Praying to the West

At once a work of historical scholarship, fascinating travelogue, and deeply personal assessment of lost and rediscovered faith, Praying to the West is a balm against the depiction of Muslims as some kind of nefarious monolith. Omar Mouallem has excavated so many buried stories of Islam's relationship with this part of the world, and in doing so created a timely, vital, and thoroughly readable biography. This is a book that eschews easy answers and generalizations, and the result is both honest and kaleidoscopic. -- OMAR EL AKKAD, bestselling author of American War and What Strange Paradise Mouallem performs a daring act of historical excavation and cultural reconstruction of Islam's history and perseverance as a faith and a community builder in the Americas. Through insightful reporting, masterful storytelling, and exquisite prose, he provides both a panoramic and an intimate view of peoples and sects within a religion often willfully misunderstood and mischaracterized in the West. What a towering achievement this book is and what a gift to have Mouallem guide his readers through its complex and urgent explorations. -- KAMAL AL-SOLAYLEE, author of Return and Brown, winner of the Writers' Trust Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing Mouallem's curiosity--about the promise of a global ummah and his personal relationship with Islam--is inviting and engaging. His journalistic style informs, while his spiritual inquisitiveness encourages self-reflection. A necessary meditation on the richness and multiplicity of Islamic history and practice. -- DESMOND COLE, journalist and author of The Skin We're In Mouallem is one of Canada's most masterful nonfiction writers and there's no one I'd rather follow on a journey like this: across centuries, around the world and into intimate corners of family and personal history. With a deep generosity of both intellect and heart, he offers a rich and complex view of Muslim communities, and of his own ever-evolving relationship to the faith. -- RACHEL GIESE, author of Boys: What it Means to Be a Man, winner of the Writers' Trust Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing Mouallem shatters the myth of a monolithic Islam by revealing a sweeping array of cultures within the Muslim faith. Part adventure story and part investigative probe, his journey spans the Americas, from an Arctic mosque to the Maya Muslims of Mexico. Written from the perspective of an 'atheist Muslim, ' Mouallem asks tough questions and offers surprising insights. Like all great books, it is transformative. After reading Praying to the West, you'll never see Islam in the same way again. -- ZIYA TONG, science broadcaster and author of The Reality Bubble This book is a remarkable achievement. -- MARCELLO DI CINTIO, author of Pay No Heed to the Rockets: Life in Contemporary Palestine Thoughtful, deeply personal, and rich in long ignored and buried histories, Praying to the West reshaped my understanding both of Islam--or, the many Islams--and the history of North America. Omar Mouallem has written a fascinating, essential book. -- EVA HOLLAND, author of Nerve: A Personal Journey Through the Science of Fear