned. Lo and behold! Turkey is still Islamic to the core as its people always were and opposed to the Anatolian ‘Young Turks’ who are today fading away.

    • Chad says:
      September 23, 2013 at 3:07 pm

      Mr. Nasir, it seems you didnt read all the interesting comments. Turkey is still secular. Its just not anti-islam anymore.

  12. Seabell says:
    September 25, 2013 at 9:39 am

    Lesley,
    I find the political climate a bit edgy too but this is not a necessarily bad thing. I am happy with the more tolerant climate that Turkey has nowadays and most anti-whatever voices are not as loud as they used to be. I consider the last outburst in Gezi as growing pains. Protestors were anti – goverment without any specific subject but simply because they were tired of Erdogan and didnt have a political outlet to be represented. Erdogal really doesnt have his match in the political arena yet.
    I wish they had translated the book in Turkish. I have read “Muhammad” by Martin Lings in Turkish maybe 20 years ago and it is still to this day my favourite among all of the same subject.( I havent read “The First Muslim” yet but ordered online, so this may change :). That book did depict Mohammad as a human as one of us and it was that aspect of it that I liked most about the book and my religion as well. I remember some of my friends liking it and some not.

    I am afraid the report is the product of a very coutious publisher. Is it possible to try another?

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      September 25, 2013 at 4:00 pm

      That’s up to the American publishers, who own world rights, but we’ll see what happens.

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  15. milons says:
    September 26, 2013 at 1:02 pm

    The conversations on this thread are starting to sound like this:
    http://youtu.be/gb_qHP7VaZE

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      September 30, 2013 at 11:12 am

      My favorite Python movie!

“Why would you write a book?”

Posted August 2nd, 2013 by Lesley Hazleton

“You’re a Muslim, so why would you write a book about the founder of Christianity?”

That’s how Fox News’ Lauren Green began her challenge to Reza Aslan’s right to write about Jesus.  The video of her interview with him instantly went viral (in fact, several accidental theologists sent it on to me — thank you!).  It inspired several spoofs, including this one here.  Aslan’s book, Zealot (my San Francisco Chronicle review of it here) was already #2 on the Amazon bestseller list;  by the next morning, it was #1.

“Gotcha, J. K. Rowling!” Aslan responded.

But aside from the small detail that Christianity was founded by Paul, not Jesus, Green’s question may not be such a terrible one after all.

'Zealot'The First Muslim - CoverI’ve been there, and often still am — from the other side, as it were.  The first time conservative Muslims asked why I’d decided to write a biography of Muhammad, I spluttered in amazement: “But you don’t think he’s worth writing about?  This man who carved such a huge profile in history?  He’s your prophet, how can you even ask?”

It quickly became clear that this was not a sufficient answer, and that the question was not about my decision as a writer.  It was about my decision as a Jew.  Just as Green focused on Aslan’s Muslimness and assumed that his real agenda was to attack Christianity, so certain conservative Muslims focused on my Jewishness and assumed that my real agenda must have been to attack Islam.

Let’s get one thing straight right away:  just as many mainstream Christians have welcomed Aslan’s book, so many mainstream Muslims have welcomed mine.  It’s the conservatives we’re talking about here, those who cannot tolerate any deviance from received orthodoxy.

In the context of Fox’s Islamophobic politics on the one hand, and of the Israel-Palestine conflict on the other, perhaps such suspicion is inevitable.  But since Aslan’s book and mine both draw on scholarly resources but were written for general audiences, there’s another less obvious factor.  Most devout believers are unaware of the vast body of academic research on the early history of Christianity and Islam.  Used to hagiographic or devotional literature, they see any more dispassionate view of their revered figures as an assault on their belief.  Demanding perfection, they refuse to tolerate human imperfection.

But what if Green had interviewed Aslan not with the desire to criticize, but with the desire to know?  What if my conservative Muslim questioners had been more curious than judgmental?  Without such knee-jerk defensiveness, the question of what a non-Christian brings to the study of Jesus or a non-Muslim to that of Muhammad becomes an interesting one – a question, that is, about the value of the ‘outsider’ point of view.

Precisely because he or she does not come from a place of belief, what seems obvious to the insider is not at all so to the outsider.  It demands to be explored, to be understood on the multiple psychological, cultural, and political levels on which history takes place.  Done well, this process can create important new insights into otherwise received versions of history, opening up fresh ways of seeing and understanding, and finding new relevance in old stories.

As with Jesus, so with Muhammad:  by placing him in the world he experienced, in the full context of place and time, politics and culture – the ‘outsider’ biographer honors the man by honoring his lived experience.

Historical reality doesn’t detract from faith;  it humanizes it.  And when gross inhumanities are committed every day in the name of one faith or another, that alone should surely be more than enough reason to write.

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File under: agnosticism, Christianity, fundamentalism, Islam, Judaism | Tagged: Tags: 'Zealot', biography, Fox News, Islamophobia, outsider, Reza Aslan, The First Muslim, writing | 14 Comments
  1. mary scriver says:
    August 2, 2013 at 11:03 am

    The relevant term here is “fencing the Communion.” You know the little fence at the front of the church where you lean your elbows while waiting for the Elements to reach you? (Maybe not — ask a Catholic.) There was a huge early battle about who had to stay outside that railing and who was entitled to enter. Territoriality. Tribal. Strongest when the group is uneasy about its identity and afraid of dilution by outsiders. (Check the Mexican border. Heck, even the Canadian border.) Writing about American Indians without BEING American Indian is a mortal crime because it becomes harder and harder to define an American Indian.

    Prairie mary

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      August 2, 2013 at 11:13 am

      Great comment: territoriality is exactly the right word.

    • Mary Johnson (@_MaryJohnson) says:
      August 2, 2013 at 11:34 am

      Yes, Lesley you are SO right on here! And even if you’re a former believer, believers still automatically assume that a writer is out to, at best, criticize, at worst, completely demolish all they hold dear. People become so defensive that they can’t see that what a writer might really want to do is to explore, to understand, to express…..

      • Lesley Hazleton says:
        August 2, 2013 at 12:12 pm

        Yes, I saw it happening with you too, Mary. (For those who don’t know, Mary is a former nun who wrote a deeply moving memoir about her years with Mother Teresa and her decision to become secular: http://www.amazon.com/Unquenchable-Thirst-Memoir-Mary-Johnson/dp/0385527470/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375470558&sr=1-1&keywords=mary+johnson)

  2. sharmin banu says:
    August 2, 2013 at 11:14 am

    Very well said:).
    Most devout believers are unaware of the vast body of academic research on the early history of Christianity and Islam. Used to hagiographic or devotional literature, they see any more dispassionate view of their revered figures as an assault on their belief. Demanding perfection, they refuse to tolerate human imperfection.

  3. Fakhra says:
    August 2, 2013 at 4:52 pm

    Reblogged this on TOAL.

  4. saheemwani says:
    August 2, 2013 at 6:57 pm

    The advantage of a writer who doesn’t share the ideas/beliefs of the subject, in your case a prophet whose life was centered exactly on those ideas/beliefs, is a much-needed unbiased perspective of what that man did.

    The disadvantage could be not understanding the subject himself and missing out on the essence of why he did what he did.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      August 2, 2013 at 7:29 pm

      True, but understanding is on whose terms? Part of what I mean by “an agnostic eye” (in the banner of this blog) is an independent one.

  5. fatmakalkan says:
    August 3, 2013 at 11:37 pm

    I agree with you as a devout Muslim. In many verses in Quran Allah wants human-beings to contemplate but human- beings are afraid to contemplate about their faith. Or they are lazy or they simply doesn’t care about religion. They are culturally Jew , Christian or Muslim. They prefer to follow their forefathers religion not their own. When they pickup Revised addition of Bible how come they don’t ask this question: who has a right to revise God’s word? They are def, they are blind and impaired to think. My ten year old daughter was asking me about popular Belief about Jesus being son of God or being God. She asked me: don’t Christians think that Jesus died 2000 years ago if God died 2000 years ago who is running universe?and If Jesus couldn’t save himself how he is going to save them ? Or don’t they think how come eternal God dies?
    Bible says God is one! Why they made him 3? She is also asking about Islam and She is developing her faith. Contemplating is the key. Who doesn’t contemplate doesn’t have real faith they copy others faith.

  6. Tea-mahm says:
    August 6, 2013 at 11:28 am

    Yes! Keep the word bridges safe to pass over… thank you, Lesley and Reza. T’m

  7. anon says:
    August 11, 2013 at 10:34 pm

    I don’t think Aslan was writing as a “Muslim”—though it may have effected his perspective. I havn’t read the book but from watching various interviews, Aslan, apparently, puts the illiterate Jewish carpenter from Nazareth into a historical context/time-period.
    However,the picture of Jesus (pbuh) in the Quran is a Jewish man who is intelligent, literate, a good communicator, exceptionally skilled, and highly spiritual.

  8. Luis Alexis Rodríguez Cruz says:
    August 24, 2013 at 8:30 pm

    Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the matter. I think that the reporter did not use an intellectual point of view to question Aslan. Anyways, conservatism and closed minds always try to overlap what it is true. Also I think that his book is an academic book such as yours, books for academics, for open minded people, for intellectual people who think critically. Negative comments will always exist…

  9. Farrukh says:
    August 25, 2013 at 7:20 am

    Hello Lesley,

    I just wanted to appreciate your statement:

    Historical reality doesn’t detract from faith; it humanizes it. And when gross inhumanities are committed every day in the name of one faith or another, that alone should surely be more than enough reason to write.

    I’ve just placed the order of your book, The First Muslim in India, it was very expensive, however, they have now priced it correctly. This shall be my third biography on Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be on him, which I’m going two read. The other two by Karen Armstrong and Safiur Rehman Mubarakpuri.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      August 25, 2013 at 8:31 pm

      Thank you, Farrukh. And re The First Muslim, the UK edition is due out November 7. Since India is part of the ‘UK and Commonwealth’ distribution system, it should then be easily available in bookstores.

New: My TEDGlobal Talk — Video

Posted June 24th, 2013 by Lesley Hazleton

The talk I gave at TEDGlobal twelve days ago just went live!

Here it is — on Muhammad, the relationship between faith and doubt, and the travesty of fundamentalism:

Anything you can do to forward/repost/facebook/tweet/email/tumble/reddit/generally-spread-the-word will be wonderful.  Let’s stop being the far-too-silent majority!

Shortcut url is http://on.ted.com/Hazleton

————————————————–

[In case you missed it, my earlier TEDx talk on reading the Quran is here.]

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File under: agnosticism, Christianity, existence, fundamentalism, Islam, Judaism, Middle East, TED TALKS | Tagged: Tags: doubt, faith, Hazleton talk, Muhammad, TEDGlobal 2013, The First Muslim | 26 Comments
  1. Meezan says:
    June 24, 2013 at 10:35 pm

    Arguably the most emotional speech of yours. I am not afraid to admit that some man-tears were shed here (“blood – — – brothers, steeped in other people’s blood”, goosebumps). Brilliant as always. I must admit I always thought of faith as a non-questioning, always believing blindly and following orders kind of attitude. This has brought a new perspective on things; I am thankful to you for that.

    I have taken up the task of translating all of your ted speeches into Urdu. Time to wipe the dust off of my dictionaries. Fecundity. . . . . hmmmm.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      June 25, 2013 at 7:20 am

      Those man-tears especially appreciated, Meezan. Am both delighted and grateful that you’ve taken on the task of Urdu translation. Deep thanks. — L. (and feel free to email me if you have any questions re translation)

  2. Saheem says:
    June 25, 2013 at 4:01 pm

    Dear Lesley

    Thank you for your words. You never fail to impress by what you say and how you say it. Like its predecessors, this talk was deeply inspiring and informative. And it made perfect sense.

    It totally resonated with me – a Muslim believer. Till sometime back I used to think ‘I know’, then one day I dared to doubt. I started asking questions. From – ‘Is there a God?’ to ‘What is the whole purpose of this life?’

    After many sleeplesss nights, I got a few answers, all pointing in one direction. That there is so much to learn and a long way to go. And I would never have started on this journey towards truth had I not doubted.

    I’m no longer afraid to doubt. The basis of true belief lies in true doubt.

    Saheem

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      June 25, 2013 at 5:48 pm

      Reminds me of this from Robert Frost’s poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’: “The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep.”

  3. ZubinNur says:
    June 26, 2013 at 12:29 am

    Thank you so much Lesley for your work, for the inspiration you share. I hope and trust many will watch your video and feel more hope, more peace… or basically just be able to hold the space. We all do our thing. THANK YOU.

  4. annie minton says:
    June 26, 2013 at 2:28 am

    fabulous and thought provoking. Many thanks

  5. Joseph L. Puente says:
    June 26, 2013 at 12:54 pm

    Thank you for a wonderful talk. I found that it gelled quite well with an essay I wrote on my own blog and I would like to share it here: http://flippinutahmormons.blogspot.com/2011/09/on-doubt-skepticism-and-faith.html

  6. jeancallioux says:
    June 27, 2013 at 7:02 am

    I was both impressed and enlighted by your TED talk. Which brought me on the idea to translate it in Dutch (I am from the Netherlands), because it would make me understand your well-chosen words better. Also the video on Ted.com could/might be subtitled for Dutch viewers. Would you mind? And if not, do you have a text-version of your talk I could obtain?

    Yours sincerely, Jurgen

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      June 27, 2013 at 8:54 am

      Hi Jurgen, and thank you! Translations are done through TED’s all-volunteer Open Translation Project (http://www.ted.com/OpenTranslationProject). I know someone is already at work translating this talk into Dutch, but with so many talks coming out all the time, am sure TED would love to have you on board. — L.
      (A link to the English transcription of this talk is already online on the video page.)

  7. Guy de la Rupelle says:
    June 28, 2013 at 5:10 am

    P.S. I forgot to add what one person wisely said, that faith and doubt are the two sides of the same religious experience.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      June 28, 2013 at 11:16 am

      Ah, but you did say it — in your own way.

  8. irfan says:
    June 28, 2013 at 9:56 pm

    Thanks Lesley for such a beautiful speech, whenever I am watching your videos there is an experience of new learning…I know everything mentality is an arrogant mentality which closes the doors of new learning experiences in the life.

  9. nuzhat fakih says:
    June 29, 2013 at 8:11 am

    hi lesley,
    after hearing you on Ted, I stand by my verdict in the reply to your previous post, that you deserve to remain in the cloud……
    ‘doubt’ vis a vis ‘faith’ may be open to a subjective response, but the last part of the talk, as per Muhammad’s reaction to the present day scenario in the Islamic world, and the attitude of his followers is spot on…i have been trying to convince this viewpoint to whoever is ready to talk on this topic in the circle I interact with.
    thanks for reafffirming my faith in this context.
    nuzhat.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      June 29, 2013 at 8:48 am

      Thank you Nuzhat! “We love you in any state of gravity,” you wrote as I wondered how I was going to get my feet back to earth again, and I broke into a huge smile at that. It’s my privilege to help open up the conversation. — L.

  10. Nuzhat fakih says:
    June 30, 2013 at 3:59 am

    One more thought….for people who took offence to your word on the prophet’s “doubt” at the first instant of revelation…. I would say that this reaction conformed to his inbuilt nature of being humble. He did not take pride in being the chosen one, (and never did all his life),
    but in all humility needed reassurance at that point, of having been given that responsibility. Can anyone just accept prophethood one fine day, even when it was thrust upon him and that too without any aspiration for the same?
    I could plead with my community on so many issues to be understood in their right spirit, Lesley. People like you and me can scream ourselves hoarse. Thanks for your commitment though.
    Nuzhat.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      June 30, 2013 at 9:07 am

      Thanks, Nuzhat, but let’s not go hoarse! Isn’t it the gentleness of doubt that we value, as opposed to the violence of conviction?

  11. Nuzhat fakih says:
    June 30, 2013 at 7:37 pm

    True…..wish others could understand the human aspect of the prophet. Reverance would be more natural than ingrained.
    At this point I will share a secret…..a few years ago, standing at his tomb in Medina, prayers eluded me for a while, as his entire life story played in my mind. I could only have a silent conversation with him, telling him I wished I could have been present then, to have helped him in whatever way,etc…..that was my way of connection!

    Sorry, I think I’m beginning a Tarzan/Jane-Jew! relation with you….
    Love it and you….
    Nuzhat.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      July 1, 2013 at 1:21 pm

      Beyond prayer… Yes. Thank you, Nuzhat.

  12. Yusra Zainab says:
    July 6, 2013 at 5:04 am

    Hi Lesley,

    I am a muslim business student from Pakistan and your talk is very impressive. There is a lot that I agree with you on especially on the point that how one can never claim to be all-knowing and righteous. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon Him) always displayed humility and modesty. However, what seems questionable to me is the idea that Prophet Muhammad’s complete life and struggle in Islam was based on doubt. At the time of revelation, it was indeed fear and maybe doubt also that overwhelmed him. But later, with more revelations from God and at the point when he had to take major decisions, reform society, act as advocate of social and economic justice, propagate the message of Islam, he had complete conviction on the existence of God and on the revelations being the truth. There couldnt be any room for doubt or else, he might not even have taken those steps which he actually did. However,I also agree that faith is incomplete without doubt. For the courageous steps that he took, faith and doubt had to go hand in hand. But the doubt that remained with the prophet for his life which made him humble in his ways and for which Quran tells him not to despair was not the the doubt on the existence of the God but was doubt with regards to his own and his follower’s abilities, and if he had done his best in reforming the society, and if he had conveyed the message in rightful way. This was the doubt that made him alive, made him to give his best, be humble, continue his struggle, and ultimately have faith. This is according to my understanding of the religion but Allah knows best. It would be nice to hear your views on it. Thank you.

    Yusra Zainab.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      July 6, 2013 at 10:09 am

      I can only speak for my understanding of Muhammad — not as a believer, but as a human being. You’ve expressed the believer’s understanding very well — indeed, beautifully — and I thank you for what I read as a bridge between where I am and where you are. (I love the phrase “Allah knows best,” which comes up repeatedly in the early Islamic sources, because it acknowledges that humans beings often disagree, that there are limits to our knowledge, and that none of us can justifiably claim absolute “right.”)

  13. Nuzhat fakih says:
    July 7, 2013 at 3:58 am

    Yusra…..I suggest you read Muhammad Asad’s views on doubt being integral to ‘enhance’ and reiterate faith, in his interpretation of Sahih Bukhari, section 2, (the book of faith).
    He confirms that it (having doubts) held true for the prophet too, from the very word go…… As fellow Muslims we understand the prophetic mission carried out with sincerity and integrity, in its own religious context. As you also pointed out, his doubts were in true humility.

    But this talk, actually awakens us to the very Islamic philosophy of ‘exerting’ ourselves to the utmost, by questioning, to enable our spiritual upliftment.
    Faith (iman) need never be shaken by right enquiry, nor can it make you a lesser believer. Or else itjtihad would not be permitted to us.
    sharing my viewpoint, is the intention here.
    Nuzhat.

  14. Yusra Zainab says:
    July 7, 2013 at 12:38 pm

    Thanks Lesley for your views.

    Thank you Nuzhat for the reading suggestion. I will InshaaAllah try my best to go through them. I completely understand the importance of doubt in enhancing one’s faith and do not deny to that fact. My own journey to understand and then form belief on the teachings of Islam, Allah Almighty and Prophet Muhammad has been driven by continuous questioning, pondering and going through the scriptures and various articles that I could get hold of. Also, in my opinion, I don’t think one can be called a true believer until one has at least once questioned one’s beliefs, driven into details, tried to find more, and undergone the struggle to find the answers to the important questions. Or else, it would have been too easy to call oneself a believer. But from my experience and understanding, constant questioning often leads one to become more firm on what one holds as his/her beliefs as they (the beliefs) are now tested, and then accepted. It is at this stage when what one believes begins to impact his/her behaviour, actions, and objectives. The prophet too, I believed, reached that stage during his prophet hood and that is when, acting on his firm belief on the existence of God, he reformed the society. We know from the Islamic history about the incidence of Miraaj, and how prophet asked his followers and people to believe on it. How could one preach a message with extreme determination, bearing all atrocities and hard times, when one himself is in doubt about it? Especially, if we observe how specific Islamic teachings are about the basic tenants of belief. Thus, he believed with certainty that which he preached. However, it is not that his struggle was free from all doubts, fear and uncertainties. He often used to be concerned about his Ummah and faced doubts and Allah tells him not to despair. This is when he displays faith on Allah. He also indicated uncertainty over the fulfilment of his duty of conveying the message when Allah in the Quran assures him. Thus, I agree with you that having doubts held true for the prophet too but this wasn’t doubt on the belief of the existence of God or the message of the revelations but rather of a little different nature as elaborated above.

    The Quran also takes both the sides. At one point in Quran, Allah asks people to reflect upon and ponder over the Quran. In another Surah, Surah Hujjurat, chapter 49, verse 15, Allah says, ” The believers are only the ones who have believed in Allah and His Messenger and then doubt not but strive with their properties and their lives in the cause of Allah . It is those who are the truthful.”

    I will InshaaAllah try to go through the readings you have recommended and it maybe that my views are not right and there may be much more to it. But, I have only shared what my understanding has been till now from what I have read and experienced. May Allah guide us. I completely agree with what Lesley has pointed that there could be different understandings and interpretation from the life of the prophet(peace be upon him) himself. I appreciate her intense research and the talk. It has definitely given me some food for thought.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      July 7, 2013 at 1:51 pm

      Yusra — to me it’s not a matter of “being right” or “correct” (or “wrong” or “incorrect”). To me it’s an exploration — an attempt to see things in more depth and complexity, and thus in more richness, which I know you’ll agree is one of the great privileges of thought.

  15. ramio1983 says:
    July 27, 2013 at 7:44 am

    Lesley so well presented, you are wonderful at what you do. Yes indeed, Mohammed is one who is far more relatable than any other Prophet of the past and i feel the main reason for that was his human reaction to Prophethood. The fear, the doubt and the burden of which rested on his shoulders showed on his face, from the time he cried to his wife Khadija “Cover me” to the time he wept as he walked away bloodied from being stoned at Ta’if. We come to see a man who did what he could to change and shape his society, for the better- at least from the perspective of an upcoming and final messenger and the bitter reality of the world around us is still witnessed today to the ever so resentful responses to Mohammed and his prophethood, his test of faith came knowing that he completed his message and died at rest, releasing this burden and sighing in relief to meet his planner.

    Peace Lesley, i love what you do. From a fellow author, poet and Muslim/Human, Ramey.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      July 27, 2013 at 8:44 am

      Thank you Ramey. A poet indeed.
      Peace be upon us all. — L.

  16. Why Go Public With Your [Dis] Belief | halalrepublic says:
    October 2, 2013 at 10:59 am

    […] classifying one as either (theist or atheist) is rather childish and we should be committed to doubt by falling on neither side. But in my country, you do not have the luxury to sit on the fence: everything you do, how you live […]

Post-TED Syndrome

Posted June 23rd, 2013 by Lesley Hazleton

Newly back in Seattle after an amazing couple of weeks, I’m jet-lagged, news-lagged, and above all, TED-lagged.

Eleven days ago, I was onstage at TEDGlobal in Edinburgh. The talk — on Muhammad, doubt, and the travesty of fundamentalism — may be released on TED.com as early as this coming week, but meanwhile, in the tease category, here’s a still shot:

LHatTEDGlobal13-2The TED audience was beyond-words wonderful.  I still can’t quite believe the generosity of their ovation. But how do you come down from such a high?

I hereby declare a new addition to the DSM-IV manual of psychiatric disorders: post-TED syndrome, which poses the patient with the problem of how to get her feet (let alone her head) firmly back to earth after a week of non-stop talk and ideas and excitement and superb company?  (Plus some great music and dancing too).

Seven days ago, I took the back-to-earth idea literally. If you had been in possession of a pair of good binoculars, you would have found me roaming the wilds of Romney Marsh in Sussex, totally wind- and rain-blown, along with thousands of sheep and the most bullish lambs I’ve ever seen — sturdy little bruisers, each with a very distinctive vocal point to make about my presence.  (On the menu that evening in nearby Rye: “Romney Marsh lamb.” My response: “Noooooo….!”)

Forward a bit, and four days ago I was doing my roaming in London, meeting my brilliant UK publishers over grappa in a club so private it has no name (British release of The First Muslim is set for November 7), doing tai-chi early mornings by the lavender field in Vauxhall Park (triple espresso at the ready), communing with the Rothkos at the Tate Modern, zipping along the Thames in water taxis, and downing elderberry lemonade and tahini-drizzled eggplant at Ottolenghi’s in Islington (his cookbook Plenty has the best recipe I’ve ever found for socca).

So today, back in my houseboat in pacific Seattle, my head is reeling from it all, and I have a new way of posing the post-TED problem: how do you get your feet back to earth when you live on a raft that floats on forty feet of water?

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File under: existence, sanity | Tagged: Tags: doubt, Edinburgh, fundamentalism, London, Muhammad, Romney Marsh, TED Global 2013, The First Muslim | 23 Comments
  1. alim says:
    June 23, 2013 at 8:30 pm

    Another talk from you about Muhammad and more. WONDERFUL. Have just started reading your ‘The First Muslim’. I’m all ears already for the talk. Our planet needs more people like you, Lesley. You’ve been such an inspiration.Thanks!

  2. nuzhat fakih says:
    June 23, 2013 at 8:57 pm

    no……please dont try to come down to eath or wherever….we love you in any state of gravity…..looking fwd to the Ted brilliance while i repeat the one on “reading of Quran” to restrain my excitement of hearing you again….wish Ted India invite you too…
    love you more lesley….
    nuzhat.

  3. Guy de la Rupelle says:
    June 24, 2013 at 5:12 am

    “The earth is my body, my head is in the stars.”
    (spoken by Maude in the movie “Harold and Maude”, a wonderful little gem of a film from 1971)

  4. fatmakalkan says:
    June 25, 2013 at 12:23 am

    Today I received your talk at TED. I can not find any word to discribe my appreciation about your latest work about prophet Mohammad’s biography. He is my forefather and my role model. I know him very well as if he lived today . Your thoughts about him are absolutely true. He would stand up to terrorist, suicide bombers, wars, discrimination by gender, race, wealth. I am fascinated with your curious mind, turning every stone to find the truth about Him. I will order the book immediately. You deserve every award in the world because your work and your contemplation about the truth is going to help thousands of people. You fullfiled great service to humanity for going after the truth! I salute you. You are also brave women because you stood up on your two feet against liers, mud throwers to prophet Mohammad. We are brothers and sisters as humanbeing and we must live at peace in this earth.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      June 25, 2013 at 7:15 am

      Thank you, Fatma — from your lips to god’s ears…

  5. tamam Kahn says:
    June 25, 2013 at 9:43 am

    Not floating, but camel-riding, down-to-earth! The real deal.
    Posted your talk on Facebook… Sending you Ya Fattahs for PTedS.
    love, and a rain of blessings on your good work. T’m

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      June 25, 2013 at 10:34 am

      Ah, it was you that sent down all that rain last night! Thank you. I love going to sleep to the sound of rain on the water…

  6. GeraldT says:
    June 27, 2013 at 10:24 am

    What irony!
    “We’ve allowed Judaism to be claimed by violently messianic West Bank settlers…”
    It must be habituation that makes the truth so elusive to you. And it’s nothing new. Judaism has actually been hijacked, long ago, by agnostic intellectuals who “believe that they and they alone are right.”
    How do you lump the likes of Baruch Goldstein and Yigal Amir, who are widely condemned among all Jews, together with Islamic suicide bombers who are memorialized and celebrated by many millions.
    You are among the millions of Jewish liberal extremists who have sought acceptance by being self critical. How pathetic. In demonstrating your intellect, open mindedness and humanism, you persist in supporting the very forces that seek your destruction.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      June 27, 2013 at 2:29 pm

      Yawn…
      Apparently you didn’t catch what I said about “the Truth”.

      • GeraldT says:
        June 27, 2013 at 4:06 pm

        Actually, I did. You talk about the arrogance of the extremists who claim a monopoly on the Truth.
        Your dismissive tone suggests that you won’t dignify my challenge with an answer. Do you even own a mirror?

        • Lesley Hazleton says:
          June 27, 2013 at 4:29 pm

          Didn’t you know? Witches don’t own mirrors.

          • GeraldT says:
            June 27, 2013 at 5:38 pm

            … Love the wit.
            I also failed to thank you for the faith and doubt resonance thesis. But, agnostic Lesley, if you must subscribe to the Truth at least leave room for the truth of your heritage.

          • Lesley Hazleton says:
            June 27, 2013 at 6:48 pm

            I subscribe to “the Truth”? Since when?
            As to the “truth of my heritage,” one of the finest Jews I know of was Spinoza. And he was excommunicated by those who thought they owned “Truth.”

  7. Muslim from Seattle says:
    June 27, 2013 at 7:27 pm

    As my shuttle bus roared from downtown Seattle to the airport, i thought let me check ted.com and wisely use the ride time.

    The words faith and doubt were carefully chosen by Les and they did the marketing job they were supposed to do and i clicked and she started!

    I have to admit – I enjoyed the talk but there were information – based on my humble understanding – which were incorrect or let’s say are prone to wrong interpretation due to linguistic loss of fidelity for the lack of a better term.

    Mohamad (pbuh) may have been in doubt about what he saw in the night of revelation but this is different than faith (defined as deeply rooted belief(s)) . That instance could be described as experience and yes many books refer to it as such and agree with what she said about leaping of a cliff, etc…

    But the fact the he was in the cave is actually because he had a different faith than those who surrounded him and he used that time to reflect and further his beliefs.

    The opposite of doubt is certainty and the opposite of knowledge is ignorance. Fanatism is not the result of certainty but ignorance. Mohamad did not have doubt (that is the wrong word to use) he needed knowledge and that is what that divine revelation came to give him […]

    Lack of knowledge is abundant and the more know the more he realizes how humble his knowledge is and thus is willing to accept another opinion and the converse is true.

    Wishing guidance to all mankind – a fellow human

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      June 27, 2013 at 8:03 pm

      But the point is surely that I do not define faith as “deeply rooted belief.” In fact as I see it, real faith defies the certainty of definition…

  8. Guy de la Rupelle says:
    June 28, 2013 at 5:07 am

    This posting has generated quite a few responses, some thought-provoking and as usual one or two, well…
    Anyway, I took the time to listen several times to your talk Lesley and jotted the following excerpt in my journal:
    …….
    “Real faith has no easy answers…it involves an ongoing struggle, a continued questioning of what we think we know, a wrestling with issues and ideas. It goes hand in hand with doubt, a never-ending conversation with it, and sometimes in conscious defiance of it…”
    …….
    As a “somewhat agnostic catholic”, I found it very interesting that in 2007 the Vatican was a bit upset that a priest took it upon himself to publish Mother Theresa’s private letters in which she revealed that she had doubts about the existence of God and lamented the absence of a personal sense of Jesus’ love in her life. She wrote that at times when she was in church and prayed, she felt as if there was no one there. Some people thought less of her knowing this, some atheists rejoiced, and the Vatican whimpered.

    Your view regarding faith replies perfectly to the conundrum Mother Theresa seemed to face, questioning, struggling, wrestling with issues and in so being, probably made her stronger spiritually and to the rest of us, more human.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      June 28, 2013 at 11:15 am

      Totally with you on this, Guy. Thanks. — L.

  9. John L says:
    July 1, 2013 at 8:13 pm

    Enjoyed your talk, but not sure that either side of this conversation (faith-doubt, certainty-uncertainty, theist-atheist, etc.) gets us closer to empathy — to compassion — to loving one another.

    After 6 years of TED Conferences, I know what you mean. A week of high-intensity, non-stop creativity among amazing people, and then the brutal home crash for a few days.

    Hope we can chat F2F in Vancouver next year.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      July 1, 2013 at 9:45 pm

      Do we have to love one another? Isn’t it enough — more than enough — that we let each other live?
      Vancouver would be good. — L.

  10. John L says:
    July 2, 2013 at 7:29 am

    Indifference, isolation, apathy, neglect. Many would see these as problems.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      July 2, 2013 at 8:51 am

      Totally agreed. But compassion seems to me insufficient — almost passive, in fact, and that passivity is precisely what you’re talking about. I’d advocate a kind of waking up: to social responsibility, to involvement, to the recognition that we’re all in this together, and action on the basis of that recognition.

      • John L says:
        July 2, 2013 at 11:16 am

        Isn’t that love? 🙂

  11. fatmakalkan says:
    September 20, 2013 at 6:50 am

    Hi Lesley,
    I started to read your book ” First Muslim” this week. Certainly it is a unique approach that no writer took until now about Prophet Mohammad peace be upon him. There fore your book is filling this very important gap on the biography of Prophet Mohammad ( PBUH). You did put hundred hours of contemplation about his human side. As a person who contemplates a lot I do appreciate your contemplations and sharing them with rest of the world. Lots of hours of searching truth brought this beautiful realistic book about Him. ” there is no other worship more valuable than contemplation” said Prophet Mohammad. And in many verses in Quran Allah urges us to contemplate. Because that is how we can reach the truth by separating truth from falsehood. You are asking questions everything around you just like example of Prophet Abraham given at the Quran. Who ever seeks Allah, Allah guides them to Himself. And who ever finds him fulfills her/ his purpose of life. Who ever doesn’t find him they lose only chance given to her/ him to be among the friends of Allah. Ultimate happiness or true love is felling in love with Allah.

My Interview With Homeland Security

Posted April 9th, 2013 by Lesley Hazleton

So since it looks like I’ll be traveling quite a bit in the foreseeable future, I thought it might be an idea to register with Homeland Security’s  trusted-traveler program and thus avoid the hassle and long lines at airport security.   Which is how come I turned up yesterday at SeaTac’s US Customs and Border Protection office for my interview.

I did kind of wonder how it might go in light of the fact that The First Muslim has just been published.  What would Homeland Security make of this?  Should I even mention it?  Were they likely to make a biographer of Muhammad a trusted traveler, or would stereotype win the day so that the subject alone would set off alarms in the bureaucratic mind?  There was only one way to find out.

The interview didn’t start off on quite the right note.

“Sorry to hear about Margaret Thatcher’s passing,” said the Customs and Borders officer when I told him that I had a British passport as well as an American one.

“I can’t say I am,” I replied before I could bite my tongue.  “Not least because my father was a doctor in the National Health Service, which she did her best to dismantle.”

“Sorry,” he said, “I shouldn’t make assumptions.”

And with that he had my interest.  I hadn’t expected that apology.

“You’re a writer?” he said.  “What do you write about?”

“Religion and politics.”  And with that I had his interest.

“Big subject!” he said.

“Which you could say is why we’re here in this office right now,” I replied.

We both smiled kind of ruefully.

He pulled up the US customs record of my travels.  “So you focus on the Middle East?”

“Of course.  It’s where all three of the major monotheisms began, and it’s where religion and politics are most intricately intertwined.”

“Isn’t that so,” he said.  “In fact that’s what I studied.”  Turns out he’d majored in Middle East history — specifically the 1920s to the 1940s. “The Brits seem to have had a lot to do with creating today’s Middle East.”

“With a little help from the French, true,” I said. “They have a lot to answer for.  As do we, especially since we went marching into Iraq with no idea of what was really happening there…”  Oh god, what was I saying to an official of the US government?

Yet he was nodding, though whether in agreement or in acknowledgment of my hopelessly liberal point of view wasn’t clear until he said:  “We all need to know much more history.”

And that was my cue.  I reached into my pocket and handed him my card — the one with the cover of The First Muslim on the front.  “This might help some,” I said.

He studied it a moment, and then: “Interesting!  Thank you.  I have to read this.”

The next thing I knew he was taking my photograph and my fingerprints (on a neat little machine glowing with green light), explaining the intricacies of how to use my newly approved trusted-traveler status, and giving me his card.

As I picked up a coffee before wandering out of the airport, it occurred to me to ask why I was surprised at how relaxed and sensible the interview had been.

Partly, I think, we’re so used to inane encounters with low-level TSA contract employees in the security lines that it’s easy to forget that there actually are intelligent people higher up the line.

Partly,  as an immigrant to the US, my experience years ago of dealing with another branch of what is now Homeland Security, namely the Immigration and Naturalization Service, had been downright Kafkaesque.  (In fact I’d have said that the INS officials I encountered then had deliberately out-Kafkaed Kafka, except that I knew they’d never even heard of him.)

And partly too, of course, there’s the Orwellian Big Brother aspect of Homeland Security — the awareness that one way or another, we are all, however innocent, under surveillance.

That may be one more thing the Brits, among others, have to answer for.

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File under: Islam, Middle East, sanity, US politics | Tagged: Tags: airport security, Homeland Security, Kafka, Margaret Thatcher, Orwell, The First Muslim, trusted traveler program, US Customs and Border Protection | 11 Comments
  1. Chad says:
    April 9, 2013 at 10:42 am

    Keep in mind the location where you interviewed. Your experience might have been very different if you were in Alabama or Arkansas for example……

  2. Barbara Porter says:
    April 9, 2013 at 10:45 am

    What a joy to encounter a positive experience when you least expect it.

  3. Bill says:
    April 9, 2013 at 11:12 am

    good job, Leslie! … nice to see you picture shining out from the pages last Sunday’s NYT

  4. Sue Udry says:
    April 9, 2013 at 11:36 am

    I’m glad the fellow was respectful. But the system itself is the problem: the fact that you had to go in and have an interview in order to be able to travel freely about the world without hassles is unacceptable.

  5. pah says:
    April 9, 2013 at 12:20 pm

    love this, Leslie….we are so tuned into the very real Orwellian world of today that we are constantly on guard….expecting the worst all the time!
    and cuedos for being honest about your country of origin….true love of country only comes when we recognize all frailities and acknowledge them…

  6. Sohail Kizilbash says:
    April 9, 2013 at 4:10 pm

    You are lucky that he was a fan of yours. It is such a pity that the common person usually meets the ‘low level contract employee’ and they are the face of the government. The whole world carries the low level image in their minds and not of the erudite and educated boss sitting in a back office.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      April 9, 2013 at 6:44 pm

      He wasn’t a fan — just an intelligent, educated man alert to his own assumptions, and doing a tricky job well.

  7. Don says:
    April 9, 2013 at 7:15 pm

    I am as distrustful as anyone (notice I did not say paranoid, which is by definition irrational) about security and our loss of freedoms, but I know Janet Napolitano (Secretary of Homeland Security) pretty well (she used to be governor of Arizona, where I live) and there is no one I would prefer to entrust my security to. It’s really a hassle getting on an airplane now, but it may be the safest place on earth. There are many trade-offs, and no one wants to be inconvenienced, and for me it is NOT better to be safe than free, but it’s always good to see each other as human beings.

  8. Nancy McClelland says:
    April 9, 2013 at 11:52 pm

    To be honest, I’m not surprised. I wouldn’t have been surprised the other way ’round, either, but I’ve regularly met awesome folks who are in non-awesome jobs, or who choose to make their jobs the best with what they can do. Thrilled to hear your report. Also curious to know of how much benefit the frequent-traveler thing is… have thought of doing it myself. Worth the effort? Let us know.

    And you’ve seen this, right? “Prague’s Franz Kafka International Named World’s Most Alienating Airport,” by the Onion?
    http://www.hulu.com/watch/64166

  9. Holly says:
    May 17, 2013 at 3:51 am

    I really enjoyed your piece but I did feel that your comment about there actually being higher up workers who are intelligent might have been a bit of a generalization. I am sure there are many low-level workers who are just as intelligent, who may not have had the same opportunities as others. I really like your work, just wanted to point that out!

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      May 17, 2013 at 12:29 pm

      Fair point. Thanks, Holly. — L.

New Q & A on Muhammad

Posted February 18th, 2013 by Lesley Hazleton
Up on the innovative new e-book site Zola Books, this Q and A with me.  They asked such great questions!
Here’s the intro and the full interview:

Though the fastest growing religion in the world, Islam is deeply misunderstood by many—including some of its most ardent believers. In her new biography of Muhammad, The First Muslim, award-winning author and former foreign correspondent Lesley Hazleton portrays Islam’s founder as a rebel, a defender of women’s equality, and, above all, a human being. In this Zola Q&A, Hazleton discusses how Muhammad’s world forged his identity and what he might think of the Middle East today.


What inspired you to take on Muhammad as a subject? There’s been so much written about him. Did you think there was still something missing?

Yes: Muhammad himself! You’re right, there’ve been millions of words written about him, but the more of them I plowed through (I read several biographies as background research for my previous book, After the Prophet), the less I had any real sense of the actual man. It was like looking through a telescope the wrong way round: he seemed to be reduced to a two-dimensional cipher by this mass of verbiage. Much of it was devotional, the rest of it kind of cautiously dutiful, and even soporific. How could anyone do that to such a remarkable life? I wanted the vitality of a real life lived. I wanted to see him whole—not as a symbol, but as a multi-dimensional human being.

The book looks closely at the physical world he occupied – the nights on Mount Hira, watering goats in the desert, his feelings of confinement in Mecca as a boy. Did you visit all these places?

I would have, but non-Muslims aren’t allowed in either Mecca or Medina. And besides, there’s hardly anything left of what these cities once were; nearly everything’s been built up and covered over. But I had the advantage of a strong feel for the landscape and culture of the Middle East. I was based in Jerusalem for thirteen years, spent a year with Beduin in the Sinai desert, and have roamed freely around both Egypt and Jordan. And yes, I’ve spent nights alone on top of another sacred mountain not that far from Mecca: Mount Sinai.

You take odds with the conservative Islamic view that Muhammad was destined to be the messenger of God. Do you have any concerns as to how conservative Muslims will react to this book?

True, I don’t see his life as a matter of foreordained destiny, but as an extraordinary human struggle for dignity and social justice. I think it’s clear from the tone of the book that it’s written with respect for its subject. I mean, isn’t that the point of good biography? Respect for the integrity of a full life lived? For the integrity of reality? Of course the way I see things conflicts in places with the conservative Muslim view, which is sometimes more devotional than historical. But I think we’ve agreed to respectfully disagree.

What do you think are the most common misunderstandings about Muhammad that we have in the West?

There’s a ton of them, most of them politically manipulated, but let’s take just two. First, there’s the image of the lecherous polygamist. In fact his marriage to his first wife, Khadija, was a loving monogamous relationship that lasted twenty-four years until her death. Even after he later married nine other women—nearly all of them diplomatic alliances such as any leader made at the time—he openly mourned Khadija until his own death. And it’s striking that while he had four daughters with her, he had no children with any of the late-life wives.

Second, there’s the image of the militant sword-wielding warrior. In fact, Muhammad only took up arms after years of downright Gandhian passive resistance to increasing verbal and physical assault, culminating in a concerted attempt to assassinate him. And when he finally did so, under political pressure, he made it clear that as the Quran says, “forgiveness and mercy are more pleasing in the eyes of God.” Combat was permitted, that is, but to be avoided if at all possible.

The book points out that Muhammad might never have gone on to found Islam if not for the support and understanding of his wife Khadija, and Muhammad himself rejected the tradition that daughters were less valuable than sons. Yet women are often treated as far less than second-class citizens in many Islamic cultures. Why do these attitudes persist?

What happened to Islam after Muhammad’s death is what happened also with early Judaism and early Christianity. All three began as protest movements for social justice, but then fell prey to the seemingly endless human ability to mess things up. That is, they became institutionalized. Their radical roots were covered over with conservative dogma, and an all-male hierarchy imposed their version of “the Truth” (always with a capital T), forcing their cultural prejudices on everyone else. This is now changing rapidly in both Judaism and Christianity, popes and chief rabbis notwithstanding, and I think it is beginning to change in Islam too, ayatollahs and grand muftis notwithstanding.

What do you think Muhammad would make of the Middle East today?

Great question! Let’s start with Mecca itself: I don’t see how he’d be anything but totally dismayed. He’d be the first to point out that the Saudi regime is the modern equivalent of the wealthy elite who ran the city in his own time, profiting off piety and persecuting him for his message. If Muhammad were alive today, he’d probably be the Saudi kingdom’s worst nightmare, much as the real Jesus would be the Vatican’s worst nightmare.

But the Sauds don’t have the monopoly on the repressive use of conservative piety. Islamist fundamentalists claiming to speak in Muhammad’s name are currently fighting for political control in much of the Middle East. If he could speak for himself, then, here’s what I think he’d say:

He’d condemn sectarianism. He’d condemn extremism. He’d condemn suicide bombing and terrorism, and call them obscene. He’d say what the Quran says: “Let there be no compulsion in religion.” And he’d commit himself fully to the hard and thorny process of making peace.

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File under: Islam, Middle East | Tagged: Tags: interview, Muhammad, The First Muslim, Zola Books | 33 Comments
  1. SandraSandilands says:
    February 18, 2013 at 11:56 am

    Bravo! Well said.

  2. Herman says:
    February 18, 2013 at 5:08 pm

    With other words he would be promptly executed by the ruling classes.
    Herman.

  3. Muhammad Shukri bin Yaacob says:
    February 20, 2013 at 3:47 am

    where to get your book in Malaysia?

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      February 20, 2013 at 9:00 am

      I wish I knew!

    • Megat Merican says:
      February 20, 2013 at 2:16 pm

      Bought mine at Kinokuniya, Suria KLCC (RM104.36).

      And Ms Hazleton, you are simply an inspiration!

  4. ابتسام شعبان says:
    February 24, 2013 at 2:00 pm

    Is your book available in Egypt?

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      February 24, 2013 at 2:07 pm

      Alas, authors are the last to know. I hope it is, but don’t know for sure, so do let know if you find it. Certainly it should be available after UK publication a few months from now.

  5. Asim Abdullah says:
    March 3, 2013 at 2:58 am

    Dear Lesley:
    I have read several biographies about Muhammad but your comments have left me excited to obtain copy of your book.
    Asim Abdullah

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      March 4, 2013 at 4:08 pm

      I promise this one will keep you awake! — L.

      • Donald Graham says:
        March 4, 2013 at 7:08 pm

        Dear Lesley, I have waited in vain for your response to several errors I have pointed out. Apparently your website is only for sel-promotion, and I do not care to associate with anyone with so little integrity, and so I ask you to remove my name from all your lists. Thanks, Don

        • Lesley Hazleton says:
          March 4, 2013 at 11:53 pm

          To unsubscribe, go to the Email Subscription section in the left-hand column of this page, click on Manage, then Unfollow.

  6. levent AK says:
    March 7, 2013 at 3:22 am

    Muhammad’s Allah explained by AHMET HULUSİ
    Everyone, from the most learned to the most ignorant, has a concept of God. A God that we love, get angry with, judge and even accuse, at times, for doing wrong by us!

    We imagine this God, who sits on a star in the heavens or dwells somewhere in space, to be like a benevolent paternal figure or a majestic sultan!

    The reality is Allah is not a god (deity) and this god-concept we have all come to embrace, as a result of misleading information and conditioning, is not the Allah expounded by Muhammad (saw).

    So what is Muhammad’s Allah..?

    Source: http://www.ahmedhulusi.org/en/books/muhammads-allah.html#ixzz2MqsOCid3

  7. Nurah says:
    March 10, 2013 at 8:22 pm

    A talk of yours from TED brought me here and after reading I wanted to thank you. As a Muslim from the west (now residing in Malaysia) the misconceptions about our prophet are many…most of them being born from Muslims themselves. I am proud to follow a man who rose up against corruption and tyranny. ..promoted peace and dialogue and as you say would be fighting against what Muslims do today…if he were here. I look forward to reading your book.

  8. Larry Brownstein says:
    March 14, 2013 at 8:53 pm

    On page 13 of your book The First Muslim and repeated on page 42 you cite that Abraham’s son Ishmael was to be sacrificed, but it was not Hagar’s son who was to be sacrificed but Sarah’s son Isaac. Except for this error, if it is an error, I am really enjoying your book and I thank you for it.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      March 15, 2013 at 11:51 am

      Larry — different traditions. In Jewish tradition, of course, it’s Isaac. In Islamic tradition, Ishmael. Since I was talking about what people in Mecca believed, I cited Ishmael. Strictly personally, I’d love it if we could think of Isaac and Ishmael as the same person.

  9. irwin santini says:
    March 18, 2013 at 4:29 pm

    Your shamelessly sycophantic hagiography of Mohammed the godfather of centuries of medieval religious violence and oppression of women to this day and your confabulatory whitewash of Islam which blithely ignores most of what is written in the Koran is a tour de force of intellectual dishonesty which places you firmly in the league of that other mistress of Orwellian doublespeak marinated in political correctness -Karen Armstrong.

    “Truth always makes you nervous” you say in your introduction. Indeed, that must be why you so deftly skirt it in your writing.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      March 18, 2013 at 4:47 pm

      You’re shamelessly welcome.

    • Nasir Khanzada. says:
      August 9, 2013 at 12:56 am

      This has come to me as shock from Karen Armstrong who I always thought differently and as a patron of Islam!

      • Nasir Khanzada. says:
        August 9, 2013 at 2:10 am

        Shocking Karen! Afterall, a rebel first from Judaism and Holy Torah and from Islam too which is the only religion outside Christianity to wholly believe in Jesus and all his miracles and the Gospel to him, but not as a deity of worship. There is no deity but GOD. I wish I could tell her more privately on her email if I had that.

        • Lesley Hazleton says:
          August 9, 2013 at 8:48 am

          Am sure Karen Armstrong would just love to hear from you.

      • Lesley Hazleton says:
        August 9, 2013 at 8:47 am

        Karen who?

  10. Asim Abdullah says:
    March 19, 2013 at 6:35 pm

    Is Irwin interested in truth or propaganda ?

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      March 19, 2013 at 8:07 pm

      Asim — a rhetorical question, I assume! I let his comment run because it was so obvious it made me laugh. L.

      • Nasir Khan says:
        April 23, 2013 at 1:27 am

        People who do not read the Qur’an usually jump to wrong conclusions about Islam & Muhammad. Congrats Lesley Hazelton! You have done well. May Allah be pleased with you. Ameen.

  11. Khaled Ahmed says:
    May 4, 2013 at 10:19 am

    Lesley , Thanks for your book .I watched your interview with well-read and talks on YouTube and they encouraged me to read your book knowing that I might agree with some of your outsider insights or might disagree with it all . I have read many biographies about the prophet but yours were different . I still disagree with some of your interpretations , but at the end I respect your empathy and your dedication to scour for the truth behind the real man . All the best and I am planning to read your book about the Sunnis Shias split .

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      May 4, 2013 at 11:16 am

      Thanks Khaled — I think disagreement with respect is far more productive than unthinking agreement (in fact I fail to see the respect in that). Hope ‘After the Prophet’ lives up to your expectations, both agreeing and disagreeing! — Lesley.

  12. g says:
    May 17, 2013 at 7:21 am

    Dear Lesley, You write: “He’d condemn sectarianism. He’d condemn extremism. He’d condemn suicide bombing and terrorism, and call them obscene.” You are projecting onto Muhammad your own idealized notions and beliefs. It was Muhammad who introduced an us vs. them sectarianism into his community by condemning the gods of his fellow Arabs. The only sectarianism he was not prepared to tolerate were schisms within his own community, an objective common to any leader whose power rests on the unity of the foot-soldiers he commands. Through Allah Muhammad condemned a whole laundry list of people whom he derided as idolaters, polytheists and most of all unbelievers who rejected his prophet-hood. Many of these were themselves worshipers of the pre-Muhammadan Allah and their only crime was to reject the prophet-hood of Muhammad. They did so precisely because they recognized in Muhammad a dangerous extremist whose teaching would stamp out all other beliefs. And they were right. A rich and fecund Arabian religious landscape, teeming with diverse religions and spiritual traditions, was homogenized into a one-religion desert that it continues to remain to this very day. It is a fact that upon being rejected by Jews Muhammad’s response was to turn them into targets of ruthless violence, that too, astoundingly in the name of the god to whose worship they clung until they were either executed or exiled. Is this sort of mass violence not the fundamental characteristic of an extremist? As for suicide bombing and terrorism Muhammad himself encouraged his followers to die and kill for him while he mostly kept himself behind the front-lines. How is this any different from modern day suicide bombers? Where is there room left for any moderation once you have established your willingness to slaughter in the name of your god and religion? If that is the case then great “prophets”, the Muhammads of our own times, such as David Koresh and Jim Jones have to be feted as moderates as well. There have been other religious figures that have taken to violent means to protect and defend themselves against oppressive political powers. Consider the Sikh gurus for example. They fought the brutality of their pious Islamic rulers but never did anything comparable to what Muhammad did, which was to send out diktats to all and sundry to submit to his god, failing which he would invade them. This is megalomania and not religious piety. Please remove the blinders and look at the obvious reality staring you in the face. Also it is not tenable to excuse the violence and blood-letting at the hands of Muhammad by placing it in the context of his environment. For example, Jesus’ message of “love thy enemy” was had already entered the Meccan community with one of Muhammad’s own close relatives even translating the gospels. The ruthlessness displayed by Muhammad’s Allah rests squarely on the shoulders of the man and cannot be blamed on his times.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      May 17, 2013 at 12:39 pm

      “Do not think I have come bring peace on earth. I have not come to bring peace, but the sword.”
      A prophetic voice, indeed. And whose was it? Not Muhammad’s, but that of Jesus (the verse cited is Matthew 10:34).
      I’d suggest reading both the Hebrew bible and the New Testament very carefully before singling out Muhammad and Islam for condemnation, since the Bible is one of the most blood-soaked and bloodthirsty books ever written. (Of course you might also want to read the whole of the Quran, as well as my actual book instead of a short QandA on it). Then you might ask yourself why you have singled out Islam. If you are opposed to all religions on such grounds, that’s one thing; if you are opposed only to Islam, that is quite another.

      • Nasir Khan says:
        May 18, 2013 at 12:38 am

        Lesley Hazelton is so right. Please read the Qur’an, if you really care to learn the truth at all.

  13. g says:
    May 17, 2013 at 2:19 pm

    Thank you for responding Lesley. It is wonderful to be able to converse directly with an author rather than just post reviews of books and such. My previous comment was not directed at your book but specifically at your claim that Muhammad would somehow be opposed to modern day Islamic extremism and terrorism. If you are saying that the quote from Jesus is worthy of condemnation then I will not disagree with you. Still, the very next sentence following the quote should make it clear that “sword” was used in a symbolic sense as a metaphor for division, separation and opposition between father and man, mother and daughter etc. etc. But please ask yourself if even a mere violent quote from Jesus is worthy of condemnation how much more we should condemn a man who authorized mass murder, used god to repeatedly stereotype, demonize and dehumanize entire groups of people who chose to exercise their independence and reject his authority over them. These are exact parallels to modern-day charismatic “prophets” who use their exclusive access to god as an an absolute control-mechanism over followers to abuse them and to violate others through them.

    When you attempt to typecast as a liberal a man who has a track record of denouncing and brutalizing others who do not submit to his religion then are you not yourself complicit in the same crime as Muhammad, the crime of dehumanizing or even demonizing his victims so that their pain, their suffering, their agony is somehow justified or at least not as bad as what Muhammad and his followers or you yourself would go through in their place? If killing and attacking peoples and nations because they do not recognize your anointment by god is not extremism then nothing is. […]

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      May 18, 2013 at 11:28 am

      First, please note that there is a 250-word limit on comments here on the AT — clearly stated upfront — which is why I’ve edited out all but the first two paras of this one, which essentially was a repeat of your previous one, though with the addition of the charge of intellectual dishonesty on my part. Clearly we’re going to get nowhere with charges and counter-charges. Equally clearly, on the issue of violence, you have not compared the Quran to the Bible. Nor have you actually read ‘The First Muslim.’ So again, I’d urge you do both before commenting again on the quality of my intellectual integrity (under 250 words, please!).

  14. Hatice says:
    August 8, 2013 at 1:16 pm

    I haven’t bought your book, but your blog post is factually incorrect. the Prophet Muhammad had a son with Meryem the Copt – he died as a baby.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      August 8, 2013 at 1:53 pm

      Hatice — whether he fathered this infant or not (and yes, I did indeed discuss this in the book), he was not married to Maryam.

Publication Omens

Posted January 23rd, 2013 by Lesley Hazleton

I don’t believe in omens, though I confess I’m sometimes tempted to.

Like when I realized just three weeks ago that The First Muslim was being published on the day on which Muhammad’s birthday falls this year.*  I wish I could say that this was the result of careful planning on my part, or on that of my publishers.  In fact it’s either a wonderful coincidence, or…

You see what I mean about omens?

That was just about the time the first finished copy of the book arrived in the mail.   Since it came straight from the printers, I didn’t recognize the return address, so wasn’t sure what was in the padded envelope until I opened it.

And went “Oh my God!”

I think I might have mentioned somewhere that the cover was elegantly understated.  Perhaps even a tad overly under-stated.  I do remember suggesting to the publishers that they increase the color values just a little – a slightly more saturated yellow as in the photo in the right-hand column, for instance.  “We’ll see what we can do,” my editor said.

She didn’t get back to me on that, and I hadn’t expected her to.  So I had no idea that the yellow had been transformed into gold!  Thus the “oh my God,” repeated several more times as I traced the raised pattern of it with my fingers.

This had to be a special author’s copy, I thought.  It’s been many years since publishers commemorated a book’s publication by ordering up such a one-off copy for the author (usually leather-bound, with gold leaf on the edges).  It was a token of appreciation, and a lovely one, but they’d stopped doing it because of the expense.  Now Penguin’s Riverhead Books imprint had clearly resuscitated the practice.

I called my editor immediately to thank her for ordering such a beautiful author’s copy, and then came the best surprise of all:

“Oh no,” she said, “this isn’t just for you.  All the books are like that.”

gold coverSo I’m still kind of amazed at the physical existence of my own book.  Is this stunning production really the same creature as the innumerable drafts of much-scrawled-on typescript pages strewn around my study for years?  It’s as though with publication it’s achieved a separate existence.  Like a teenager leaving home, it will now make its way in the world on its own terms, an independent agent only tangentially related to me.   All I can do is wish it well, cheer it on, defend it when it needs defense — and trust that others will agree that it lives up to the sheer elegance of its cover.

—————————————————–

[*Re Muhammad’s birthday:  the  traditional Islamic date is the 12th of the month of Rabi al-Awwal, which falls this year on January 24.  The Christian date changes each year since the Islamic calendar is lunar, which means that the Islamic year is eleven days shorter than the Christian one.  To further complicate matters, the 12th of Rabi al-Awwal is the Sunni date;  Shia celebrate the birthday, known as mawlid, five days later.  And one more complication: not all Sunnis approve of the idea of celebrating the birthday.  Observance of it is banned in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia, for instance, whose dour Wahhabi version of Islam seems ever suspicious of joy and festivity.]

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File under: art, Islam | Tagged: Tags: biography, birthday, cover, mawlid, Muhammad, The First Muslim | 20 Comments
  1. SusieOfArabia says:
    January 23, 2013 at 2:09 pm

    The book looks beautiful, Lesley – and I think these are GOOD omens!

  2. Junnaid Javed says:
    January 23, 2013 at 2:10 pm

    Lesley- I couldnt wait to read this so I cheated and ordered in on Kindle…the gold looks unbelievably good! I cant wait to get my hands on the book itself!!!! Thank you!

  3. Saimã Abbasi says:
    January 23, 2013 at 2:31 pm

    Many congratulations, and i want to say about omens that you are a very lucky person that you write the biography of my beloved Prophet and it gets published on the date of Prophet’s birthday i want to congratulate you for this again and from deep of my hearts, I’m no authority yet as a believer I think your books got praise from heavens. I want to buy the first copy.

  4. Linda Williams says:
    January 23, 2013 at 2:43 pm

    I love this story, and revel in your awe of your publication! Congratulations. Can’t wait to get my copy.

  5. Sandra Peters says:
    January 23, 2013 at 2:46 pm

    Leslie,

    Thank you for sharing the exquisite beauty of your new book.

    I saw the photo and read your comments including the significance of the Publication Date. To me, this was a good omen to purchase “The First Muslim” immediately, which I just did along with “After The Prophet”.

    How exciting to be alive in these times that such writing is available to enlighten the general public!

    Advance Kudos for all your effort to birth this book!

    Sandra

  6. Fatima Haider says:
    January 23, 2013 at 3:56 pm

    Hi Lesley,

    I had realised this coincidence a few weeks ago when I first saw your blog and saw the date of release as 24th. I thought you had timed it that way on purpose, but even if you haven’t I think this’accident’ is just one of the many signs of Allah endorsing your work and the amazing effort you put into all your books. I have just finished reading ‘After the Prophet’ for the second time and enjoyed it even more than the first. Can’t wait to get my hands on this one.

  7. zummard. says:
    January 23, 2013 at 5:20 pm

    CONGRATULATIONS! Lesley, on the birth of this ‘baby’. The radiant ‘gold’ has the magical quality to it, peering from behind the green with such blazing energy and power. The first look sent shivers down my spine out of sheer excitement. It definitely looks much better than the yellow colour previously chosen. You must be so proud of your creation. May you enjoy the many-fold rewards each day as long as you live. May the success of this project give you the thrust to create more masterpieces.
    Waiting impatiently to get this book in my hands!

  8. Nuzhat says:
    January 23, 2013 at 8:29 pm

    Leslie,
    This post brought tears to my eyes. I could ‘feel’ with you, on this issue. My people already know of me as a ‘Leslie addict’. I know I will I have to wait longer than the others to hold my own copy, until it reaches my destination in India. But having read the excerpts online, my enthusiasm is already whetted.
    About omens…..it’s a feel good factor actually, but for such a momentous event everything is acceptable.
    More luck to you,
    Nuzhat.

  9. Nancy McClelland says:
    January 23, 2013 at 11:06 pm

    I loved this post. It’s so encouraging to me that authors — some of them, anyway — are still touched and amazed that something they created becomes its own thing, takes on its own life. That even after publishing so many books, the joy and amazement are there, and at least this author is not trying to play it cool by submerging the expression of it all.

    “It’s as though with publication it’s achieved a separate existence.” Because it HAS, don’t you see?

  10. Publication Omens | Upload says:
    January 24, 2013 at 5:33 am

    […] anyone who loves books, I strongly recommend reading the original blog post in its entirety, on her blog, The Accidental […]

  11. Sani says:
    January 24, 2013 at 9:22 am

    My dear Lesley.

    I pray and hope that you will never be tired with my comments. In the first instance, Muhammad the last messenger never envisaged you to say something about him that is not correct. You are on your own to know and discern the truth and say it on his behalf. The other who believe in him will support you and give you any honor you want. No one knows the exact date of Muhammad except that his birth was related to the event in which the elephants of the Ethiopian king was destroyed. Muhammad never celebrated his birthday and no one among his family or his companions ever did that. I doubt if it was a custom of the Quraysh to celebrate birth days. This is one of the confusions in his followers[…]

  12. Mary Johnson (@_MaryJohnson) says:
    January 24, 2013 at 6:14 pm

    Lesley, I’ve just started reading on my Kindle. Wonderful! Congratulations. I love my Kindle, but your blog makes me covetous of a hardcover…. I’m so glad they gave you a delicious cover.

  13. Brian McInerney says:
    January 25, 2013 at 2:26 pm

    Dear Lesley

    Just got yr new book after reading AFTER THE PROPHET which I really loved and thought so well written! Yes, great cov for the new book for which I immediately placed the dj in a Bro-dart Mylar cov as I did with AFTER… dj which book I obtained in the STRAND bookstore here in NYC, second-hand but new. I got the NEW book at Union Square B&N ’cause I wished a new fresh copy and not a reviewer’s copy at the STRAND. Hope you’ll be presenting/reading in NYC some time soon. Great scholarship and great read! Thanks for all your effort!

    sincerely,

    Brian McI

  14. Salma says:
    January 30, 2013 at 9:36 am

    I just reading my copy of your book now and here’s another omen. I started reading “The First Muslim” while I was in the middle of reading Thomas Moore’s “Dark Nights of the Soul. When I came across the term “dark night of the soul” in your book to describe Muhammad’s experience, I almost had goosebumps. It was as though your book was conversing with the other book to explain to me what a “dark night” is – a very rich learning experience with both books that is for sure!

    Do you have a speaking schedule/tour for 2013? I would love to see you speak if you’re ever in the area!

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      January 30, 2013 at 10:15 am

      Lovely synchronicity, Salama! Thanks for sharing.
      Speaking schedule is still in formation, but I’ll post dates and locations as they firm up, if not here than at http://www.TheFirstMuslim.com, as well as on Facebook and Twitter. Where are you located?

      • Salma says:
        January 31, 2013 at 8:45 am

        Excellent, I’ll keep checking the website. I’m in Cleveland, Ohio!

  15. Nur says:
    February 17, 2013 at 10:34 pm

    Hi Lesley,
    I became a great fan of yours since I heard you in TED lecture on ‘quran’ few years ago. Then I loved you so much I watched all of your youtube videos I could find and finally this week I saw your TED lecture on Muhammad, and I was convinced to buy your latest book the “First Muslim”.

    But I am now reading your “After the Prophet book”. I lost my respect for you, because you wrote about Umm Al-Mu’menin Hazrat Ayesha RA :

    “Al-Mubra’a, the Exonerated, Sunnis still call her, but
    some Shia would use a different title for her, one that by no
    coincidence rhymes with her name: Al-Fahisha, the Whore.”

    I am very disappointed. Unless you disclose the source of this passage and prove that it’s not your attribution, you simply quoted a Shia materials, I’ll start blogging against you.

    Regards

    Nur

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      February 18, 2013 at 8:29 am

      Check the end notes. The note for this says “This usage is discussed in Spelling, Politics, Gender, and the Islamic Past, and noted in Fischer, Iran: from religious dispute to revolution.” Both books are, of course, included in the Bibliography.

  16. Sobia says:
    April 28, 2013 at 5:15 pm

    I waited for the book to arrive because I was sure of it being a good read from the Ted talk I had heard which was the reason I bought it in the first place.
    I am still reading it for the last 3 weeks, slowly imbibing it’s message and marveling the language.
    I can feel the considered sensitivity, the carefully chosen language and the experience of a psychological training in almost every phrase.
    Objective analysis of decisions as taken by Mohammad SAWW is almost pure. Yet it is only human to diverge from it at times and sometimes I feel the bias has been allowed. For example in the detailed explanation of what is a munafiq and then to explicitly mention the paralytic situation at Hudabiya leaves room for the author to maybe take a deeper longer look at the concept in revision of it.
    It has opened many avenues for those who read to think about some of the situations, Muslim or otherwise alike.
    On the whole I have enjoyed the text,material,explanations, and the sensitive effort by the author.
    Thank you for writing this.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      April 28, 2013 at 6:10 pm

      Thanks for the kind words, Sobia — and for the generous acknowledgment that even where we differ in how we see things, we do so in good faith. — L.

The Act of Reading

Posted January 7th, 2013 by Lesley Hazleton

tamambookIf only all books were this well read!  This is author and poet Tamam Kahn‘s galley copy.  (Galleys are softbound uncorrected proofs, sent out for early review before the hardcover has gone to the printers — thus the banner across the top saying it’s not for distribution.)   And I love this photo because it’s such a vivid expression of the act of reading.

Yes, the act of reading:  nothing passive about it, but an engaged interaction of reader, writer, and subject.  (I read with a similar intensity, though I prefer a pencil to tabs, marking the margins with lines, exclamation marks, and perhaps a brief Yes! or an abrupt No!, but sometimes getting carried away with extended comments crawling up the side of the page to spread out along the top.)

Tamam posted the photo alongside her review of The First Muslim today.  Here’s how it begins:

There is much that is wonderful about this book! I opened the manila envelope, slid the book out, opened it and began reading. Two hours later I was calling to my husband across the room, saying, “Listen to this…”

This is what it meant to be an orphan: the ordinary childhood freedom of being without a care would never be his… At age six, he (Muhammad) was now doubly orphaned, his sole inheritance a radical insecurity as to his place in the world.

Accurate instinct on the basics. In all the years that I studied Muhammad’s life, I never gave much thought to him as an orphan. This fact is often mentioned by historians, but none make us feel the alien landscape in which the boy finds himself in the way this telling does. A certain wariness crept into the corners of his eyes and his smile became tentative and cautious; even decades later, hailed as the hero of his people, he’d rarely be seen to laugh.

Then Lesley Hazleton takes the reader deeper. At age five, he is returned to his estranged blood mother Amina; abruptly, a child between two worlds. In that same year, after the two of them visit relatives in Medina, several days journey north, she dies on the return trip.  …now doubly orphaned.

The whole review is over at Tamam’s blog, Complete Word.  She ends it with this:

This humanizing of the man, Muhammad, is the thread running through the book. Often, in the media, what is written about Muhammad or the word “Muslim” is overlaid with dramatic and political innuendos to support a variety of loud viewpoints.

Here, it’s like she begins by talking to us in a quiet tone on that noisy street. Come inside where it is calm, and listen to Lesley Hazleton tell about a man who became The First Muslim. It’s a good story.

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  1. Zarina Sarfraz says:
    January 8, 2013 at 4:42 am

    Very well thought out & Very TrueZS{ref: the act of reading}

  2. Abid Hussain says:
    January 8, 2013 at 1:33 pm

    Hi Lesley,
    I just checked Amazon UK – It seems to suggest that the book is not going to be available on the Kindle. Do you happen to know what the deal is in terms of digital distribution. I have been looking forward to this book for months, but reaaallly would prefer to read a digital copy…. Kindle…even iBooks.
    Good luck with the launch,

    Abid

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      January 8, 2013 at 1:45 pm

      Thanks for good wishes, Abid. Don’t know what’s happening with amazon.co.uk (thbbft!), but it’s definitely available for Kindle pre-order at amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/First-Muslim-Story-Muhammad/dp/1594487286/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357681198&sr=1-1&keywords=the+first+muslim+the+story+of+muhammad

  3. Megat Merican says:
    January 9, 2013 at 12:34 am

    Sadly, still can’t pre-order the book from iTunes Malaysia.

    Anyway, wishing you every possible success on the launch.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      January 9, 2013 at 8:11 am

      Thbbft! So sorry about that. Distribution seems to be an infuriatingly mysterious process.

  4. Zvi & Dorothy Pantanowitz says:
    January 9, 2013 at 11:29 pm

    what a great review, you and she both deserve hugs

  5. shah says:
    February 14, 2013 at 7:44 pm

    hi lesley! I am so eager to read this book , when will this book come to india?? please talk to your publishers and let me know!

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      February 15, 2013 at 9:48 am

      Shah — A timely question! I just forwarded this India Times piece to them — http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Western-scholars-take-on-Islam-drawing-Muslim-youth/articleshow/18490788.cms It’d be great if Indian publishers responded. Meanwhile, UK rights have been sold, with publication date later this year. — L.

Q and A on ‘The First Muslim’

Posted January 6th, 2013 by Lesley Hazleton
Just posted on Religion Dispatches, this Q and A with me:
  • The First Muslim - CoverWhat inspired you to write The First Muslim?Basically, frustration! I’d read several biographies of Muhammad as background for my previous book, After the Prophet, but though they seemed to tell me a lot about him, they left me with little real sense of the man himself. There was a certain dutiful aspect to them, and this made them kind of… soporific. Which seemed to me a terrible thing to do to such a remarkable life.

    There was a terrific story to be told here: the journey from neglected orphan to acclaimed leader—from marginalized outsider to the ultimate insider—made all the more dramatic by the tension between idealism and pragmatism, faith, and politics. I wanted to be able to see Muhammad as a complex, multidimensional human being, instead of the two-dimensional figure created by reverence on the one hand and prejudice on the other. I wanted the vibrancy and vitality of a real life lived.

    But of course I was also impelled by a certain dismay at how little most of us in the West know about Muhammad, especially when Islam is so often in the headlines and there are so many competing claims to “the truth about Islam.” This one man radically changed his world—indeed he’s still changing ours—so it seemed to me vitally important that we be able to get beyond stereotypes and see who he really was.

    What are some of the biggest misconceptions about Muhammad?

    Let’s take just the two most obvious stereotypes: the lecherous polygamist, and the sword-wielding warmonger. In fact Muhammad’s first marriage, to Khadija, was a loving, monogamous relationship that lasted 24 years, until her death. The nine late-life marriages were mainly diplomatic ones—means of sealing alliances, as was standard for any leader at the time. And it’s striking that while he had five children with Khadija—four daughters and a son who died in infancy—he had none with any of the late-life wives.

    As for the warmonger image, Muhammad maintained a downright Gandhian stance of passive, nonviolent resistance to both verbal and physical assaults for 12 years, until he was driven into exile from his home in Mecca. The psychology of exile thus played a large role in the armed conflict over the subsequent eight years, until Mecca finally accepted his leadership in a negotiated surrender, with strong emphasis on avoiding bloodshed.

    Is there anything you had to leave out?

    I know there’s a tendency to elide certain issues of Muhammad’s life, not least among them the rapid deterioration of his relations with the Jews of Medina, which was especially hard for me, as a Jew, to write about. But to evade such issues seems to me to demonstrate a certain lack of respect for your subject. A biographer’s task is surely to create as full a portrait as possible. If you truly respect your subject, you need to do him justice by according him the integrity of reality.

    What alternative title would you give the book?

    Perhaps “Seeing Muhammad Whole.” Or “A Man in Full.” But since Muhammad is told three times in the Qur’an to call himself the first Muslim, I knew early on that this would be the title.

    Did you have a specific audience in mind?

    It kind of hurts to think of intelligent, open-minded readers as a specific audience…

    Are you hoping to just inform readers? Give them pleasure? Piss them off?

    Far more than inform! The pleasure for me lies in the “aha!” of understanding, of grasping the richness of reality, with all its uncertainties and dilemmas. It’s in the practice of empathy—not sympathy, but empathy, which is the good-faith attempt to understand someone else’s experience. Those who nurture images of Muhammad as the epitome of either all evil or all good may well be disconcerted, but then that’s the point: empathy trumps stereotype any time.

    What’s the most important take-home message for readers?

    The First Muslim isn’t a “message” book. If anything, since I’m agnostic, you might call it an agnostic biography. But I think many readers may be surprised at Muhammad’s deep commitment to social justice, his radical protest against greed and corruption, and his impassioned engagement with the idea of unity, both human and divine—major factors that help explain the appeal of Islam.

    How do you feel about the cover?

    I loved it the minute I saw it. Riverhead brilliantly avoided all the usual obvious images—domes, minarets, crescent moons, camels, and so on—and opted instead for the understated elegance of this classic “knot” tile design.

    Is there a book out there you wish you’d written?

    On Muhammad? No, and that’s exactly why I wrote The First Muslim. The book I wish someone else had written didn’t exist—one that brought psychological and political context to the historical and religious record, and one I actually wanted to read instead of feeling that I should.

    What’s your next book?

    I’m thinking it’s time to explore exactly what I mean by being an agnostic, and how this informs my ongoing fascination with the vast and volatile arena in which religion and politics intersect.

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  1. Sani says:
    January 6, 2013 at 12:23 pm

    Hi Lesley.
    Well, this interesting and important historical event, the banishment of the Levi clan of the children of Israel from Madina has been sidelined by the Jewish Rabbis and most historians. The world is hiding shamelessly this important historical event. I have given a brief account in my book available in website, sbpra.com//allamadrsanisalihmustapha. It was only the Levi clan that could be with Muhammad for they were needed to establish his Shari’a. When that was achieved their function seized and they had to leave Madina. Note that there is no compulsion in Islam that is obedience to Allah in following Muhammad. I hope you will the difference for your ancestors in Egypt were compelled to follow Moses to prepare them for the Shari’a.
    Please Lesley, do not forget your base! Compare the life of Muhammad with that of Moses.
    When Makka was conquered Abu Sufyan lamented saying, ‘A speck’ has conquered the world.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      January 6, 2013 at 1:23 pm

      Sani — This is not exactly how the earliest Islamic histories (ibn-Ishaq and al-Tabari) record matters. Further, I would have thought it clear that I consider my “base” to be the intelligent open-minded reader, of whatever faith or non-faith. But really, may I suggest — not only to you, but to anyone else tempted to comment prematurely — actually reading ‘The First Muslim’ before commenting on it?!

      • Sani says:
        January 6, 2013 at 2:25 pm

        Hi Lesley!
        I bought books through Amazon, but are yet to arrive. I prepare to buy your book direct from bookshops.
        The point is I have read about many books written by those who do not understand Revelation and the G-d of Abraham. They make mistakes like your assertion and understanding that Muhammad is the First Muslim. He is not certainly and cannot be. It is not allowed in the teaching of Muhammad to start an argument or say something that is not said by Him. He never described himself as First Muslim and no Sahaba ever described him as such.
        My dear Lesley from the beloved children of Israel, there is more than enough for you and those writing on Muhammad to understand the G-d of Abraham and believe in him from the Torah. You do not need the Qur’an to believe in the G-d of Abraham. I read the Torah a lot and find no difference in what is in the Qur’an.
        If you want to write on Muhammad, please write that he observed the 3 prayer times in Makka – morning, afternoon and evening as observed and prayed by the Jews, when he migrated he wanted to use the horn on calling people to prayers. He established the law of foreigners and made Madina like the six safe towns in the Torah. Tell us about Huayyy ibn Akhtab the leader of Banu Nadir (I think) who confessed that Muhammad indeed is that messenger mentioned in the Torah. I read both the books of at-Tabari and ibn Ishaq, but you may misunderstood them for reasons unknown. They wrote on a section of his history but not on his Sunna.

        • Lesley Hazleton says:
          January 6, 2013 at 3:20 pm

          As I pointed out on http://www.TheFirstMuslim.com (and in the book itself, of course), the title comes from the Quran, which tells Muhammad three times (6:14, 6:163, and 39:12) “Say, I am the first Muslim.” While I know certain Islamic traditions have it that Abraham was the first Muslim (and others, Adam), the Quran nonetheless refers to Abraham as “the first hanif,” or monotheist. I went with the source. Again, I recommend reading first, commenting after.

      • karachiwala says:
        March 27, 2013 at 3:35 am

        Hi
        Unfortunately this is what is happening in the modern times…..Commenting without reading the actual book. I was surprised to see the good Pastor who wanted to burn the Quran, come on TV and say that in fact he had not read the Quran at all
        it’s real sad

  2. Tea-mahm says:
    January 6, 2013 at 10:46 pm

    Accidental Theologist fans! I’m releasing a review of The First Muslim Monday Jan 5 on http://www.completeword.wordpress.com
    Check it out! What a great read. Tamam Kahn

  3. HandeBir says:
    January 7, 2013 at 12:19 am

    Dear Leslie,

    Looking forward to reading the book… I wish I had the time to do the translation into Turkish but I am sure someone will do that.

    It is a delicate topic this interaction of religion and politics. My home country is having its share on it for decades now. It may be more about power and religion but politics is seen as a means to power so it makes sense either way.

    After I started following your blog, I did try to find out what you mean by an “agnostic Jew” and did some reading on it. It is important for me because names, concepts are important; they not only provide clues to the others about you, but also shape the way you perceive yourself.. And if your perception hardly fits any category, you try to alter or change them. Not always an easy job… Anyway, I just want to say that I am very happy that you will write about this concept.

    Happy 2013!

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      January 7, 2013 at 9:29 am

      Thank you for getting the idea. Not easy, true, but then it wouldn’t be interesting of it was!

  4. Riz Haider says:
    January 7, 2013 at 2:48 pm

    As an agnostic Muslim I really enjoyed your TEDx talk, however, I regretfully agree with Sani about your interpretation of the 3 verses you quote from the Quran re 1st Muslim. I give to you the translation by M. Asad, an Austrian Jew convert to Islam who took great pains to be etymologically and semantically correct in his translation. It is considered by many scholars as one of the best. Definitely my favourite. ‘first’ and ‘foremost’ are not synonomous, would you agree?

    Asad: Say: “Am I to take for my master anyone but God, the Originator of the heavens and the earth, when it is He who gives nourishment and Himself needs none?” Say: “I am bidden to be foremost among those who surrender themselves unto God, and not to be” among those who ascribe divinity to aught beside Him.” Q 6:14
    Asad in whose divinity none has a share: for thus have I been bidden-and I shall [always] be foremost among those who surrender themselves unto Him.” Q 6:163
    Asad and I am bidden to be foremost among those who surrender themselves unto God.” Q 39:12

    • Sani says:
      January 8, 2013 at 9:55 am

      Hi Riz. Indeed Muhammad encouraged nothing other than telling the truth abiding sticking and practicing it. I love the Jews because they were portrayed in the Qur’an as a national exposing the truth and never hiding it. Thus why many of them accept Islam that is their simplified version of the written and oral law. But Hesley is trying to forget her sound base.

  5. Riz Haider says:
    January 9, 2013 at 3:39 am

    Lesley
    I want to apologize for my earlier comment. In way of apology I would like to offer my explanation. First off, I feel like a bloody fool! I stumbled on your book whilst trolling the web and without any research on you, your background and your rather singular achievements I proceeded to send you my take on the what I realized later, was the title of your book. That in itself was rather rude and insensitive of me. Please accept my heartfelt apology. I subsequently found out more about you and just simply loved your Quran TEDx talk. I view the Quran in much the same way but could never in my life, have expressed it is so eloquently and charmingly. I don’t know why Sani has decided to interject himself into this with yet another badgering remark on you and your going back to your ‘base’. This is something I do not want to be associated with, as it is I’m feeling very sheepish. Looking forward to reading your books. Salaam Alaikum!

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      January 9, 2013 at 8:15 am

      Thank you, Riz — both for the apology (which takes courage) and for checking out the context (which takes time). Alaikum assalaam! — L.

    • Sani says:
      January 9, 2013 at 10:21 am

      Assalamu alaika Riz.

      Brother Riz, we have problem of education and giving the G-d of Abraham his Right. We have only one BOOK the Torah and no one can do without it. Muhammad never rejected it. My understanding is, it is part of the Qur’an and I do not discriminate between them. The Sunna of Muhammad that is his actions is a different field.
      I respect the Jews because of their history that shapes my belief and determination to obey the one chosen by Allah. I like Lesley because she was a Jew loved by Muhammad but despised for unknown cause by some of his followers. My interaction with some Jews in Europe make me belief that an understanding Jew as Lesley described herself cannot be a ‘Christian’ but can only be one to follow the actions of Muhammad.
      The translation of Muhammad Asad was coined from the Tafsir of Imam Shawkani and az-Zamakhshari. That is why it is standard. There are many forms of Tafsir.
      I am not against Lesley, but only telling her that I have spent 52 years reading the Torah and I have not find anything there in the Qur’an contradicting what Muhammad mentioned of it. 90% of the Muslim customs are Jewish. Read the way they bury their deceased. Any difference?
      I am calling on the Jews to understand those calling for their salvation and freedom. True followers of Muhammad were never their enemies and will never be. The ball is in their hand now.

      • Lesley Hazleton says:
        January 9, 2013 at 11:08 am

        Sani, please — This is NOT the place for da’wa. The verse to bear in mind is “to you your religion, to me mine.” Just as I respect your islam, I ask that you respect my agnosticism, and accept the fact that I have no interest in being “saved.”

        • Sani says:
          January 9, 2013 at 12:22 pm

          Sorry Lesley! Please forgive me my misunderstanding you right from the word go! Then you should never have written on Muhammad for to write on Muhammad is to call for da’wa. By the way, is you book not a book of da’wa since da’wa means calling or addressing people? This indeed paradox how you know Muhammad but denying the existence of the G-d of Abraham. You cannot separate Muhammad from the G-d of Abraham. Muhammad is mentioned whenever the G-d of Abraham is mentioned.

          • Lesley Hazleton says:
            January 9, 2013 at 8:32 pm

            Sigh… No, Sani, not da’wa. Not preaching. Not an act of devotion. Not at all. Read the book first, then comment.
            Have I said this before?

  6. Farrukh Kidwai says:
    January 15, 2013 at 5:28 am

    Hello Lezley,

    How can I get your book in India ?

    Regards,

    Farrukh Kidwai

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      January 15, 2013 at 7:59 am

      Thanks for asking, but alas, I don’t know. Publication for now (that is, as of Jan 24) is in the US and Canada, though the book is also available at amazon.co.uk. I wish I had a magic wand that let it be easily available everywhere, but as is, authors have little control — in fact none — so have it to leave it to the ingenuity of readers!

  7. Donald Avery Graham says:
    January 30, 2013 at 7:10 am

    Dear Lesley, It was hard to find someplace on your blogsite where I could write to you! I just wanted to say that it’s true that your title, The First Muslim, in indeed incorrect, but not for the reason others have given. It’s incorrect because Muhammad himself was highly dubious about his revelation, and it was his wife Khadijah who first believed and convinced her husband to believe. Therefore, by any reasonable standard she should be known as the first Muslim, not Muhammad.
    I will read your book anyway, since I am very interested in the founders of great religions (I’m a professor of comparative religion) and I have not found the previous biographies compelling.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      January 30, 2013 at 9:41 am

      Thanks Donald. You’ll find that Chapter 6 of the book describes that extraordinary marriage, and Chapter 7 ends with her role as the first person to hear the revelations from Muhammad. I agree re previous biographies — which is why I wrote this one.

  8. Talha Ejaz says:
    May 1, 2013 at 12:45 am

    Dear Lesley,

    As a Muslim I had mostly read and learned detail of Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) after the proclamation of prophet hood and felt innate need to know the events that actually shaped or lead to his development. I am very fond of reading your books and how you try to separate b/w what is divine and indeed what is more to be associated with the human or its psychological need but I fail to understand and somewhat sad to learn that you are still an agnostic? May ALLAH uncover the truth that beholds you from true understanding. Anyways well done on your write-up and thorough research, gripping narrative had me engulfed in such a state that I kept on reading page after page till it wasn’t finished. Thank you

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      May 1, 2013 at 8:48 am

      Thank you, Talha, but really, no need to be sad on my behalf. I truly value my agnostic perch!

  9. Farrukh says:
    May 2, 2013 at 12:07 am

    Hello Lesley,

    Going by your analogy to name your book, “As I pointed out on http://www.TheFirstMuslim.com (and in the book itself, of course), the title comes from the Quran, which tells Muhammad three times (6:14, 6:163, and 39:12) ”

    I’m curious to know why did you not take into account 7:143

    “When Moses came to the place appointed by Us, and his Lord addressed him, He said: “O my Lord! show (Thyself) to me, that I may look upon thee.” Allah said: “By no means canst thou see Me (direct); But look upon the mount; if it abide in its place, then shalt thou see Me.” When his Lord manifested His glory on the Mount, He made it as dust. And Moses fell down in a swoon. When he recovered his senses he said: “Glory be to Thee! to Thee I turn in repentance, and I am the first to believe.”

    According to this verse , even Moses says, ‘He is first to believe.’

    Thank you.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      May 2, 2013 at 8:34 am

      Check the Arabic: “awwal al-muuminin” versus “awwal-al-muslimin”

  10. Ali Almuhanna says:
    October 28, 2013 at 4:18 am

    Hi Lesley,

    I’ve enjoyed reading your book, especially when presenting the human element of the Prophet. Most moving for me was how you described the first revelation on Hira’; the Prophet’s feelings of awe & terror (I know some have objected to this term, but think I see what you’re trying to convey with it). I totally agree that if a person was to experience some sort of connection with God, he/she will have similar feelings. That to me is what Muslim prayer is all about; prostrating before God in full submission & pleading for guidance.

    I’ve also read “After the Prophet”, a great read as well. I think both your books give an outside view of Muslim history, one from which many Muslims could benefit. Reverence of the Prophet’s companions and/or family is misguided in my opinion; we should put aside the differences ‘they’ had, and focus on unity, the one thing which Islam is all about.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      October 28, 2013 at 9:28 am

      Thank you, Ali — I do indeed believe that an ‘outside eye’ can provide a fresh and even refreshing way of seeing.

  11. Hakim says:
    February 17, 2016 at 3:19 am

    Hi Lesley

    sorry my english is not perfect.

    I hope you will understand my demand.

    I fisrt want to congratulate you about your works, i just read your
    book “The first muslim” and i really enjoy it.

    I also would like to share it with some people i knew, but their
    learning of english is low.

    I would ask you please, if your editor provide a french translation of
    this book or orher works you’ve alreaddy done.

    I thank you for your answer and wish you the best.

    I look forward to hearing from you.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      February 17, 2016 at 11:16 am

      Thank you, Hakim. No French translation, alas. But an audio English version may be in the works. — L.

      • Hakim says:
        February 17, 2016 at 11:54 am

        Thank you so much for your answer Lesley

TEDx Talk: Muhammad, You, and Me

Posted December 6th, 2012 by Lesley Hazleton

Just released:  the video of the talk I gave at TEDxRainier on November 10, 2012.

I can’t judge how effective the talk is (a few of the slides were dropped in the video-editing process, including a shot of Newsweek‘s infamous ‘Muslim Rage’ cover).  But as with my previous talk on reading the Quran, I do think I’m getting at something that needs to be said in today’s politically manipulated climate of suspicion and distrust.

If you agree, it’d be great if you’d help by forwarding this to all who will be, might be, or simply should be interested.  You can use the buttons below to email, tweet, or post to Facebook.  Or just copy and paste this page’s url or the YouTube one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aC7bUTBKv0.  Thank you!

And again, most definitely, I’d love to hear your comments, every which way they trend!

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  1. Khurshid Alam says:
    December 6, 2012 at 2:36 pm

    Thank you. My real gratitude will just be too long.

  2. saheemwani says:
    December 6, 2012 at 3:32 pm

    This makes sense. Very wisely said. Really appreciate the work you’re doing. But I wonder how one can really comprehend the man without comprehending his essence i.e. his faith in the Creator?
    But maybe that’s the whole point. One who doesn’t understand the inner can yet respect the outer self.

  3. Sandra Sandilands says:
    December 6, 2012 at 3:49 pm

    I think you have a good ‘handle’ on the situation, and speaking as a Christian I am with you. More power to your elbow!

  4. Eid Umar says:
    December 6, 2012 at 11:29 pm

    Love that voice and delivery. Well done, Lesley, I find your work truly inspiring.

  5. Susan B. says:
    December 7, 2012 at 12:49 pm

    Thank-you Ms. Hazleton, your presentation is wonderfully reasoned and timely. I am not a Muslim, but in the greater scheme of thing I am one who heartens to the beautiful story and exemplary, magnificent life of Muhammad. Where a billion and a half people place their faith, we must all strive to reach understanding. Thank-you so much for your reasoned appeal for cross-cultural understanding.

  6. annie minton says:
    December 7, 2012 at 4:24 pm

    fabulous talk. Every word hitting the mark. Thank you so much

  7. Joe Zias says:
    December 8, 2012 at 9:16 am

    Well spoken you’ve come a long way since your time in Jerusalem. One of the things bothering me here in Jerusalem is the extremism which one sees in East Jerusalem and the occupied areas when politics are combined with religion compared to Israel itself where things are much quieter. I, as an anthropologist lived with the Arabs for yrs in a suburb of Jerusalem, today it would be impossible for a non-Arab to live there as things once run by the elders/headmen are now run by the ‘Shabab’ the man in the street. The avg age of the man in the street is at times a teenager, and it can become violent.

  8. Meezan says:
    December 9, 2012 at 12:30 pm

    The last one minute of your speech gave me Goosebumps. Good faith indeed. Just got my hands on “The First Muslim”. I am going to read it as soon as I finish this Carl Sagan book.

    Just wanted to ask, what now? What are you working on next?

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      December 9, 2012 at 3:32 pm

      You got your hands on ‘The First Muslim’? I haven’t even seen a hard copy of it yet! What’s next? I’ll know by the summer…

      • Meezan says:
        December 10, 2012 at 12:17 am

        An autobiography perhaps? I would surly buy that. Would love to know how you got to the place where you are right now, making sense out of blurry history, turning religious superheroes (and villains) into mere humans without making them look bad or offending anyone. And most of all how did you get to be such an eloquent speaker.

        • Lesley Hazleton says:
          December 10, 2012 at 9:38 am

          Well, not an autobiography, but I am thinking about going back to the first person singular…

      • Meezan says:
        December 11, 2012 at 4:35 am

        Sorry, false alarm about “The First Muslim”. Guess I’ll be waiting for the 24th Jan.

  9. Tamam Kahn says:
    December 9, 2012 at 11:31 pm

    So important to get this viewpoint out there. “How can so many of us know so little about him?” You are changing that.
    May your TED talks reach FAR and WIDE! T’m

  10. pah says:
    December 10, 2012 at 8:46 am

    congratulations, Lesley, seems you gave a great speech.

    but for some reason i can;t get into the video, but will keep trying

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      December 10, 2012 at 9:36 am

      Maybe try directly on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aC7bUTBKv0

  11. jen says:
    December 11, 2012 at 7:15 am

    thanks, Lesley, found you on YouTube..
    you are surely a defender of what is right, whichever faith it might be
    One of my favourite stories of Muhammad is when the woman used to throw dirt over him everymorning and then on the morning she didn;t, he went to enquire after her….wonderful

  12. Kamarul Zaman Abdul Rashid says:
    January 16, 2013 at 4:50 am

    excellent speech from a fellow human to another, putting aside religion.

  13. Nur says:
    February 15, 2013 at 5:16 am

    Thanks Ms. Hazleton, I liked your speech. I became your fan since I heard your Ted lecture on Quran. Then I searched youtube for all of your talks. Just now I placed the order for the ‘First Muslim’ from Book Depository in UK. I was waiting for this book to be published because you mentioned about it in one of your lectures.

    But one thing, as per Islamic belief, Muhammad was not the “first muslim”, but Adam, the first human, was. According to prophetic saying, every human is born as a muslim, because he/she is born as a pure soul (with Fitrat Al Allah), it is his/her mum/dad or his/her society who make him/her otherwise.

Onstage At TEDx Rainier

Posted November 15th, 2012 by Lesley Hazleton

It’ll be a few weeks yet until the video of the TEDxRainier talk I gave last Saturday goes online (multiple cameras — fortunately I was unaware of them — involve post-production work).  But here, by way of a teaser/preview, are three stills just sent me by the organizers.  They’re in chronological sequence, and they do seem to capture the spirit of the talk:

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File under: agnosticism, Islam, Judaism | Tagged: Tags: headscarf, Muhammad, photographs, TEDxRainier, The First Muslim | 6 Comments
  1. Linda Williams says:
    November 15, 2012 at 11:52 am

    They certainly capture the spirit of Lesley! Congratulations on being a TED speaker!

  2. Beffa Ommaya WyldeMoon says:
    November 16, 2012 at 7:14 pm

    Wicked, wylde, wonderful woman! You go! I’m eager to hear the TED talk, of course; but this entire site and your current books are as powerful as the talk can possibly be. Grateful, indeed, to have had the pleasure of a writing workshop with you Centrum, PT, summer 2008.

    • Lady Diction says:
      April 8, 2015 at 4:14 am

      Beffa! I’ve found you!

  3. Nuzhat says:
    November 17, 2012 at 8:37 am

    Exactly how I would imagine you to look Lesley. The spirited expression, beauty to match the brains, and ooh the headscarf!!
    Wish I could hear you in person. Waiting for the video……
    The first Ted talk already had me hooked to you forever.
    Love and luck,
    Nuzhat.

  4. pah says:
    November 17, 2012 at 10:21 am

    the headscarf suits you…..can;t wait for the talk
    by the way hasn;t the scarf been around for thousands of years i.e.
    Italians/Russian/Medieval/ad infinitum…and the Queen loves her headscarf…..nuns/Mother Mary..

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      November 17, 2012 at 5:15 pm

      Good point: The headscarf I used in the talk is known as a ‘shayla’, a word of Persian origin which then gave rise to the English word ‘shawl.’

Great Early Review of ‘The First Muslim’

Posted November 13th, 2012 by Lesley Hazleton

Great pre-publication review of The First Muslim in the current issue of Publishers Weekly (alas it’s subscriber-only, so I can’t link to it):

Despite Islam’s position at the forefront of the American consciousness, the general public knows little of its founder and prophet beyond platitudes and condemnations. Hazleton (After the Prophet) attempts to rectify this imbalance with her vivid and engaging narrative of Muhammad’s life. The author portrays her subject as an unlikely and unsuspecting vehicle for the divine, “painfully aware that too many nights in solitary meditation might have driven him over the edge.” Sympathetic but not hagiographic, her work draws liberally from a long tradition of Islamic biographical literature about the prophet; the nuanced portrait that emerges is less that of an infallible saint than of a loving family man, a devoted leader of his people, an introspective and philosophical thinker who reluctantly accepted the burden of conveying the word of God, and a calculating political strategist. Hazleton writes not as a historian but as a cultural interpreter, reconstructing Muhammad’s identity and personality from the spiritual revolution that he sparked and the stories that his followers passed down. While the speculation is sometimes off-putting (as when Muhammad’s final illness is confidently diagnosed as bacterial meningitis), the result is a fluid and captivating introduction that will be invaluable for those seeking a greater understanding of Islam’s message and its messenger.

I love the idea of being less a historian than a cultural interpreter.  If I don’t quite see the problem with the bacterial meningitis issue, no matter.  Roll on January 24.

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  1. Rachel Cowan says:
    November 13, 2012 at 9:43 am

    couldn’t agree more!

  2. Imraan says:
    November 13, 2012 at 10:01 am

    Congratulations!
    I pre-ordered mine months ago – I grow even more excited in anticipation! “Cultural Interpreter” is something I’d put on a business card!

    Have you any plans for a tour in conjunction with the publication?
    Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone on O2

  3. Sani says:
    November 13, 2012 at 10:28 am

    It is wrong and unacceptable by the trend in the Torah to describe Muhammad Rasulullah as the First Muslim. This description implies denying the Torah, an issue Muhammad Rasulullah came to explain and disapprove. Indeed he was the last of the prophets and the leader (an Imam) of the messengers. The closest causes of Muhammad’s death was not bacterial meningitis, but rather cerebral bleeding. His convulsions and high temperature closely resembles pontine bleeding.
    The book available in website:sbpra.com//allamadrsanisalihmustapha is worth musing. It is the only literature if read carefully that will balance the influence of al-Qaeeda and Taliban.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      November 13, 2012 at 10:37 am

      I went with the Quran, which tells Muhammad three times (6:14, 6:163, 39:12) “Say: I am the first Muslim.”

      • Sani says:
        November 16, 2012 at 9:13 am

        Sorry Hazleton. That is not the intended meaning! The meaning is what I gave you. Understand that Muhammad is mentioned in Madinan verses only. No reason given, But the reason is that he was depicted in the position of Moses for Moses was the one who saved the then polite and beloved by G-d the Children of Israel. Therefore, Allah G-d of Abraham is saying: O Levis, Here is Muhammad for whom you migrated to Madina. Are you going to deny him? Remember the favors I did to you under Moses. Moses gave them the law after the exodus and not while in Egypt. Muhammad has escaped the tyrants in Makka and therefore should be given the Law. Please look for your friends to neutralize Taliban and al-Qaeeda.

      • AJ says:
        November 18, 2012 at 10:14 pm

        6:14
        Islam means total submission to the will of Allah In this sense all creatures in the heavens and on the earth, willingly or unwillingly, have submitted to His will, accepted Islam, according to verse 83 of Ali Irnran; and in verse 93 of Maryam the word abdiyat also refers to total submission of all creatures to the beneficent Lord of the worlds.

        The Holy Prophet was the first abid (worshipper of Allah) among all His creation, therefore it is wrong to say that he was the first convert, which implies that before that he was not a Muslim. “If Allah had a son, I would be the first to worship”, in Zukhruf : 81, proves the fact that the Holy Prophet was the first worshipper of Allah among all His creation.

        • Lesley Hazleton says:
          November 19, 2012 at 10:15 am

          Like I’ve said before, AJ, I went with the source: 6:14, 6:163, and 39:12 of the Quran, where Muhammad is told “Say, I am the first Muslim.”

          • Sani says:
            November 19, 2012 at 10:45 am

            Again you are free to read the Qur’an. But the correct interpretation is what Muhammad said and not what you or anyone conjectures. Please take our explanation and interpretation. We are like the Jewish rabbis who listen to their sages and say ‘no’ when they do not know. Please remember and go back to your past..

          • AJ says:
            November 19, 2012 at 12:05 pm

            Lesley theres no complain what you understood of the verse but then say “thats what I understood” do not say “thats what the verse says”.

            The same Quran says the very first man(Adam) submit…so he could be first Muslim…then this is Abrahimic religion…so Ibrahim could be first Muslim.

            You disregard the gist of Quran and try to understand “First Muslim” through a secluded verse…though literal in meanings BUT Quran has a temperament and its parables and illustrations ought to be understood in the spirit of whole Book regardless you are Muslim or Non Muslim.

      • AJ says:
        November 18, 2012 at 10:31 pm

        39:12

        This verse was revealed when the pagans of Makka asked the Holy Prophet as to why he was preaching a new religion opposed to idolatry and making his followers suffer persecution and miseries.

        A verse starting with “Qul” always has a context and a reference.
        There are many addressee of Quran but kuffar and wrong doers were never addressed directly…they were addressed through Prophet by “Say”.

        Not in the order of conversion of the Makkans, but the Holy Prophet was the first Muslim in the order of whole creation, mentioned in Ali Imran: 184.

        • Lesley Hazleton says:
          November 19, 2012 at 10:23 am

          Plus I think it should be clear that ‘The First Muslim’ is not theology, but narrative history. The way I tell the story and think of it is obviously very different from the way you tell it and think of it. You speak as a believing Muslim, I speak as a non-Muslim, writing with respect but not reverence. I respect your point of view even if I do not accept it; perhaps you could do the same with mine.

          • Sani says:
            November 19, 2012 at 10:39 am

            Sorry my dear Lesley. Muhammad does not recognize you as a non-muslim. You are a muslim as far as he is concerned. Whatever be your faith, you are bound to report and quote Muhammad and not to say something contrary to what is revealed to him. There is no compulsion in Islam. Lesley, do you reject the diagnosis and prescription of your doctor?

          • Sani says:
            November 21, 2012 at 12:40 am

            My dear Lesley.
            Please do not be tired. I am just reading a Tafsir. Qur’an 2:131 is an address to our Patriach Ibrahim. Where was Muhammad then? Secondly when Adam was cast down to earth, Gabriel came to him (in India) and made a call to the prayer. In it is the name of Muhammad. He asked Gabriel who is that Muhammad. Gabriel replied: He is the last prophet among your children.
            Please my dear Lesley, forget about what the followers of Muhammad are telling you. They are misdirecting you (West) and misleading you distorting the teaching of Muhammad. They will then turn and accuse you of that. Please when reading the Qur’an for each verse make reference with 10 commentaries. The beast thing is not to read the Qur’an but to read the life history of Muhammad. Please regard me as your sincere adviser for I have great respect for the Jews although you are now a Christian.

      • Yesh Man says:
        February 11, 2013 at 9:53 am

        The correct interpretation in all these instances is “Say: I am the first Muslim (among you)”. The “among you” is the key since the clear understanding is that all Prophets and their true followers were in the state of submission to the One Lord, hence Muslim by definition.

  4. Lynn Rosen says:
    November 13, 2012 at 10:29 pm

    Huzzah! Another child is born and we look forward to sharing the joys and kinks of its story unfolding. Can’t imagine what the bacterial meningitis issue might be with the reviewer above unless the dis-ease makes him vincible and human and infectible by bugs.

    • Sohail Kizilbash says:
      November 16, 2012 at 8:09 am

      I don’t know anything about the actual symptoms of his illness nor the historical or medical basis of making a diagnosis after fifteen centuries. But come on, a poisoning or some other exotic death is more appropriate to a religious leader as compared to a mundane meningitis which can afflict any Tom, Dick and his grandfather.

      • Sani says:
        November 16, 2012 at 9:17 am

        Sorry Sohail. The history ruled out all that you are saying. Yes, Muhammad was attempted to be poisoned but was told by Gabriel. The woman confessed that she did attempt to poison him to prove his claim that he is indeed sent by Allah. I do not think that an Israelite prophet was ever poisoned.

  5. Mohammad Irfan says:
    November 14, 2012 at 4:11 am

    Dear Hazleton, congratulations for a great book on the messenger of peace, I m your regular follower and like your postings.

    I would like to say about ‘First Muslim’, of course Quran mentioned the prophet first musilm but it must be taken on the context of the prophet, like I am the first among you(audience of the prophet) who submitted his well to Allah!…it should be taken as among the people of mecca at the time of prophet.

    I think the first muslim on the earth is Aadam and all messengers like Ibrahim, issac, jacob, moses, jesus peace be upon all of him were mentioned as musilm in Quran.

    All prophets are equal on the status.

    Thanks
    Mohammad Irfan

    • AJ says:
      February 3, 2013 at 8:24 pm

      Dear M Irfan

      Muslim is derived from root word “Silm” means acceptance and submisson, the first Man who submits could be Adam but Ms Hazelton is talking about Muslim, a term used in Quran and thats specific with follower of Mohammad(saw) because none of the previous Muslims were following perfected Deen as per Quran.

      And you are also wrong to say all prophets are equal in status, Quran says some are superior to others in status.

      • Lesley Hazleton says:
        February 3, 2013 at 10:29 pm

        AJ — I’ve been thinking recently that a better English word than ‘submission’ might be ‘surrender’ — as in surrendering oneself to beauty, or to joy. i.e. an opening of heart and soul. As you say, a willing (and willed) acceptance. What do you think?

        • AJ says:
          February 4, 2013 at 12:38 am

          Lesley….I could be wrong but I think “surrender” is used with circumstances and aspects like you said to “Beauty”
          Surrender commonly used for forced submission.
          In Arabic word is “Tasleem” which is integral of same derivative “silm” and predominant meanings of Tasleem is acceptance then submission.
          IMO Submit is more comprehensive and absolute.

          • Lesley Hazleton says:
            February 4, 2013 at 8:25 am

            AJ — It’s that absoluteness that goes against my agnostic soul. ‘Acceptance’ much better than ‘submission’ to my mind, since submission seems to have an even stronger connotation of force, implying that it’s against one’s will. ‘Surrender’? I surrender myself to the moment, say. I surrender control. But yes, it does also have that military implication. I think I used the phrase “willed and willing acceptance” in the book. Will keep puzzling at it.

        • Sani says:
          February 4, 2013 at 4:01 am

          My dear Lesley.

          The Muslims have fallen into the trap of understanding the Message sent to Muhammad through its Latinized and Greek translations. Islam means one who submits in obedience to the Command of the G-d of Abraham. You cannot truncate submission from obedience and command. That is the organic whole of the meaning of Islam.
          Lesley, you know better than any one of us the strictness of the G-d of Abraham on what He commands.

          • Lesley Hazleton says:
            February 4, 2013 at 8:28 am

            On the contrary, Sani, I can, and I do, and I will continue to do so. I have never been any good at taking commands, and do not intend to start now!

          • Sani says:
            February 4, 2013 at 9:10 am

            My dear Lesley.

            It is now apparent that you are making your own interpretation of the Qur’an that has nothing to do with what Muhammad your assumed first Muslim taught, explained and demonstrated. This is a form of extremism accepted by Western civilization.

          • Lesley Hazleton says:
            February 4, 2013 at 9:40 am

            A first! I’ve never been accused of extremism before.

          • Sani says:
            February 4, 2013 at 11:52 am

            But the misinterpretation of the Qur’an is responsible for extremism among the followers of Muhammad. They cannot be accused of that and you escape that. If the West want arrest extremism, the influence of Al-Qaeda and Taliban then the actual and accepted translation of the Qur’an must be accepted by the west and to challenge those of his followers distorting it. That is a better weapon in winning extremism. I am not accusing you in your person, but your knowledge. The West translates Jihad to mean a follower of Muhammad fighting and killing a follower of a prophet before Muhammad, while it means to strive hard to achieve a goal according to the command of the G-d of Abraham. […]

          • Lesley Hazleton says:
            February 4, 2013 at 1:14 pm

            Sani, you seem to be entirely unacquainted with my work. May I suggest reading through this blog, and then reading http://www.TheFirstMuslim.com, before you comment again? You might even try reading ‘The First Muslim’ and ‘After the Prophet.’

  6. Nancy McClelland says:
    November 15, 2012 at 11:57 pm

    The second I read the “not as a historian but as a cultural interpreter” bit, I thought — spot on. That’s Lesley’s gift.

  7. AJ says:
    February 4, 2013 at 10:54 am

    Accusing Lesley of extremism itself is worst kind of extremism.

  8. AJ says:
    February 4, 2013 at 10:57 am

    Lesley I understand your difficulty with absoluteness but religion is all about God and an imperfect God is beyond possibilities.

    An imperfect being could be anything but God.

  9. akmahan says:
    February 4, 2013 at 5:28 pm

    have a good day,

    I just popped up your book, so happy, began searching bout it. I remember did listen your tedspeak, i admired n impressed your workin on qoran (never understood why they so laughing in ted about) but unfortunately forgot your cuz not to took note on you. Nevermind, i found u again and going to read carefully.

    There are some conversation bout the being ‘first’.
    the mentioned sentences,sorahs,saying that ‘you are the first who practice our words to your people’ . So not just say and wait another to practice our words. You must be the leader, first doer, live by our words. Not be as hodjas or teachers . (they say in eastern societies ‘do what the teacher say do not what the teacher do’ and that is dissingenious)
    In islam or qoran, all the prophets have the same message but live in different times n places. So all the prophets got the islamic spirit or understanding. Matter of facts, all the humanbeing are capable of being understand that logic, being truely human BUT you can see if you look at Satan, knowing is not enough to do the right things. Satan knows the Allah, that is the main point. The important thing is ‘Will’. you ough to want to be a good person at the beginning and end of the day.

    So qoran is the last book, mohammed is the last prophet. Allah Says everything via his lots of prophets before but evil didnt stop maybe wont stop, they use the words their advantages, killed the messenger etc.

    i just wanted to add these comments, thanks for your works.

  10. AJ says:
    February 5, 2013 at 12:20 am

    Lesley…when you submit you do not surrender control on the contrary you gain control.
    Submission to Al-Mighty is lot different from all other submissions…you submit to One you become indifferent to all.
    We must understand founding philosophy of Islam and all the Abrahimic religions…We are property of God and we returned unto Him this world is testing abode and its stay is temporary.
    Had there be no Judgment Day, God would be guilty of all these inequalities and suffering in this world.
    Those who thinks theres no God but they have to agree all these prophets whom they think are genius, had well protected the Justice of God.
    Theres no good but justice and theres no crime but injustice.
    I would rather follow a genius than idiot….in this world scientifically we are not sure of hereafter but then why take a chance about something we don’t know.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      February 5, 2013 at 8:18 am

      AJ — I’ll start thinking of you as Pascal! (Pascal’s wager: no loss if you’re wrong, big gain if you’re right. Trouble is, I can never figure out if he wrote it tongue-in-cheek or seriously).

      • AJ says:
        February 5, 2013 at 8:49 am

        Lesley…neither its tongue in cheek nor its serious.
        I tried to get in the shoes of materialist.

        Either things are concluded materially or spiritually…in case former is true then materialist gaining everything…if later is true then materialist should not be in loss….its all a business of gain n loss and who could be better business wo-man than materialist.

    • shah says:
      February 14, 2013 at 6:41 pm

      yea! ur right…and almighty allah says in the quran the sole purpose of our creation is to worship him!!…so y not give ourselves to the one who has created us and enjoy the eteral bliss he has promised us.

      lesley i just hope u dont remain agnostic all ur life!! u need to accept the truth someday hopefully before ur time has come 🙂

      ps: sorry for my bad english.

      • Lesley Hazleton says:
        February 14, 2013 at 7:00 pm

        Shah — I appreciate your motivation, but you know, respect goes both ways. As the Quran says, to you your religion, to me mine. I remain firmly agnostic, with no expectation of eternal anything.

  11. Yesh Man says:
    February 7, 2013 at 7:27 pm

    I listened to your short Tedx talks which intrigued me to your openness and neutrality and that is exactly the kind of openness and neutrality that I expected when I read your book The First Muslim.
    The fact is the book is full of large volumes of bias. You make it very clear that this book was written by a Agnostic Jew. Agnostic is clear from your avoidance of all miracles or extraordinary happenings that happened to the Prophet, you question and dwell on the story of Bahira – how come he was named Bahira since he lived in the desert etc. and not about what is the story actually about?.
    Your Jewish bias is very clear
    – in the story of the Banu Quynaynah, largely accepted fact is that the muslim girl (which curiously becomes a beduin girl) was insulted; then you question how could she be wearing the veil? Rather than acknowledge that perhaps the younsters were indeed insulting her.
    -You also try to prove that the punishment on Bani Qurayza was because they were Jewish and not because they broke the alliance. If the criteria for punishment was that then Bani Quynaynah/Nadir/Khaybar would not have been spared.

    You are very terse in aspects where the Prophet showed incredible Mercy such as the episode of Khaybar and on the return journey from Khaybar also the conquest of Mecca where the expectation was there would be no mercy. Rather you dwell on Qurayza over and over again.

    The reviewer is absolutely right you are not providing history or care about providing a neutral view, you are just interpreting things from your own understanding and bias. I expected better from you!

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      February 8, 2013 at 4:06 pm

      Interesting — re miracles, the Quran makes it very clear that no miracles are necessary.
      I gather I have not written the book you would have written, and that what particularly irks you is the analysis of what happened with the Jewish tribes of Medina. How exactly this translates into “Jewish bias” is not clear to me. Especially since I nowhere argued that what happened to the Qurayza was “because they were Jewish.” — L.

      • Yesh Man says:
        February 11, 2013 at 9:27 am

        Well, no one is asking to embellish on miracles. Just state the fact and move on, there is no need to explain miracles and pull a la Reza Aslan (in his book). People are smart enough to make their own judgements (after all we do witness the tevalangelists power of healing and toasts with image of Jesus).

        In my opinion, you have not written a book you would have written. Your style in part 1 is very matter of fact and by the last part you are freely making assumptions and drawing conclusions about everything and anything (bacterial meningitis – really?)

        The bias is very clear to anyone reading the last parts carefully, your emphasis on certain events and supression of others is very obvious.

        I dont much relish the biography of the Prophet written by Karen Armstrong or you for that matter since both are wrapped in their own agenda (whatever that is for you).

An Early Nod for ‘The First Muslim’

Posted August 30th, 2012 by Lesley Hazleton

Library Journal’s Barbara Hoffert chose The First Muslim as one of her picks for January 2013.  This is what she wrote:

Understanding Islam would seem to mean understanding the life, the times, and the beliefs of its founder, but there don’t seem to be a lot of universally acknowledged biographies of Muhammad around.  I’ll go out on a limb to highlight this one, because Hazleton, who reported on the Middle East for over a dozen years, wrote the well-regarded After the Prophet: the epic story of the Shia-Sunni split, a PEN-USA Book Award finalist that won praise from several quarters.  Hazleton aims to examine how the man Muhammad — an orphan, a merchant, and an exile — upended the established order and became the Prophet.  Keep your eyes peeled.

No comment on that phrase “universally acknowledged,” but to get such a nice nod so far ahead of publication is much appreciated.

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File under: Islam, Middle East | Tagged: Tags: After the Prophet, Library Journal, The First Muslim | 13 Comments
  1. Michael Camp says:
    August 30, 2012 at 1:10 pm

    Very cool, Lesley. I look forward to reading the book. I managed to get endorsements from Frank Schaeffer and Marcus Borg on my Confessions of a Bible Thumper. I mentioned you in the aknowledgements because I liked your advice so much. Cheers!

  2. Nancy says:
    August 30, 2012 at 1:38 pm

    Well, Desiderata says that we are all children of the universe, and I acknowledge your command of and passion for the topic. Thus, you really are “universally acknowledged”.

  3. annetraver says:
    August 30, 2012 at 2:13 pm

    Brava, Lesley!

  4. Zvi & Dorothy Pantanowitz says:
    August 30, 2012 at 2:24 pm

    Lesley dear,

    I’m happy to read this. Let her be the harbinger of the hordes to come.

    Love, Pantz

  5. pah says:
    August 30, 2012 at 2:28 pm

    i look forward to this also.
    have read karen armstrong’s

  6. Sohail says:
    August 30, 2012 at 2:57 pm

    Are there any’universally accepted’ biographies of any other major religious figures who came before him?

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      August 30, 2012 at 3:17 pm

      Well put, Sohail.

  7. kristin lyssand says:
    August 30, 2012 at 8:32 pm

    Hello Lesley,

    I am almost in the midst of reading the book ‘THE HAJ’by Leon Uris. I assume you have read it and I wonder if you could give me your opinion on the veracity of how the Bedouin and Arabs are described. At this point I am appalled by what I read.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      August 31, 2012 at 9:19 am

      Kristin, hi — have never read this Uris book, but to judge from what I’ve read of his (decades ago), am not surprised that it’s appalling. Sounds like to finish it would be an act of pure masochism.

  8. Nuzhat. says:
    August 30, 2012 at 10:45 pm

    Nothing less can be expected from the awaited book!
    I’m already feeling like the first Medinans waiting outside Quba for the arrival of the first Muslim….
    More wishes Lesley…

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      August 31, 2012 at 9:23 am

      Ah, I wish. Love the image of waiting outside Quba. But I should point out that as Barack Obama can confirm, great expectations can also lead to disappointment…

  9. Amy Thomson says:
    September 10, 2012 at 12:40 pm

    When will this book be published?

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      September 13, 2012 at 8:25 am

      Publication date is January 24, 2013.

Return of the Accidental Theologist

Posted June 15th, 2012 by Lesley Hazleton

Back when, I wrote here that I was going into hermitry for “just a few months, probably,” in order to focus on the final draft of The First Muslim.  Hubris strikes again!  I now realize it’s been nearly a year.

But I’ve finished the book.  All 99,901 words of it.  (Actually, a few thousand more if you include the end notes, bibliography, etc, but hey, who’s counting…)  And it’ll be published in January, which suddenly seems just round the corner.

“We gotta celebrate!” friends here in Seattle said after I’d pressed the Send button to my publisher.  Champagne all round, heels kicked up, nights on the town — all that good stuff.  But nights on the town require energy, and I had none left.  I was too exhausted.  The book was finished, and so, it felt, was I.  Instead of celebrating, I did what I’d known I’d do come this moment:  I collapsed.  The sofa and I became one.

But as days passed with me cradled by that sofa – well-worn dark green leather, thoroughly scratched up by the resident feline – I realized that this wasn’t a painful exhaustion.  It was a happy one, the kind you feel after an arduous hike through magnificent landscape.  You’ve forded streams and clambered up mountains you never thought you could manage.  By the time you get home, everything is aching.  You can’t wear shoes because of the blisters.  The muscles in your legs are so sore it feels like you’ll never be able to walk properly again.  But who cares?  You know, at a far deeper level than skin and muscles, that it was absolutely, totally worth it.

That was a few weeks ago, and now my energy’s coming back.  I’m up off the sofa, ready to interact with the world again and resume this great improvisation known as life.  So here’s a big thank you, fellow accidental theologists, for your understanding, patience, encouragement, and support over this past year.  Now that I’m back, on with the conversation!

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File under: existence | Tagged: Tags: book, Muhammad, The First Muslim, writing | 44 Comments
  1. farzana says:
    June 15, 2012 at 11:58 am

    looking forward to getting myself a copy of this one.

  2. paul skillman says:
    June 15, 2012 at 12:46 pm

    I get so sick of hearing about Muslims blowing each other up in Irqu Afganistan & Syria, they don’t seem like a people I want to immulate or follow.I feel like they have world dominatation in mind.
    Thanks.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      June 15, 2012 at 4:14 pm

      Where did this come from? No-one’s asking you to “immulate,” emulate, or follow anyone, Paul. No-one’s asking you to generalize either. Every sane person hates people being blown up, no matter who does it and where they are. If you insist nonetheless that a small but violent minority represents all Muslims, you are hereby invited to go follow Fox News.

      • H. A says:
        June 23, 2012 at 1:22 am

        as Ibn Khaldoun “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Khaldun” who once said : Intellectual infatuations & other elements that drags societies down, that brings discrimination, division, injustice, the belief in man made illusions, confusions, hate & chaos (الفتن) hiding behind the mask of religion is a very common & big business in the eras of intellectual decline of the communities ”
        – Ibn Khaldun

    • Faruk Ahmet says:
      June 17, 2012 at 3:00 pm

      Sooo… they are blowing each other up to dominate the world? That’s a horribly inefficient way of dominating things, I’d say :/

  3. Mary Johnson (@_MaryJohnson) says:
    June 15, 2012 at 1:40 pm

    Lesley, I’m so glad you’re through–and that you’ve taken time to put those blistered feet up, that wonderful mind of yours to rest. And that now you’re back! I can’t wait to read The First Muslim–and whatever you’ll blog about next!

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      June 15, 2012 at 4:24 pm

      Thanks Mary — and yes, am totally with you against the Catholic church’s Inquisition of its nuns. All the more disgusted since it’s being led right here in Seattle, by Archbishop Peter Sartain.

  4. Sohail Kizilbash says:
    June 15, 2012 at 4:26 pm

    Welcome back Lesley. Muslims believe that the the first Muslim was Adam. Nevertheless, I can hardly wait to read your new book.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      June 15, 2012 at 4:34 pm

      Thanks, Sohail. I know that’s a tradition, but the fact remains that Muhammad is told three times in the Quran to call himself the first Muslim, so what’ll I tell you: I went with the source.

  5. Sue Fitzmaurice says:
    June 15, 2012 at 4:38 pm

    Bravo. Looking forward to the read. You are, it must be said, more than a theologist, Lesley; you are an inspiration. Thank you. xo

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      June 15, 2012 at 6:04 pm

      An accidental inspiration! Thanks, Sue.

  6. Nuzhat says:
    June 15, 2012 at 8:52 pm

    Heres a big hug and more Lesley,
    The anticipation is killing…even before reading, I know it’s going to be a prized Collection for me.
    Wish I could be privileged to pick the first copy from the publisher itself.
    You are definitely the blessed one to be of those who spread the Truth.
    Lots more health and energy for the good work.
    Nuzhat.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      June 16, 2012 at 9:39 am

      Thank you Nuzhat, but you way over-estimate me. Really, I’m not into capitalized Truth. Just the multiple human truths of real life.

      • Nuzhat says:
        June 16, 2012 at 9:29 pm

        Oops! The typing error of capital T….it’s your recounting of realities as truths which I meant. They do provide invaluable insights into my unending research on the subject. Thanks anyway…
        Nuzhat

  7. lavrans says:
    June 15, 2012 at 10:04 pm

    Wonderful to see you back in the land of the casual word, Leslie.
    Been waiting for you to re-surface…

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      June 16, 2012 at 9:40 am

      “The land of the casual word” — love it!

  8. lavrans123 says:
    June 15, 2012 at 10:06 pm

    Hurrah for your return to the casual word, Leslie!

  9. Lynn Rosen says:
    June 16, 2012 at 12:36 am

    It’s time to do Cuban, Darling. We’ll have our girl call your girl. We’ll take a meeting.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      June 16, 2012 at 9:42 am

      You’re on!

  10. anyacordell says:
    June 16, 2012 at 1:57 pm

    Congratulations, Lesley! I, too, am looking forward to reading the fruits of your labors. Wish I were local and could take you to tea to celebrate, and get better acquainted. As for nasty comments, I’m still always shocked by the vitriol people feel free to repeat, not based on their own experience, only on distasteful nuggets of misinformation they’ve ingested from those who are more than happy to garner money, votes, power, etc., from demagoguery, that time-dishonored practice that always manages to attract people who ought to have better things to do with their time and money than replicate smears and stereotypes. My piece, “Where the Anti-Muslim Path Leads” is again reprinted, this time, here: http://theinterfaithobserver.org/journal-articles/2012/6/15/where-the-anti-muslim-path-leads.html
    Enjoy your well-earned respite.

  11. Herman says:
    June 16, 2012 at 3:37 pm

    Why don’t we hear from the from the vast peaceful Muslim majority ?

    Herman.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      June 16, 2012 at 6:40 pm

      Because you can’t be bothered to listen. Try starting with “Moving the Mountain: Beyond Ground Zero to a New Vision of Islam in America” by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf.

      • Herman says:
        June 18, 2012 at 9:06 pm

        I would like to see some public protests from the Muslim community when a church is blown up or a market is attacked by suicide bombers,not dancing in the streets that we saw when the twin towers
        went down.

        • Lesley Hazleton says:
          June 19, 2012 at 9:37 am

          Then you should take the blinders off your eyes and see.

  12. Huw says:
    June 16, 2012 at 3:48 pm

    Yeh strength AT, hear from you when?? London Fans

  13. Sohail Kizilbash says:
    June 16, 2012 at 4:09 pm

    Interesting interpretation, Lesley. I will look up the references but as you know translations are just that. Thanks.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      June 16, 2012 at 6:30 pm

      References are Quran 6:14, 6:163, and 39.12

  14. Zahida Murtaza (@zmurrad) says:
    June 16, 2012 at 8:00 pm

    Dear Lesley
    Good to be able to read your writing once again. I enjoy reading everything here and am amused at the ‘quick judgement’ on all sides. While I suffer from the paralysis or fear of words to be able to say something, I admire your patience and understanding ( not to mention your tongue- in- cheek sense of humour) in responding to some of those comments. I wish people would suspend all judgement and take delight in reading your gift of an excellent writer as a ‘wordsmith’.
    The much anticipated book will most likely not upset the love/hate paradigm of most people. The small minority who is always open to new ideas will most certainly enjoy it purely for the superb quality of your talent, not to mention hard work in presenting a controversial topic in your unique style. You are doing a great job of teaching how to ‘agree to disagree’ in a mature way and all, including many Muslims, would benefit from it. Thanks.
    Zoi

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      June 17, 2012 at 8:35 am

      Many thanks, Z — you seem totally eloquent to me!

  15. Abid Hussain says:
    June 17, 2012 at 2:02 am

    Hi Lesley,

    Absolutely dying to read your new book. I just love the work you did on the “Shia/Sunni” book. Only an agnostic Jew could have such an incredibly objective insight 🙂 . I’m looking forward to re-learning more about Islam, from your non-dogmatic researched perspective.

    Just a question, do you know whether your publisher plans to distribute this digitally (iBooks, Kindle) etc?

    I’m personally hoping for a Kindle edition.

    Thanks

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      June 17, 2012 at 8:40 am

      Thanks Abid! And yes, it will definitely be in digital form also. — L.

  16. Rachel Cowan says:
    June 17, 2012 at 9:41 am

    Hi Lesley,

    just to say I am full of admiration and anticipation to read the book. I am glad you got such a deep rest of fulfillment, and that you are back out on the town.

    sending love
    rachel

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      June 18, 2012 at 7:23 am

      Thanks Rachel! Love back — L.

  17. Faruk Ahmet says:
    June 17, 2012 at 3:25 pm

    Ms Hazleton, glad to have you back! “After the Prophet” was a great reading—can’t wait to download your newest to my Kindle.

    Since you just came out of wrestling with the material, maybe it wouldn’t be too inappropriate to ask you about something: What is your opinion on the emerging claims that Muhammad has never existed at all; or even if he did, he hardly had a solid connection with the Quran and the Islamic tradition as we know them? If it was only questionable polemicists like Robert Spencer and Ibn Warraq, I would dismiss the idea without batting an eye, but there’s also Patricia Crone et al. …

    Again, welcome back.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      June 18, 2012 at 7:37 am

      Crone, Holland and company base their critique as I see it on two ideas: First, that Islamic historical sources are intrinisically untrustworthy and that only Byzantine sources can be relied upon. Second, an insistence on written documentation from what was a predominantly oral culture. I find it interesting that they apply these “standards” only to early Islam, and not to early Judaism and Christianity, which are still more deeply steeped in Middle East oral culture, and are far less reliable as history. The task, as I see it, is to distinguish between history — what actually happened — and the mass of reverential legend that accrues over the ensuing centuries. A knowledge of comparative religion and of Middle East culture is essential in order to do this, and that is what I find rather dismayingly lacking in Cronism.

  18. iman shamim says:
    June 18, 2012 at 8:06 am

    congratulation for this new book

  19. Meezan says:
    June 18, 2012 at 10:31 am

    Welcome back Hermet. Eagerly awaiting for the book. Go treat yourself with a foot massage and an ice-cream for all the hard work. And keep the goodies coming.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      June 18, 2012 at 11:54 am

      Ice cream: check. Massage: good idea.

  20. Amira says:
    June 24, 2012 at 3:35 am

    I teach English to Imams in Cairo. We all listened to your TED talk and they were very impressed, as was I. Sadly your books are not available in Cairo, so Amazon is sending me ” The Sunni-Shi’a” book. I hope to meet you on your next visit over. My Imams would love to meet you. Take care and thank you from all my heart.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      June 24, 2012 at 9:28 am

      How great is the idea of using a TED talk as an aid in teaching English?! Brava. And bravo to the imams for finding such a great teacher. Will be sure to yell if/when I make it again to Cairo. — L

      • Amira says:
        June 24, 2012 at 11:23 am

        As I’m sure you have heard, we now have a Muslim Brotherhood President, talk about mixing politics and religion! The society is about to undergo another massive rift, I believe comparable to the King Henry viii break from Rome or even the Sunni-Shi’a split. We hope to come out safely.

        • Lesley Hazleton says:
          June 24, 2012 at 1:05 pm

          Fingers and toes crossed for Egypt. Heart and mind too. Keep safe. — L.

  21. M. Wakil says:
    July 28, 2012 at 9:08 am

    Welcome back Ms Hazleton! Was alerted to your return to the blogosphere by your facebook posts. I became a fan after stumbling upon “after the Prophet” on kindle. I’ve since seen your TED video (and ensured that almost everyone I know has seen it too) and am currently reading your book on the life of Mary (which I had to buy from the uk since it’s not available on kindle). It has, amongst other things, given me a new perspective on certain verses in Suratul Maryam. I just want to thank you for your books (because they are like gifts) and to let you know you have fans here in Nigeria. I also want to appreciate your patience in responding to Muslims who are convinced that you’re on the verge of conversion to Islam (*smiley face). It’s just that we’re not used to hearing anything positive about Islam from non-Muslims who aren’t considering it in that way. Looking forward to the next book. Take care and rest well.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      July 29, 2012 at 1:13 pm

      Much appreciated, M. Thank you! — Lesley.

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