Group Decries Textbooks on Islam as Inflammatory
Group says children’s textbooks on Islam depict misleading, inflammatory view of Muslims
By KATHY MATHESON
The Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — A series of children’s textbooks on Islam contains misleading and inflammatory rhetoric about the religion, inaccurately portraying its followers as inherently violent and deserving of suspicion, according to a Muslim civil liberties group.
The Pennsylvania chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations began what it calls a public awareness campaign Wednesday against the “World of Islam” books by Mason Crest Publishing.
“This is not about Muslims being offended,” Moein Khawaja, the chapter’s civil rights director, said at a news conference. “Filled with incorrect information and deception, these books are contrary to the education mission of schools and libraries.”
SEE full press remarks: https://pa.cair.com/news/press-conference/
It was not immediately clear where the series is being used, but Khawaja said complaints from council chapters across the country lead him to believe it is on bookshelves in about two dozen states.
Mason Crest partnered with the Philadelphia-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, which describes itself as an independent nonprofit, to produce the 10-book series. The series is designed for ages 10 and older. Institute vice president Alan Luxenberg, who wrote a book called “Radical Islam” for the series, defended the texts.
“They’re taking things out of context to paint a picture that misconstrues the meaning of the books,” Luxenberg said Wednesday.
Among at least two dozen examples cited by Khawaja, the book “Muslims in America” says that “some Muslims began immigrating to the United States in order to transform American society, sometimes through the use of terrorism.” Elsewhere, a picture of two smiling Muslim girls in head scarves appears on a page subtitled “Security Threats.”
SEE full story: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=10121745
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be POLITE and RESPECTFUL. A good point is made with gentleness but destroyed with harshness)
1. Contact Mason Crest Publishers directly, tell them why hateful propaganda has no place in schools and that they should stop working with the Foreign Policy Research Institute. Tell them we appreciate their other series of books on Islam, Introducing Islam, and that we respectfully request they promote the Introducing Islam series rather than the biased World of Islam series.
Here is a sample letter/email you may use:
Dear Sir/Madam,
I commend Mason Crest for publishing the “Introducing Islam” series, thank you. It was edited by scholars of Islam and does not contain the ever-present bias against Islam and Muslims as seen in the “World of Islam” series. The “World of Islam” series has been exposed for half-truths and misinformation, and it reflects poorly on you to continue its promotion. I urge you to choose neutral editorial consultants rather than the right-leaning Foreign Policy Research Institute. Information about Islam and Muslims must be taught to America’s schoolchildren in an objective fashion, free of editorializing and bias.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
Contact:
| Mason Crest Publishers 370 Reed Road, Suite 302 Broomall, PA 19008 1-866-MCP-BOOK Fax: (610) 543-3878 Email: lmcgee@masoncrest.com, mjennings@masoncrest.com, gbaffa@masoncrest.com |
Foreign Policy Research Institute 1528 Walnut St, Ste 610 Philadelphia, PA 19102 Tel. 215-732-3774 Fax 215-732-4401 Email: fpri@fpri.org |
2. Check to see if your local schools and libraries have ordered any of the following books from the World of Islam series. If you find a school or library does have them, respectfully ask to speak with the head librarian or administrator and state your concern that these books are biased and misleading. Ask them to replace the World of Islam series with the Introducing Islam series or add the Introducing Islam series to their library as well.
BAD:
| • Divisions in Islam By Dr. John Calvert ISBN 978-1-4222-0533-4 • History of Islam By Dr. Barry Rubin ISBN 978-1-4222-0531-0 • Islam in Europe By Michael Radu ISBN 978-1-4222-1363-6 • Islam, Law and Human Rights By Anna Melman ISBN 978-1-4222-1362-9 • Islamic-Jewish Relations Before 1947 By Tanya Sklar ISBN 978-1-4222-1361-2 • Islamic Rituals and Celebrations By Dorothy Kavanaugh ISBN 978-1-4222-0534-1 |
• The Monotheistic Religions: Islam, Christianity, and Judaism By Abe M. Cohen ISBN 978-1-4222-0537-2 • Muslims in America / Islam in America By Anna Melman ISBN 978-1-4222-0535-8 • The Muslim World: An Overview By Dorothy Kavanaugh ISBN 978-1-4222-0532-7 • Radical Islam By Alan Luxenberg ISBN 978-1-4222-0536-5 |
3. As an alternate option, please consider donating the alternative set of books for your school or library, also published by Mason Crest, but written with the consultation of Muslim Scholars: http://www.masoncrest.com/series_view.php?seriesID=10
GOOD:
| • Heroes and Holy Places By Hal Marcovitz ISBN 978-1-59084-704-6 • Islam, Christianity, and Judaism By Dorothy Kavanaugh ISBN 978-1-59084-698-8 • Islam: The Basics By Kim Whitehead ISBN 978-1-59084-697-1 • Islamic Fundamentalism By Kim Whitehead ISBN 978-1-59084-703-9 |
• Muslims and the West By Evelyn Sears ISBN 978-1-59084-700-8 • The American Encounter with Islam By Anjum Mir ISBN 978-1-59084-699-5 • What Muslims Think and How They Live By Rick Hodges ISBN 978-1-59084-702-2 • Who Are the Muslims? By Melissa S. Carr ISBN 978-1-59084-701-5 |
