Asalam walakum everyone, we started this campaign because it was brought to our attention that Barnes and Noble is currently selling books that misrepresent Islam and Qurans that are translated or Produced by Non-Muslims.

With that being said on Saturday November 21st we visited the B&N location at 14th street Union Square, New York, NY.  We asked for the section on comparative religion and was told to go the the fourth floor.

Once we found it, we were shocked and appalled by the books they were selling. More than half of the already small section were filled with anti-Islamic propaganda. We found books written by Sam Harris, a man notorious for spreading hate, and whose work inspired attacks on innocent Muslims throughout the country. We also discovered other written works misrepresenting what we believe and encouraging others to leave Islam.

Now on to the issue of having books that misrepresent Islam, we can all agree that it’s okay to question or criticize any given topic, such as the government, ideas, religions...etc. But to ONLY have books that are written by non-Muslims/doesn’t show the Islamic perspective  is not okay especially if they are purposely misrepresenting the what we believe in. It’s not a insane idea to ask for both sides to be presented. A company like B&N who thrives on spreading knowledge should understand such a thing.

After this we turned our attention to the Quran and first one we found was produced by Penguin Classics, a Non-Islamic company and translated by Tarif Khalidi, though it’s translated by a muslim it is not one of the more accepted versions.

The other Quran we found was produced by Weidenfeld & Nicolson and translated by J. M Rodwell. Rodwell happened to be a friend of Charles Darwin and an English Clergyman in the Church of England. So they have a Christian translation of the Quran! How fair is that?

It is important to have the Quran translated by those who know, understands and practices the religion. Having it translated or interpreted by Non-Muslims would be like having politicians who have no scientific background tell us about science. We wouldn’t want such a thing right? It would be unsafe and lead to lots of misinformation.

When it came to Christianity and the Bible, not only did they have a whole aisle dedicated to it but they had almost every interpretation of the Bible such as the King James, New King James, New International Version, New English Standard Version and the Catholic version. All of these are very well accepted in the Christian community.  They also had books on the power of prayer, Jesus(AS), all written by Christians which of course there is no problem with. Why can't they do this for Islam as well? Be fair it's the right thing to do!

Once again a company like Barnes and Noble understand the importance of a proper education. If they can do this for other religions they should be able to do the same for us. Islam is not only the fastest growing religion but also the way of life for over 1.9 billion people. 

What we are urging and requesting of B&N is for them to be FAIR! Please pickup the closer translations to the Quran  such as Saheeh International, or The Clear Quran the two of these are close the modern day English. They can also pickup Yusuf Ali, and Pickthall both of which are in old English.  And we insist that they get rid of these islamophobic books/authors. We cannot risk having our brothers and sisters being attack because of the carelessness of this company and the hatred of these writers. Last but not least please include books that shows the Islamic perspective, books written by Muslims.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, may the peace and blessings of God be upon you all.

Pictures from our visit:

https://imgur.com/a/UtMh0sa