As blogger Scott Adams aptly put it, ask a devout Christian who he’d rather live next to–a bearded Muslim possibly plotting an attack or an atheist possibly skilled at setting up wireless networks–and the answer would be clear: The Christian will pick the atheist over the Muslim. Chalk it up to prejudice–when it comes to Muslims, the majority of Americans have plenty to be ignorant about, say renowned Islamic scholar John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed, executive director of the Center for Muslim Studies at Gallup, in an op-ed article published April 2 in the Los Angeles Times and reproduced here with the authors’ permission. They co-wrote the recently published book, “Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think.”
John L. Esposito is a professor of International Affairs and Islamic Studies at Georgetown University, where he also directs the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal center for Muslim-Christian understanding. He co-wrote the recent book, “Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think,” with Dalia Mogahed, executive director of the Center for Muslim Studies at Gallup.
