My Year Inside Radical Islam by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Author:Daveed Gartenstein-Ross [Gartenstein-Ross, Daveed]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group USA, Inc.
Published: 2011-05-26T21:27:41+00:00

eight

MAN BITES DOG

Some people think you should kill them.”

This was Abdul-Qaadir’s response when Pete’s eleven-year-old son Yusuf—whose mother had left Islam for Christianity—asked if it was possible for someone who had been Christian, then become Muslim and then returned to Christianity, to again become Muslim.

Yusuf’s mom had been a source of anguish for Yusuf and his brother Yunus. Both of them looked up to Pete with the full devotion of sons who are starved for their father’s attention. I never met her—she and Pete had long been divorced by the time I got to know him—but I once saw a photo of her and Pete when they were young. She was an attractive blond woman, and Pete looked different back then. Now, despite his mischievous streak, he was quite tense. He actually seemed relaxed back then. Back then he didn’t have a beard, but had big, hippie-type hair. I imagined that he had been like the person I was before I began to work for Al Haramain—liberal, devoted to pluralism, probably unduly optimistic.

Pete once told me that when he met the mother of Yunus and Yusuf, his main concern was bringing her to the faith. Before anything else, he preached to her about Islam, and eventually persuaded her to convert. Only then did they marry. (The clear implication was that I shouldn’t marry Amy unless I could persuade her to become Muslim.) Eventually, though, she divorced Pete and left Islam. I never heard the story behind this decision, but I now imagine that her experience was similar to mine. I imagine that Pete first told her about a simple, beautiful, and progressive Islam. He may even have believed it when he told her about it. But as Pete became a more serious Muslim, I imagine the rules and restrictions became greater. She may have been uncomfortable with the status of women in her new faith. Pete may have asked her to wear the hijab. Whatever the reasons, she returned to Christianity. I remember thinking at the time that she had left Islam because she wasn’t really ready to submit to Allah’s will. I remember thinking that she had made an enormous mistake.

Both of Pete’s sons identified themselves as Muslim. The older son, Yunus, was more rebellious, and more troubled, than Yusuf. He had an inquisitive and scientific mind. He’d constantly ask about and latch on to the fine points of Islamic law, even though he didn’t seem too devout. But he certainly enjoyed correcting others when their Islamic conduct didn’t comport with the rules. Yusuf, in contrast, was a sweet kid. He was obedient to Pete, well behaved. I remember watching him play with Dawood’s sons, who clearly looked up to him. At the time, I marveled at how mature Yusuf was for his age.

Yusuf did seem genuinely devoted to Islam, and he was obviously upset that their mom had left the faith. He wanted her to be Muslim like the rest of us. It was at a night lecture

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