From the review:
It is this same sentiment that permeates Denise A. Spellberg’s new book, Thomas Jefferson’s Qur’an: Islam and the Founders. In it, Spellberg offers a meticulously researched and incredibly detailed account not only of how Jefferson came to acquire a copy of the Qur’an in English but also of the broader historical circumstances of his political career and the role of religion in the period of the founding fathers. Spellberg develops a nuanced and insightful analysis of the seemingly contradicting attitudes towards Islam and Muslims displayed by Jefferson and his contemporaries as represented in historical records. The conundrums she sets out to explore are the following: Why did the founding fathers include the theoretical possibility of Muslims not only as citizens of the United States but as federal office holders (including the presidency) in their deliberations on the one hand, while demonstrating decidedly negative views of Islam (and Muslim political adversaries overseas) on the other? ...
2 comments:
I'm amazed how this subject is so often completely devoid of specifics and is used as a platform for generic bleatings about religious tolerance. The review of the Spellberg book keeps the streak of shallow generalizations intact.
As I recall, Jefferson started looking at Islam during his studies of law, and Islam has an extensive and well-developed system of law. I can't recall reading much about the Founders' thoughts on its actual religious tenets, and as we see when they encountered reality at last in their parlay with the Tripolitan ambassador, that Islam gave "Musselmen" the God-given right to pirate Christians might have led even the most tolerant of Founders to see such jihadism as incompatible with American pluralism.
Why did the founding fathers include the theoretical possibility of Muslims not only as citizens of the United States but as federal office holders
As for these vague sentiments of tolerance toward Islam in principle, America was virulently anti-Catholic: If a place could be carved out for the hated papists, one for the relatively obscure Muslims and Hindus probably seemed no worse and probably better. ;-P
Unless I missed it, it would have been helpful in the review to have noted that Spellberg is professor of history at UT Austin.
This looks interesting and will be a welcome scholarly window into the understanding and reception of Islam during the founding era.
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