Praying to the West: How Muslims Shaped the Americas

(Hardback)

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*Winner of the Wilfrid Eggleston Award for Nonfiction*

*Selected as a Most Anticipated Book of Fall by The Globe and Mail and The Toronto Star*

An insightful and perspective-shifting new book, from a celebrated journalist, about reclaiming identity and revealing the surprising history of the Muslim diaspora in the westfrom the establishment of Canadas first mosque through to the long-lasting effects of 9/11 and the devastating Quebec City mosque shooting.

Until recently, Muslim identity was imposed on me. But I feel different about my religious heritage in the era of ISIS and Trumpism, Rohingya and Uyghur genocides, ethnonationalism and misinformation. Im compelled to reclaim the thing that makes me a target. Ive begun to examine Islam closely with an eye for how it has shaped my values, politics, and connection to my roots. No doubt, Islam has a place within me. But do I have a place within it

Omar Mouallem grew up in a Muslim household, but always questioned the role of Islam in his life. As an adult, he used his voice to criticize what he saw as the harms of organized religion. But none of that changed the way others saw him. Now, as a father, he fears the challenges his children will no doubt face as Western nations become increasingly nativist and hostile toward their heritage.

In Praying to the West, Mouallem explores the unknown history of Islam across the Americas, traveling to thirteen unique mosques in search of an answer to how this religion has survived and thrived so far from the place of its origin. From California to Quebec, and from Brazil to Canadas icy north, he meets the members of fascinating communities, all of whom provide different perspectives on what it means to be Muslim. Along this journey he comes to understand that Islam has played a fascinating role in how the Americas were shapedfrom industrialization to the changing winds of politics. And he also discovers that there may be a place for Islam in his own life, particularly as a father, even if he will never be a true believer.

Original, insightful, and beautifully told, Praying to the West reveals a secret history of home and the struggle for belonging taking place in towns and cities across the Americas, and points to a better, more inclusive future for everyone.

Reviews

Mouallems curiosityabout the promise of a global ummah and his personal relationship with Islamis 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 Were In
[A] fascinating . . . almost infallibly instructive read. . . . A testament to [Mouallems] journalistic acumen, full of well-chosen and vividly rendered stories. The book is a peripatetic illustration of how many people, often scattered and marginal, practice Islam in the Americas. Its when he is chronicling the plight of these people that Mr. Mouallem is at his best.
Wall Street Journal
[A]s honest as it is urgent.Praying to the Westis a thought-provoking book, written in clear prose and from a position of deep empathy and accommodation. It is funny, poignant, and informative. . . . In his travels and ruminations about his faith, Omar Mouallem takes the reader to places seldom considered, and makes them rethink their own relationships to faith. . . . This book is of vital importance to understanding our contemporary world.
JURY FOR THE WILFRID EGGLESTON AWARD FOR NONFICTION
A fascinating exploration of the many manifestations of Islam across cultures, traditions, communities, and political lines. . . . Mouallem is masterful in his ability to both embrace what he loves and interrogate the faith he was born into. . . . Its a refreshing read that shines light on the humanity of Islam through the words, reflections, and lives of its practitioners.
Quill & Quire
Absorbing . . . [Mouallems]book has made it impossible not to see this faith traditions rich complexity.
BookPage (Starred Review)
[Mouallem] uncovers a wide variety of stories about what it means to be Muslimdebunking any idea of a monolithic institutionand its influence on culture, politics and religion.
Toronto Star
Illuminates Islam in the Americas with glorious care. . . This essential examination of places and faces of the Islamic diaspora ambitiously travels the pre-pandemic world with high-stakes curiosity and professional dexterity.
Edmonton Journal
Mouallem performs a daring act of historical excavation and cultural reconstruction of Islams 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
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 Islams 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, Scotiabank Giller Prizewinning author for What Strange Paradise
Mouallem is one of Canadas most masterful nonfiction writers and theres no one Id 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

Author Bio

Omar Mouallemis an author, filmmaker, and educator. His journalism has appeared inThe Guardian, WIRED,andThe New Yorker.His bookPraying to the West: How Muslims Shaped the Americaswon the 2022 Wilfred Eggleston Award for Nonfiction and was named one of TheGlobe and Mails 100 Best Books of 2021. His short documentaryThe Last Baron,about the unlikely link between a Canadian fast-food institution and the Lebanese civil war, is currently being expanded into a feature film. Omar is also the fake dean of Pandemic University, a virtual school he founded in support of writers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.He lives in Edmonton, Alberta, and tweets @OmarMouallem.