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Even After 9/11, Rumi Remains America’s Bestselling Poet
Even though he's been cleansed of any overt Muslim identity, Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi continues to provide spiritual inspiration as the best-selling poet in America today.
By Shahed Amanullah, October 11, 2002
With so many of the top selling books on Islam painting a picture of violence, hatred, and intolerance, it seems odd that the top selling poet in America, for several years now, has been a 13th century Muslim mystic who has managed to sate the spiritual hunger of millions of Americans. Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi would have loved the irony. Hailing from Afghanistan, a land that has become intimately familiar with Americans for reasons that have little to do with love and enlightenment, Rumi and his work have gone beyond fad ( Kahlil Gibran, anyone?) to phenomenon. Madonna, Demi Moore, and Martin Sheen read translations of his words praising Allah over music. Oliver Stone wants to make a film of his life. Donna Karen plays Rumi recitatations at her fashion shows. What has made Rumi so popular? "Rumi is the voice of unconditional love," says Kabir Helminski, a translator of Rumi's poetry and a sheikh of the Mevlevi Sufi Order (which traces its lineage back to Rumi). "He is willing to talk about his own pain, for instance, the pain of loving God, the pain of being human." While all of Rumi's writings drew from his deep connection with Islam, his most popular poems (like those found in the compilations by Coleman Barks) don't directly refer to Islamic teachings, mainly because translators wanted to make Rumi more accessible for Americans. Some Muslims claim that the essence of Rumi is lost when taken out of the context of Islam and turned into some sort of New Age icon. Reflecting on this, Helminski quotes Rumi. "We cannot steal the fire. We must enter it."
Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.
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- Posted by octagon on October 12, 2002 at 12:25 AM
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altmuslim this week - february 1, 2010 - This week, a controversial autopsy report on the killing of Imam Luqman Abdullah raises questions, the trial conviction this week of Aafia Siddiqui in New York raises even more questions, and a report in Harper's alleges that suicides at Guantanamo were cover-ups and raises yet more questions. Enough questions. Who has answers? 
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Win tickets to see “Journey to Mecca” in London - Voting for the Brass Crescent Awards has begun and for our British participants, we're offering five pairs of tickets to see a special IMAX screening of " Journey to Mecca," a documentary that tells the story of Ibn Battuta and the hajj (November 16, 2009)
Treachery at Fort Hood - American Muslims, particularly those serving in the US Armed Forces, should consider the killing of soldiers at Fort Hood an act of betrayal and treachery, regardless of the political sphere surrounding America's wars overseas. (November 5, 2009)
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altmuslim review 032 - Muslim writers everywhere! We speak about the new wave of Western Muslim literature and interview two authors with recently released books. Our own Irfan Yusuf talks about his memoir, Once Were Radicals and Reza Aslan tells us more about his second book, How to Win a Cosmic War (June 11, 2009)
altmuslim review 031 - Oh, Bama! What does the election of Barack Obama mean for American Muslims, who were both courted and shunned during a long campaign? We speak with American Muslim Democratic activists who were gathered in Washington for the historic inauguration. (March 5, 2009)
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Recent and upcoming talks and offsite articles by altmuslim contributors
Al-Awlaki, a new public enemy, Zahed Amanullah, The Guardian, Comment is Free, December 30, 2009.
Islamophonic: Review of the year, Riazat Butt, Zahed Amanullah and David Shariatmadari, Cif Belief (The Guardian), December 18, 2009.
Fort Hood has enough victims already, Wajahat Ali, Comment is Free (The Guardian), November 6, 2009
The pitfalls of filming Muhammad, Shahed Amanullah, The Guardian, Comment is Free, November 4, 2009.
Children of Dust (published by HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins), the first book by longtime altmuslim.com contributor Ali Eteraz, is released in the US, Canada, and the UK on October 13, 2009.
Shahed will be attending the m100 Sansoucci Colloquium in Potsdam, Germany, September 14-16, 2009. He will be moderating a panel discussion on the Danish cartoon crisis with Denis MacShane MP, Jasim Al-Azzawi (Al Jazeera English), and Flemming Rose (Jyllands Posten).
Associate Editor Wajahat Ali's play "The Domestic Crusaders" is having its premiere at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in New York City, NY, September 11, 2009. The play will continue through Sunday, October 11, 2009.
Shahed will be moderating or participating in three panel discussions at the Islamic Society of North America's annual convention, including Muslim Journalists: The View from the Inside, Supporting Social Entrepreneurs and Civic Leaders, and Blogistan: Muslim Americans on the Web in Washington, DC, July 3-6, 2009.
State-sponsored Sufism, Ali Eteraz, Foreign Policy, June 10, 2009.
Pushing the Envelope Without Breaking It, Shahed Amanullah, The Mosque in Morgantown, June 2, 2009.
Obama in Egypt: Let the unsaid be said, Zahed Amanullah, Patheos.com, May 28, 2009.
Zahed will be a panelist at Divan 2.0, a debate on the future of the Muslim internet sponsored by the Radical Middle Way at the London School of Economics in London, England, May 22, 2009.
Once Were Radicals (published by Allen and Unwin), the first book by Associate Editor Irfan Yusuf, is released in Australia, May 4, 2009.
Shahed and Wajahat will be speaking at the 3rd Annual Leadership Summit presented by the Council for the Advancement of Muslim Professionals in Princeton, NJ, May 2, 2009.
Shahed will be leading a workshop on Media Strategies & Techniques at the Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow conference in New York, NY, April 24-25, 2009.
Bringing it all back home, Wajahat Ali, The Guardian, Comment is Free, April 9, 2009.
Zahed will be conducting a two day workshop on Blogging and New Media for Italian students at the United States Embassy, Rome, Italy, April 8-9, 2009.
Crusading for Modern Islamic Art, Shahed Amanullah, Beliefnet, March 26, 2009.
Wajahat will be speaking at the Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow conference in Doha, Qatar (January 16-19, 2009)
Finding the middle ground, Hesham Hassaballa, Philadelphia Inquirer, January 8, 2009.
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Media appearances and analysis featuring altmuslim editors
Muslims say new security rules unfair, ineffective - ''Muslims are doing their duty. Muslim parents are being attentive. It's the TSA that's not being attentive. It's the TSA that's not doing its duty," said Shahed Amanullah, an editor at the Web site altmuslim.com. "There's nothing more that Muslims can do than turn in their own families." (January 7, 2010)
US Muslims & media… Lost love - "We have a big problem; it’s that other people are shaping the story about us," Shahed Amanullah, editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com, told IslamOnline.net. (December 16, 2009)
Moves to Seize Mosques Spark Outrage - "I'm extremely skeptical that the link between these mosques and this organization is so strong as to merit the seizing of a considerable amount of assets that do a lot of good for the Muslim community," says Shahed Amanullah, a prominent Muslim blogger based in Austin. "The government better be prepared to make a very good case, because this is unprecedented." (November 17, 2009)
Muslim Prayer Day Illustrates Dynamics of Free Speech in U.S. - "Some popular commentators and bloggers, such as Zahed Amanullah of the Web site altmuslim and Aziz Poonawalla of the blog City of Brass, were critical of its timing, coming so close to the end of Ramadan and Eid celebrations." (October 23, 2009)
O’s Fall Reading Guide - Children of Dust - "Ali Eteraz's memoir, Children of Dust, describes this ardent young Muslim's picaresque journey from a brutal Pakistani madrassa (oddly reminiscent of a British boys' school) to America's Bible Belt ("Allahbama," in his devout but increasingly modern eyes), where he braved the sexual fantasyland of AOL and zealously warded off temptation in miniskirts... his adventures are a heavenly read." (October 14, 2009)
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