Thomas Jefferson's Qur'an: Islam and the Founders
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
In this original and illuminating book, Denise A. Spellberg reveals a little-known but crucial dimension of the story of American religious freedom—a drama in which Islam played a surprising role. In 1765, eleven years before composing the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson bought a Qur’an. This marked only the beginning of his lifelong interest in Islam, and he would go on to acquire numerous books on Middle Eastern languages, history, and travel, taking extensive notes on Islam as it relates to English common law. Jefferson sought to understand Islam notwithstanding his personal disdain for the faith, a sentiment prevalent among his Protestant contemporaries in England and America. But unlike most of them, by 1776 Jefferson could imagine Muslims as future citizens of his new country.
Based on groundbreaking research, Spellberg compellingly recounts how a handful of the Founders, Jefferson foremost among them, drew upon Enlightenment ideas about the toleration of Muslims (then deemed the ultimate outsiders in Western society) to fashion out of what had been a purely speculative debate a practical foundation for governance in America. In this way, Muslims, who were not even known to exist in the colonies, became the imaginary outer limit for an unprecedented, uniquely American religious pluralism that would also encompass the actual despised minorities of Jews and Catholics. The rancorous public dispute concerning the inclusion of Muslims, for which principle Jefferson’s political foes would vilify him to the end of his life, thus became decisive in the Founders’ ultimate judgment not to establish a Protestant nation, as they might well have done.
As popular suspicions about Islam persist and the numbers of American Muslim citizenry grow into the millions, Spellberg’s revelatory understanding of this radical notion of the Founders is more urgent than ever. Thomas Jefferson’s Qur’an is a timely look at the ideals that existed at our country’s creation, and their fundamental implications for our present and future.
Related to Thomas Jefferson's Qur'an
Related ebooks
A. Philip Randolph: The Religious Journey of an African American Labor Leader Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEloquence Is Power: Oratory and Performance in Early America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Transcendentalism: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Christian Imperialism: Converting the World in the Early American Republic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Importance of Feeling English: American Literature and the British Diaspora, 1750-1850 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCosmopolitan Patriots: Americans in Paris in the Age of Revolution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJohn Witherspoon and the Founding of the American Republic: Catholicism in American Culture Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNearest East: American Millenialism and Mission to the Middle East Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Study Guide for The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, Volume 7: 28 November 1813 to 30 September 1814 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMusings of a Caribbean Professor Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNot Fit for Our Society: Immigration and Nativism in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5No Future in This Country: The Prophetic Pessimism of Bishop Henry McNeal Turner Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLiberation Historiography: African American Writers and the Challenge of History, 1794-1861 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPrologue to War: England and the United States 1805-1812 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Seventeenth-Century America: Essays in Colonial History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Narrative of the Adventures and Escape of Moses Roper, from American Slavery Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Earliest African American Literatures: A Critical Reader Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRenegade Revolutionary: The Life of General Charles Lee Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsClassical Black Nationalism: From the American Revolution to Marcus Garvey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Before the Mayflower: A History of the Negro in America 1619-1962 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSacred Interests: The United States and the Islamic World, 1821-1921 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mind of Thomas Jefferson Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNorth America and Africa: Their Past, Present & Future Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIt IS About Islam: Exposing the Truth About ISIS, Al Qaeda, Iran, and the Caliphate Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5White Captives: Gender and Ethnicity on the American Frontier Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Early African American Print Culture Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThomas Jefferson's Lives: Biographers and the Battle for History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Politics For You
The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Daily Stoic: A Daily Journal On Meditation, Stoicism, Wisdom and Philosophy to Improve Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Capitalism and Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Republic by Plato Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on the U.S.-Israeli War on the Palestinians Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Speechless: Controlling Words, Controlling Minds Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5On Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 1]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ever Wonder Why?: and Other Controversial Essays Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Disloyal: A Memoir: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The U.S. Constitution with The Declaration of Independence and The Articles of Confederation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Killing the SS: The Hunt for the Worst War Criminals in History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Reset: And the War for the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Essential Chomsky Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Humanity Archive: Recovering the Soul of Black History from a Whitewashed American Myth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Thomas Jefferson's Qur'an
6 ratings0 reviews