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My Year Inside Radical Islam: A Memoir
My Year Inside Radical Islam is a memoir of first a spiritual and then a political seduction. Raised in liberal Ashland, Oregon, by parents who were Jewish by birth but dismissive of strict dogma, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross yearned for a religion that would suit all his ideals. At college in the late nineties he met a charismatic Muslim student who grounded his political activism with thoughtful religious conviction. Gartenstein-Ross reflects on his experience of converting to Islam—a process that began with a desire to connect with both a religious community and a spiritual practice, and eventually led him to sympathize with the most extreme interpretations of the faith, with the most radical political implications.
In the year following graduation, Gartenstein-Ross went to work for the al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, a charity dedicated to fostering Wahhabism, Saudi Arabia's austere form of Islam—a theological inspiration for many terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda. Shortly after he left al-Haramain—when his own fanaticism had waned—the foundation was charged by the U.S. government as being a source of funds for terrorist organizations. Gartenstein-Ross, by this time a lawyer at a prominent firm, volunteered to be questioned by the FBI. They already knew who he was.
The story of how a good faith can be distorted and a decent soul can be seduced away from its principles, My Year Inside Radical Islam provides a rare glimpse into the personal interface between religion and politics.
In the year following graduation, Gartenstein-Ross went to work for the al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, a charity dedicated to fostering Wahhabism, Saudi Arabia's austere form of Islam—a theological inspiration for many terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda. Shortly after he left al-Haramain—when his own fanaticism had waned—the foundation was charged by the U.S. government as being a source of funds for terrorist organizations. Gartenstein-Ross, by this time a lawyer at a prominent firm, volunteered to be questioned by the FBI. They already knew who he was.
The story of how a good faith can be distorted and a decent soul can be seduced away from its principles, My Year Inside Radical Islam provides a rare glimpse into the personal interface between religion and politics.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
11 people are currently reading
724 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
November 19, 2010
SPOILERS INCLUDED IN THIS REVIEW: As I love any "a year of" type memoir, I was excited to read this book. However, I just want to punch this author. Dude, you weren't really inside radical Islam, you worked for an extremist charity where the head guy gets arrested for tax evasion. Is it possible they were tied to the Taliban and funded terrorism? Probably, but the story the author focuses on is more about his sudden fear for his safety when he decides that his views are no longer in line with the extreme Islam views and decides to become a Christian. Obviously you got over that when you decided to become a counter-terrism "expert" for the government. But really, the thing I disliked most about the book was Gartenstein-Ross' writing style. Every section ended with, "But little did I know how much worse it would get" type forshadowing. Just tell the story and let it unfold for pete's sake. Otherwise, you come across sounding like a spiritually confused, arrogant, talking head. There are some very interesing books out there about one's journey to spiritual awakening, however this guy just capitalized on the fact that he tried out being a Muslim because it is timely. I gave it two stars instead of one because the information about the different groups within the Islamic faith was informative.
December 15, 2014
I was very interested in this memoir and enjoyed reading about the author's spiritual experiences. Sometimes he was incredibly detailed about conversations and feelings; other times he seemed to skip over essential incidences, leaving me feeling like something was slightly missing. His response toward a fundamentalist Chrsitian in an early chapter left me a little uncomfortable, but I kept reading, trusting the book wouldn't descend into a "bash-the-Christian" leftist diatribe (and it didn't!) It is amazing to see how someone can be led from a position that views a fundamentalist Christian as naive and narrow to one that accepts a religion that won't let you wear pants past your ankles or be in the same room with a woman. Talk about narrow and restrictive! But I was interested in seeing how he found his way OUT of Muslim fundamentalism, even though some of his decisions are a little vaguely represented.
[Whenever I read anything about Islam, I so often get frustrated because the radicals use our own freedoms and our own lingo against us: "we just want freedom"'; "we should be allowed to express our religious ideas without restriction." But when your religious ideas involve turning women into second-class citizens and advocating the killing of anyone who changes their minds about being a Muslim, why can't the U.S. media be open about it. Why are we (the American public) always being bashed about "not being sensitive to Muslims," when radical Muslims REALLY DO believe very bad things.]
[Whenever I read anything about Islam, I so often get frustrated because the radicals use our own freedoms and our own lingo against us: "we just want freedom"'; "we should be allowed to express our religious ideas without restriction." But when your religious ideas involve turning women into second-class citizens and advocating the killing of anyone who changes their minds about being a Muslim, why can't the U.S. media be open about it. Why are we (the American public) always being bashed about "not being sensitive to Muslims," when radical Muslims REALLY DO believe very bad things.]
October 3, 2012
I learned a few interesting tidbits about Islam from this book - but that's about it. At the very beginning he made it sound as if his story is about a descent into radical Islam, supporting terrorists, being fully immersed in the culture and then clawing his way back. The actual story is more along the lines of (spoilers, maybe?) - "I toyed around with the idea of this religion, I was around people who were conservative in their views, I grew a beard so they wouldn't be mad at me". At no point does he actually describe being a part of this culture - just being around it and wanting to fit in. Maybe he didn't express himself well, but from what I understand he was never a part of radical Islam.
Still, interesting tidbits.
Still, interesting tidbits.
March 11, 2014
This author changes beliefs to an almost comical degree. He speaks from a position of privilege and takes in the victim role more than necessary. His role in radical Islam was way over played. In short, this is a person I would avoid at dinner parties.
SPOILER ALERT:
I literally rolled my eyes at his baptism. Despite what he says about "putting thought" into his faith, he seemed more intent on doing the fashionable thing. I wouldn't be surprised if he came out with a book detailing his struggle with evangelist Christians and that he us now a Buddhist.
SPOILER ALERT:
I literally rolled my eyes at his baptism. Despite what he says about "putting thought" into his faith, he seemed more intent on doing the fashionable thing. I wouldn't be surprised if he came out with a book detailing his struggle with evangelist Christians and that he us now a Buddhist.
December 12, 2013
Such a disappointment. I had expected something even a little bit revealing about radical Islam - instead, the biggest revelation is that some guy refused to shake hands with women for six months. Not worth the time - however, for a fun drinking game, take a shot every time you read the word "bro," or encounter terrible writing.
September 1, 2015
It's disturbing how many people assume Radical Islam only consists of blowing people up and shooting a JEW (and possibly insulting someone's dog or beard).
But this story takes us into the heart of Islamic insanity and doctrine. This is how you get from a normal (whatever that is?) person to someone who's willing to hate and abuse anyone who disagrees with their god-ordained righteousness. Even a nice guy like Daveed got self-righteously annoying.
This is how a Religion of Peace shows you its true colors in a liberal society like the U.S.A.. Everything is only peaceful if ALL of the rules are obeyed perfectly - at all times. I have chatted with thousands of Muslims, and like this story: everything starts out peaceful and liberally freeing until select issues get raised. Then you start seeing the restrictions and mockery (as well as endless insults) to those who are a little short of total obedience to...? And here's the problem: Total obedience to the Quran? Well, not really, The Quran is extremely ambiguous and rambling - totally lacking in details of anything specific (except HELL -that's a given). Therefore muslims must proceed to the Hadith accounts to get a bunch more rules, and when those start contradicting each other and being dismissed as unreliable... then good old oppression and tradition will tighten up all that loose freedom. And if you disagree: then keep an eye on your tallest buildings.
The author shows us that there really is no moderate Islam: If you seriously follow the Quran you MUST do the will of allah. All non-muslims MUST be forced to pay the tax and eventually lose any rights not approved of by your local Imam. AS a Christian I stand no chance of living in peace side by side with Islamic culture. There is no equality next to Islam. Their goal is REALLY to take over the world... just ask them! It's no secret. That is the Islamic endgame.
Of course Christianity has it's very exact claims. But on this planet: you are free to open an abortion manufacturing - meth induced porn shop with Satanic cheeseburgers served on little plastic up-side down crosses. Not a lot of fear going around from little church grannies with explosive Bibles. (yes, yes, I think there have been almost 4 bits of abortion clinic mayhem over the decades). And yet I have NEVER come across anyone who's afraid to use Jesus' or God's name in a blasphemous way. We know Hollywood has no fear or religious restrictions...except when it comes to Islam.
It's a relief that the author found his way out of this darkness and confusion and now has some freedom and joy - as well as love. Yes, Christianity should be the opposite of the Islamic oppression the author experienced. (i'm just glad Daveed didn't move over to Catholicism/Mormonism/Jehovah's Witnesses or a similar cult that does the same thing on a smaller scale.) or even WORSE: militant atheism. Hopefully somebody writes a book soon called "My Year Inside Radical Atheism".
A great story: If people are smart enough to realize what the author was clearly getting across. (most goodreads chatters seem to have failed to get the general plot. Now that's FUNNY!)
But this story takes us into the heart of Islamic insanity and doctrine. This is how you get from a normal (whatever that is?) person to someone who's willing to hate and abuse anyone who disagrees with their god-ordained righteousness. Even a nice guy like Daveed got self-righteously annoying.
This is how a Religion of Peace shows you its true colors in a liberal society like the U.S.A.. Everything is only peaceful if ALL of the rules are obeyed perfectly - at all times. I have chatted with thousands of Muslims, and like this story: everything starts out peaceful and liberally freeing until select issues get raised. Then you start seeing the restrictions and mockery (as well as endless insults) to those who are a little short of total obedience to...? And here's the problem: Total obedience to the Quran? Well, not really, The Quran is extremely ambiguous and rambling - totally lacking in details of anything specific (except HELL -that's a given). Therefore muslims must proceed to the Hadith accounts to get a bunch more rules, and when those start contradicting each other and being dismissed as unreliable... then good old oppression and tradition will tighten up all that loose freedom. And if you disagree: then keep an eye on your tallest buildings.
The author shows us that there really is no moderate Islam: If you seriously follow the Quran you MUST do the will of allah. All non-muslims MUST be forced to pay the tax and eventually lose any rights not approved of by your local Imam. AS a Christian I stand no chance of living in peace side by side with Islamic culture. There is no equality next to Islam. Their goal is REALLY to take over the world... just ask them! It's no secret. That is the Islamic endgame.
Of course Christianity has it's very exact claims. But on this planet: you are free to open an abortion manufacturing - meth induced porn shop with Satanic cheeseburgers served on little plastic up-side down crosses. Not a lot of fear going around from little church grannies with explosive Bibles. (yes, yes, I think there have been almost 4 bits of abortion clinic mayhem over the decades). And yet I have NEVER come across anyone who's afraid to use Jesus' or God's name in a blasphemous way. We know Hollywood has no fear or religious restrictions...except when it comes to Islam.
It's a relief that the author found his way out of this darkness and confusion and now has some freedom and joy - as well as love. Yes, Christianity should be the opposite of the Islamic oppression the author experienced. (i'm just glad Daveed didn't move over to Catholicism/Mormonism/Jehovah's Witnesses or a similar cult that does the same thing on a smaller scale.) or even WORSE: militant atheism. Hopefully somebody writes a book soon called "My Year Inside Radical Atheism".
A great story: If people are smart enough to realize what the author was clearly getting across. (most goodreads chatters seem to have failed to get the general plot. Now that's FUNNY!)
September 1, 2014
I have to separate my evaluation of the book overall from what I gained from it. Minor spoilers below.
The writing itself is thoroughly average. The author attempts to create a cliffhanger approximately once per page. The most extreme example on page 275 reads, "Fifteen days later, I summoned the guts and sent al-Husein the manuscript. And waited. And waited. And waited." (paragraph break) "EIGHT DAYS LATER, I opened my email and found a surprise. It was from al-Husein." More time is spent trying to create intrigue about the story than actually telling the story. Additionally, a consistent reading level was not maintained-- most of the book seemed very conversational, but then very academic vocabulary would be thrown in so that it just seemed pretentious. Certain concepts/ minor story lines were either not explained fully enough (why Christianity differed enough for him to convert, his basis for belief in any God at all, etc.), or seemed like a distraction from the true purpose of the book (i.e. romance with Amy).
However, I am glad that I both started the book in the first place (after buying it used for $0.50 and having it sit on my shelf for 2 years), and that I finished it after not being convinced of its value in the first few chapters. Though I had a basic understanding of Islam's core principles before reading, I now have a clearer picture of the number of sects that exist within Islam and how "radical Islam" differs theologically from "progressive Islam", though I would like to speak more with Muslim acquaintances about their own experiences. It was also a valuable read in that I recognized how spiritual experiences of individuals in other faiths, particularly along the lines of doubt, expression of faith, etc. can so closely mirror my own experiences in Christianity.
The writing itself is thoroughly average. The author attempts to create a cliffhanger approximately once per page. The most extreme example on page 275 reads, "Fifteen days later, I summoned the guts and sent al-Husein the manuscript. And waited. And waited. And waited." (paragraph break) "EIGHT DAYS LATER, I opened my email and found a surprise. It was from al-Husein." More time is spent trying to create intrigue about the story than actually telling the story. Additionally, a consistent reading level was not maintained-- most of the book seemed very conversational, but then very academic vocabulary would be thrown in so that it just seemed pretentious. Certain concepts/ minor story lines were either not explained fully enough (why Christianity differed enough for him to convert, his basis for belief in any God at all, etc.), or seemed like a distraction from the true purpose of the book (i.e. romance with Amy).
However, I am glad that I both started the book in the first place (after buying it used for $0.50 and having it sit on my shelf for 2 years), and that I finished it after not being convinced of its value in the first few chapters. Though I had a basic understanding of Islam's core principles before reading, I now have a clearer picture of the number of sects that exist within Islam and how "radical Islam" differs theologically from "progressive Islam", though I would like to speak more with Muslim acquaintances about their own experiences. It was also a valuable read in that I recognized how spiritual experiences of individuals in other faiths, particularly along the lines of doubt, expression of faith, etc. can so closely mirror my own experiences in Christianity.
June 6, 2007
Born into a spiritually ambiguous family (his parents are nonpracticing Jews who follow the "Infinite Way"), Gartenstein-Ross grew up in the 1980s, in Ashland, Ore., a bucolic, posthippie paradise with a live-and-let-live ethic. Spiritually adrift through his teens, he discovers Islam through a classmate at Wake Forest University. Gartenstein-Ross—young and searching, like so many Americans of his socioeconomic class—quickly falls under the spell of fiercely committed Muslims. He begins working for al Harman, a radical Islamic charity that would eventually be linked to al-Qaeda, and soon starts a simultaneous process of being drawn deeper into the world of radical Islam and being repulsed by its brutal realities. Gartenstein-Ross fights an inner battle between his idealism, shaped by his socially conscious if somewhat scattered liberal upbringing, and his sense of the growing gap between his personal notion of Islam and the mounting list of rules and limitations its practice entails. This would seem compelling stuff, but throughout the story seems blunted. Even the chapters near the end that deal with Gartenstein-Ross's role as an informer for the FBI after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, lack tension and real insight into the dilemma faced by so many cut adrift in Western secular culture.
December 13, 2014
Basically, a nice liberally-minded west coast boy born to hippie parents of Jewish heritage discovers a socially-progressive faction of Islam in college, and gets totally into it. It just so happens that there is a fairly radical group of Wahabi Muslims in his Oregon hometown. He works for their nonprofit for a bit, and embraces their ideology for a time, because like peer-pressure, yo. He's also a wicked-good master of the art of debate. Let's not forget that... it's mentioned frequently. Then at some point he starts asking questions of his faith (again) and finds Jesus. The end. It's a mildly interesting memoir, if only in that he took a personal spiritual journey through a controversial sect of Islamic belief. It's a journey you don't often see. That being said, I didn't really find him to be on the inside of much of anything in particular. You worked for radical Muslims, bro... That's it. You tried on a Wahabi style thobe, and it didn't fit. You were a spiritual seeker, not a radical. Don't get it twisted, son. It would be the same book if al-Hussein was a Wiccan high-priestess named Ravenwinter Moonbear.
December 19, 2016
Despite this book's wooden, step-by-step instructional manual style, I was fairly riveted and stayed up till 4 am finishing it, mostly because I could relate to the author's swift descent into a fundamentalist religious viewpoint. I've been there with Christianity/Catholicism, and it got WEIRD, FAST. And just like Ross, it only lasted about a year before I got my wits back. The problem with positing a sacred text and its authoritarian expositors as a manual for life is that when you logically agree to follow one rule, you can quickly fall down the rabbit hole of more and more rules without any context or moderating influence. Such seemed to be the case with Ross's descent into Salafism, or its more derogatory name, Wahhabism. Being new to the faith, he wanted to find its most authentic version. And he stumbled onto some "experienced" kooks with good textual evidence, and before he knew it, he was rolling up his pants above his ankles and refusing to shake his girlfriend's hand. You can say he's weak-minded, and you might be right -- I certainly was. Not everyone is bulletproof and infallible. We all make mistakes; unfortunately, instead of chilling out and going back to moderate Islam, or just dropping out of religion altogether, Ross jumped back into another religion. And judging by his extremist impulses, I bet he ended up a fundamentalist Christian as well. Such is life.
January 24, 2016
Read for the 2016 reading challenge: read a political memoir
I was really excited to read this book. It's a topic of interest to many people, especially now. I had no idea where this book was going to go, and I thought it would be a crazy ride.
Instead, I got a book about a dude who worked for an organization that was raided over financial fraud? Umm...where are the bombs, guns, and all that other stereotypical extremist stuff? (kidding) This book wasn't even exciting, and sorry, but, "bro", you weren't a "devout believer in radical Islam" just because you didn't want to shake a woman's hand or felt slightly uncomfortable about having a girlfriend...and doubted every radical thought you ever had...
Also, the writing style was pretty horrendous. At the end of every paragraph, there was some sort Of tag line about how "this will come into play later" or "in a few weeks I would know exactly what this meant" and then he never EVEN BOTHERS TO GET BACK TO IT. Like, what happens later? Aren't you gonna tell us? God, it was annoying.
I was really excited to read this book. It's a topic of interest to many people, especially now. I had no idea where this book was going to go, and I thought it would be a crazy ride.
Instead, I got a book about a dude who worked for an organization that was raided over financial fraud? Umm...where are the bombs, guns, and all that other stereotypical extremist stuff? (kidding) This book wasn't even exciting, and sorry, but, "bro", you weren't a "devout believer in radical Islam" just because you didn't want to shake a woman's hand or felt slightly uncomfortable about having a girlfriend...and doubted every radical thought you ever had...
Also, the writing style was pretty horrendous. At the end of every paragraph, there was some sort Of tag line about how "this will come into play later" or "in a few weeks I would know exactly what this meant" and then he never EVEN BOTHERS TO GET BACK TO IT. Like, what happens later? Aren't you gonna tell us? God, it was annoying.
March 6, 2008
I first heard about this story while watching the CNN series "God's Warriors." Although it seemed interesting on its own, what really made me want to read the book was that it takes place in a town about 10 miles away from where I grew up. A center for radical Islam exists in southern Oregon? Huh?
Although the author's transformation is somewhat startling and the book is engaging, I wondered how often his account was colored by the desire to appear above the influence of his fundamentalist Muslim associates. The author constantly exhibits a state of some form of disbelief; I never felt like he fully embraced fundamentalism. The story was more of an account of the gradual journey in and out of a particularly demanding religion, and less of an insider account of radical Muslims, which was what I had been expecting. It was an interesting book, but not something that I would particularly recommend.
Although the author's transformation is somewhat startling and the book is engaging, I wondered how often his account was colored by the desire to appear above the influence of his fundamentalist Muslim associates. The author constantly exhibits a state of some form of disbelief; I never felt like he fully embraced fundamentalism. The story was more of an account of the gradual journey in and out of a particularly demanding religion, and less of an insider account of radical Muslims, which was what I had been expecting. It was an interesting book, but not something that I would particularly recommend.
October 11, 2015
I've met these converts before who don't understand what radical Islam actually is. I mean, this guy was only Muslim for a year and pretends he knows all there is to know about it. (I say this as a convert myself who has many people convert in and out of Islam. They seem to have the same personality.) He was a tool for Wahhabi extremists and then felt like that was Islam. He acts like what the Middle East does is an indicator of what Islam teaches several times in the book. He's now Christian and I get this feeling that he treats Christianity the same as Islam but he'll probably stick with it because it's easier to do so here. I was overall un-enthused by his lame attempt at a memoir. I mean, he really wasn't even in 'radical Islam'.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 30, 2016
I can only read this in 3 page shifts now. There's nothing more detestable than someone who believes he is a good person falling victim to the world.
Anyone who could adopt the horrible practices and beliefs of the most horrid parts of the Koran and Hadith for any period of time is either a victim of theological Stockholm Syndrome or a horrible person.
It's not just cognitive dissonance these people are guilty of its also ethical dissonance.
This guy has such a sick need to be servile he would have been right at home in the Hitler Youth. He was born a Jew and learned to accept the rabid antisemetism of a group that disseminates the Protocols of The Elders of Zion (Wikipedia this if you're not familiar.)
Fuck this guy.
Anyone who could adopt the horrible practices and beliefs of the most horrid parts of the Koran and Hadith for any period of time is either a victim of theological Stockholm Syndrome or a horrible person.
It's not just cognitive dissonance these people are guilty of its also ethical dissonance.
This guy has such a sick need to be servile he would have been right at home in the Hitler Youth. He was born a Jew and learned to accept the rabid antisemetism of a group that disseminates the Protocols of The Elders of Zion (Wikipedia this if you're not familiar.)
Fuck this guy.
June 20, 2007
After watching a film on radical Islam at my temple I went out that weekend and found this book. I had been frustrated with the film because of what I felt was an agenda to scare the viewer about Islam in general, and radical Islam in particular (in defense of my temple and showing the film, it was meant to bring about discussion). So, I picked this up over the weekend, read it, and passed it on to my rabbi. While not nearly an exhaustive or wide-ranging view of radical Islam, it does give the reader and idea of how a liberal, or moderate, Muslim can turn to more radical politics and beliefs. A fascinating read. The author has since left Islam and converted to Christianity.
January 2, 2012
The author, brought up by free-thinking Jewish parents describes his conversion to Islam and his gradual participation in the radical side of the religion. Originally, his conversion was partly because of a Muslim friend and their desire to promote a moderate version of Islam. However, after landing a job at a Muslim charity he finds his views challenged by the people he worked with. They were all very fundamentalist and over time he finds that their views are making more and more sense. A very interesting look at how easily a person can be influenced to abandon long held beliefs and be caught up in something he certainly didn't intend to.
Read
July 15, 2018This might be the most poorly written book ever published. The writer is a stupid, gullible wishy-washy moron, as is his family and his wife. The book is filled with "Little did I know what would soon happen" and "And I didn't know that would be the last time that..." which go absolutely nowhere. There is no payoff after threatening one for the entirety of the book. He gets one star for educating me about some interesting details about Islam, about which what can I say that won't get a fatwa dumped on my head? How about this?: these people need to take a chill pill. I mean, Jesus.
November 13, 2009
This book was very interesting. It's a little scary, but I think it's important for people to understand the kind of threat these people pose and how easy it is for some people to be pulled into something like this.
Mr. Garenstein-Ross should not be seen as an aberration, but rather the norm. Psychologically, people cannot live in a situation where their beliefs contradict their actions. One has to change. Most of the time that turns out to be a person's beliefs.
Mr. Garenstein-Ross should not be seen as an aberration, but rather the norm. Psychologically, people cannot live in a situation where their beliefs contradict their actions. One has to change. Most of the time that turns out to be a person's beliefs.
October 2, 2009
An interesting memoir detailing an American's successive spiritual struggles. While I wouldn't confuse this book with great literature - the author tends to fall into a few stylistic patterns that repeat - I found the account of the decent into radicalism moving. Mostly I found myself wishing for a bit more, a larger perspective, more compelling details.
February 11, 2015
So much potential, but I got annoyed with the author's writing style. How many times is it necessary to foreshadow the path one will take before one actually takes it? In this book, anyway, the answer is: at just about the end of every paragraph.
May 22, 2024
A DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THE CONVERSION, THEN APOSTASY, OF A YOUNG CONVERT
The author (who is now a full-time counterterrorism consultant) wrote in the first chapter of this 2007 book, “Before I was an FBI informant, an apostate, and a blasphemer, I was a devout believer in radical Islam who worked for a Saudi-funded charity that sent money to al-Qaeda… I believed that Jews and other nonbelievers had to be conquered and rules as the inferiors they are. Funny thing, I was born Jewish. At twenty-three, with my nose in a wood payer rug, I had to pray for the humiliation of my parents. This is a story about the seduction of radical Islam, which, like love, can take its devotees suddenly or by degrees, and the long, dangerous climb out. It is a story of converts trapped by extremist views that once seemed alien, furtive calls to the FBI, and a surprising series of revelations that changed my life.” (Pg. 1)
When he was in college in 1997, “I was living in my own world, divorced from other people’s needs and struggles. I was an island that longed to be a peninsula… The three biggest things that were missing from my life were friendship, a sense of purpose, and a relationship with God… I was also cut off from other people socially… Many people go through periods where they feel alone, separated from their surroundings. For me, this lasted through my first two years at Wake Forest.” (Pg. 13-14)
He says of his friendship with “Al-Husein Madhany… a tall Kenyan-born man of Indian-American parents,” “one of the things I liked about him was that he was Muslim. He was, in fact, the first practicing Muslim I knew… I was especially interested in Islam’s view of Jesus… Josh Mc Dowell’s [‘Liar, Lunatic, or Lord’] argument could only be true if Jesus really did claim to be God---and Islam held that he never did so… The logic underlying the faith appealed to me…” (Pg. 18-19)
He recounts, “Even before 9/11. I knew that a lot of non-Muslims feared Islam because of so-called
Islamic terrorism.’ But as I read more, I decided that terrorism was separable from the religion itself… My studies convinced me that the true Islam was moderate. There were undoubtedly some Muslim extremists, but Christianity had its own dark period, and one couldn’t impute the actions of a few extremists to the entire body of believers… As the summer came to an end, I no longer wondered if I would become a Muslim. Rather, it seemed only to be a question of when.” (Pg. 24-26)
A Muslim named Pete Seda told him, “America is my home… I don’t want to go overseas to practice Islam. I want to bring Islam here to America. The U.S. gives us freedoms as Muslims that we COULDN’T IMAGINE in the Middle East. We need to take advantage of those freedoms.” (Pg. 52) Later, he adds, “I never considered that the methods … I had gleaned from self-perception theory to try to shape people into campus activists could, in turn, be used to shape me.” (Pg. 56)
He went to work for a Saudi Arabian charity called the ‘Al Haramain Islamic Foundation.’ They would often speak to groups of students about Islam: “My coworkers spend less and less time defending Islam against attacks. Instead, they want on the offensive. In every area where Islam had been criticized, they tried to show that the West was WORSE… they were passionate and persuasive, and it seemed to work.” (Pg. 61)
Later, “To me religion was both a relationship with God and also a relationship with a community of believers… Through al-Husein, I was able not only to learn about Islam, but to reach a greater level of engagement with other people. But I was separated from Wake Forest and al-Husein…. There had been a fleeting moment of community, a fleeting moment in Winston-Salem where my Islam fueled my activism and my activism fueled my Islam. But was that al illusory? Had I misunderstood the nature of Islam, the nature of my Muslim brothers and sisters?” (Pg. 127)
He muses, “I had no desire to leave Islam, but… I had approached the question from the perspective of what felt comfortable to me. Absent from my answer was a consideration of what was TRUE… If Allah exists, none of our spiritual needs can be fulfilled if our relationship with Him is based on falsehood… I now understood why I had long resisted this logic: it was leading me to conclusions that I once considered unacceptable… I felt a pang of loss that I could no longer sit down at the dinner table with my parents and talk about all the areas where we agreed spiritually… I was unhappy, but the conclusions I had reached, the method of interpretation I was using—they were RIGHT. Happiness, I was sure, would come later.” (Pg. 178)
He was invited by a fellow Muslim to go with him to an airport: “I would late learn that … he was in the process of smuggling about $130,000 out of the country---money that federal investigators believe was used to fund the Chechen mujahideen. It was only my growing doubts that prevented me from heading to the airport and discovering what they had in mind---and ultimately, these doubts may have saved me from involvement in a plot to fund terrorists.” (Pg. 217)
Soon after, he attended a church on Sunday. “I tried to gauge my emotional reaction. Despite the questionable religious content. I felt invigorated… I acknowledged the obvious. If everything were all right with my faith, I wouldn’t have set foot in a church in the first place.” (Pg. 219-220) Later, he continues, “More and more, I found myself in church on Sundays… I found something satisfying in church that I did not find in my daily life… The churchgoing experience was no longer punctuated b guilt. I no longer wondered … whether I was sinning by taking communion… I realized that my goal was to please God, not to cower before Islam’s apostasy strictures. And I realized that I wasn’t sure that I HAD found the truth in Islam. The biggest reason I converted to Islam in the first place was that it felt comfortable…” (Pg. 227-228)
He recounts a conversation with Sadik Huseny, a lapsed-Muslim classmate who was in his first-year law school class. After Daveed explained that he was now a Christian, his classmate replied “I first get to know you and you’re a devout Muslim… they suddenly you’re a Christian. If you were dissatisfied with Islam, why didn’t you just top believing in anything?” He replied, “Because I believe in God… and Islam was part of my search to understand who God really is… I left Islam and became Christian because I became convinced that my earlier ideas about God were wrong. I became convinced that I could find the truth in another faith.” (Pg. 241-242)
After the shock of 9/11, “I finally decided to call the FBI. I knew I had information that might be useful. It had been my choice to hook up with Pete Seda and the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation in the first place. The least I could do was try to make the right choices now… I felt a great sense of relief. My transition wasn’t yet complete, but it had begun. I had once worked for an Islamic charity that conspired to fund terrorists abroad while spreading radicalism at home… I was beginning to embrace all that had happened with me---my conversion to Islam, my radicalization, my association with Islamist extremist figures---and to realize how it could be used for the good.” (Pg. 267-269)
He summarizes, “Part of Islam’s seduction is its otherness---how different it is from anything else. And it would be a mistake to shortchange how satisfying a life is inside radical Islam. As I descended into radicalism, I had a greater feeling of certainty than I had known before… Tere was a sense of community that came with this certainty. I was part of an exclusive club composed of those who could see beyond the shallow Western liberal values with which I was raised.” (Pg, 282)
He concludes, “The public… does not have a good understanding of radical Islam because most Americans have trouble understanding how people in other parts of the world view religion. They have trouble understanding religion as an ideology and a true political force rather than a private relationship between the believer and his God… I hope this book will be useful to anyone who has been or knows someone who has been drawn into the orbit of radical Islam and is trying to find a way out.” (Pg. 287)
This book will be of great interest to those studying converts to Islam in this country.
The author (who is now a full-time counterterrorism consultant) wrote in the first chapter of this 2007 book, “Before I was an FBI informant, an apostate, and a blasphemer, I was a devout believer in radical Islam who worked for a Saudi-funded charity that sent money to al-Qaeda… I believed that Jews and other nonbelievers had to be conquered and rules as the inferiors they are. Funny thing, I was born Jewish. At twenty-three, with my nose in a wood payer rug, I had to pray for the humiliation of my parents. This is a story about the seduction of radical Islam, which, like love, can take its devotees suddenly or by degrees, and the long, dangerous climb out. It is a story of converts trapped by extremist views that once seemed alien, furtive calls to the FBI, and a surprising series of revelations that changed my life.” (Pg. 1)
When he was in college in 1997, “I was living in my own world, divorced from other people’s needs and struggles. I was an island that longed to be a peninsula… The three biggest things that were missing from my life were friendship, a sense of purpose, and a relationship with God… I was also cut off from other people socially… Many people go through periods where they feel alone, separated from their surroundings. For me, this lasted through my first two years at Wake Forest.” (Pg. 13-14)
He says of his friendship with “Al-Husein Madhany… a tall Kenyan-born man of Indian-American parents,” “one of the things I liked about him was that he was Muslim. He was, in fact, the first practicing Muslim I knew… I was especially interested in Islam’s view of Jesus… Josh Mc Dowell’s [‘Liar, Lunatic, or Lord’] argument could only be true if Jesus really did claim to be God---and Islam held that he never did so… The logic underlying the faith appealed to me…” (Pg. 18-19)
He recounts, “Even before 9/11. I knew that a lot of non-Muslims feared Islam because of so-called
Islamic terrorism.’ But as I read more, I decided that terrorism was separable from the religion itself… My studies convinced me that the true Islam was moderate. There were undoubtedly some Muslim extremists, but Christianity had its own dark period, and one couldn’t impute the actions of a few extremists to the entire body of believers… As the summer came to an end, I no longer wondered if I would become a Muslim. Rather, it seemed only to be a question of when.” (Pg. 24-26)
A Muslim named Pete Seda told him, “America is my home… I don’t want to go overseas to practice Islam. I want to bring Islam here to America. The U.S. gives us freedoms as Muslims that we COULDN’T IMAGINE in the Middle East. We need to take advantage of those freedoms.” (Pg. 52) Later, he adds, “I never considered that the methods … I had gleaned from self-perception theory to try to shape people into campus activists could, in turn, be used to shape me.” (Pg. 56)
He went to work for a Saudi Arabian charity called the ‘Al Haramain Islamic Foundation.’ They would often speak to groups of students about Islam: “My coworkers spend less and less time defending Islam against attacks. Instead, they want on the offensive. In every area where Islam had been criticized, they tried to show that the West was WORSE… they were passionate and persuasive, and it seemed to work.” (Pg. 61)
Later, “To me religion was both a relationship with God and also a relationship with a community of believers… Through al-Husein, I was able not only to learn about Islam, but to reach a greater level of engagement with other people. But I was separated from Wake Forest and al-Husein…. There had been a fleeting moment of community, a fleeting moment in Winston-Salem where my Islam fueled my activism and my activism fueled my Islam. But was that al illusory? Had I misunderstood the nature of Islam, the nature of my Muslim brothers and sisters?” (Pg. 127)
He muses, “I had no desire to leave Islam, but… I had approached the question from the perspective of what felt comfortable to me. Absent from my answer was a consideration of what was TRUE… If Allah exists, none of our spiritual needs can be fulfilled if our relationship with Him is based on falsehood… I now understood why I had long resisted this logic: it was leading me to conclusions that I once considered unacceptable… I felt a pang of loss that I could no longer sit down at the dinner table with my parents and talk about all the areas where we agreed spiritually… I was unhappy, but the conclusions I had reached, the method of interpretation I was using—they were RIGHT. Happiness, I was sure, would come later.” (Pg. 178)
He was invited by a fellow Muslim to go with him to an airport: “I would late learn that … he was in the process of smuggling about $130,000 out of the country---money that federal investigators believe was used to fund the Chechen mujahideen. It was only my growing doubts that prevented me from heading to the airport and discovering what they had in mind---and ultimately, these doubts may have saved me from involvement in a plot to fund terrorists.” (Pg. 217)
Soon after, he attended a church on Sunday. “I tried to gauge my emotional reaction. Despite the questionable religious content. I felt invigorated… I acknowledged the obvious. If everything were all right with my faith, I wouldn’t have set foot in a church in the first place.” (Pg. 219-220) Later, he continues, “More and more, I found myself in church on Sundays… I found something satisfying in church that I did not find in my daily life… The churchgoing experience was no longer punctuated b guilt. I no longer wondered … whether I was sinning by taking communion… I realized that my goal was to please God, not to cower before Islam’s apostasy strictures. And I realized that I wasn’t sure that I HAD found the truth in Islam. The biggest reason I converted to Islam in the first place was that it felt comfortable…” (Pg. 227-228)
He recounts a conversation with Sadik Huseny, a lapsed-Muslim classmate who was in his first-year law school class. After Daveed explained that he was now a Christian, his classmate replied “I first get to know you and you’re a devout Muslim… they suddenly you’re a Christian. If you were dissatisfied with Islam, why didn’t you just top believing in anything?” He replied, “Because I believe in God… and Islam was part of my search to understand who God really is… I left Islam and became Christian because I became convinced that my earlier ideas about God were wrong. I became convinced that I could find the truth in another faith.” (Pg. 241-242)
After the shock of 9/11, “I finally decided to call the FBI. I knew I had information that might be useful. It had been my choice to hook up with Pete Seda and the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation in the first place. The least I could do was try to make the right choices now… I felt a great sense of relief. My transition wasn’t yet complete, but it had begun. I had once worked for an Islamic charity that conspired to fund terrorists abroad while spreading radicalism at home… I was beginning to embrace all that had happened with me---my conversion to Islam, my radicalization, my association with Islamist extremist figures---and to realize how it could be used for the good.” (Pg. 267-269)
He summarizes, “Part of Islam’s seduction is its otherness---how different it is from anything else. And it would be a mistake to shortchange how satisfying a life is inside radical Islam. As I descended into radicalism, I had a greater feeling of certainty than I had known before… Tere was a sense of community that came with this certainty. I was part of an exclusive club composed of those who could see beyond the shallow Western liberal values with which I was raised.” (Pg, 282)
He concludes, “The public… does not have a good understanding of radical Islam because most Americans have trouble understanding how people in other parts of the world view religion. They have trouble understanding religion as an ideology and a true political force rather than a private relationship between the believer and his God… I hope this book will be useful to anyone who has been or knows someone who has been drawn into the orbit of radical Islam and is trying to find a way out.” (Pg. 287)
This book will be of great interest to those studying converts to Islam in this country.
March 2, 2015
One star. So, the author learned about Islam, decided to convert to it, and then he "discovered" that he, as a Muslim, will have to follow the rules of Islam. That's basically the plot. The intrigue is that he doesn't like the rules, and the suspense is that other Muslims he knows do. In between all that, the author likes overdramatizing banalities from office gossip, to pointless accidental encounters, to minor social events at the campus and so forth. I was suspicious as soon as I read the title. I mean, how can you get in and out of anything "radical" within a year? We learn little from this book, beside the "revelation" that religious people range from liberal to conservative, and that their behavior ranges from tolerant to less so, etc. The narrator keeps droning on and on about how he is confronted with the rules of his new religion in real life, how he doesn't like them, and how no one's sympathetic to his feelings. And then he whines about his feelings yet again. The book testifies to little beside one pampered guy's immaturity depicting his endless attempts at fitting it and struggling with a sense of isolation and inadequacy. The memoir just as terrible as M. McCain's "Sexy, Dirty Politics," except it's written a tad better. (Though all that repetitive vocabulary gave me a headache. If I hear one more time that some area was "dotted by trees" or that someone "looked at me quizzically..." Bleh.)
June 6, 2012
saya membacanya bersamaan dengan beberapa buku lain tentang radikalisasi dalam islam [ed husain, tariq ramadan, charles kurzman...]
kebetulan ini juga mengenai orang yahudi yang masuk islam [satu buku lagi yang serupa adalah dari deborah baker].
topiknya menarik.
tapi,
berbeda dari deborah yang cukup intens mengolah pergulatan batin seorang yahudi perempuan ke lingkungan keluarga muslim pakistan, buku gartenstein-ross ini tidak menyediakan cukup elaborasi bagaimana ia berpindah ke islam [dan kemudian nanti akhirnya berganti lagi masuk kristen].
deborah menggunakan surat-surat pribadinya, dan juga surat-surat orang tuanya, untuk mengolah persoalan ini. sedangkan gartenstein-ross seperti mengandalkan informasi umum saja.
tapi okelah,
ini suatu pengetahuan baru buat saya bahwa ada juga rupanya orang yahudi, yang notabene dibenci oleh orang-orang islam, berpindah agama dan masuk ke islam. enggak cewek enggak cowok.
kebetulan ini juga mengenai orang yahudi yang masuk islam [satu buku lagi yang serupa adalah dari deborah baker].
topiknya menarik.
tapi,
berbeda dari deborah yang cukup intens mengolah pergulatan batin seorang yahudi perempuan ke lingkungan keluarga muslim pakistan, buku gartenstein-ross ini tidak menyediakan cukup elaborasi bagaimana ia berpindah ke islam [dan kemudian nanti akhirnya berganti lagi masuk kristen].
deborah menggunakan surat-surat pribadinya, dan juga surat-surat orang tuanya, untuk mengolah persoalan ini. sedangkan gartenstein-ross seperti mengandalkan informasi umum saja.
tapi okelah,
ini suatu pengetahuan baru buat saya bahwa ada juga rupanya orang yahudi, yang notabene dibenci oleh orang-orang islam, berpindah agama dan masuk ke islam. enggak cewek enggak cowok.
October 17, 2010
My Year Inside Radical Islam: a Memoir by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross is the personal account of a young man’s spiritual quest. Impressed by a (moderate Shiite) Muslim classmate in college, he converts. After college, given a job in the office of al-Haraman, a radical Islamic charity, he strives to conform, adopting the strict practice and intolerant attitudes of the group. Later, in law school, his perspective changes with his surroundings and he converts to Christianity. After 9/11, discovering the connection between al-Haraman and al-Queda, he becomes an FBI informant.
December 19, 2014
A very compelling memoir. I wanted to like Daveed but as a convert to Judaism I was just exasperated that he didn't even try looking at his birth religion or finding a group of Naqshbandis in America before converting to some boring Protestant religion. I wish I were so enlightened that it didn't damage my appreciation of the book, but I'm human and I didn't find his second conversion story very compelling or interesting, unlike his first. I guess he figured we all came for the other story and his readership would mostly be in that category anyway. Still, a great book and I'm glad I read it.
September 1, 2007
Reading this book was, for me, a lot like watching a cheesy, low-budget sci-fi film: I spent a lot of time saying, "No! Don't do that!" and "What are you thinking?"
Still, it was a faster read than I expected and I think the author did a pretty good job of showing how he ended up on the radical side of Islam. The ending seemed a little bit anti-climactic, but not horribly so.
For a book outside of my usual preferred genres, I rather enjoyed it.
Still, it was a faster read than I expected and I think the author did a pretty good job of showing how he ended up on the radical side of Islam. The ending seemed a little bit anti-climactic, but not horribly so.
For a book outside of my usual preferred genres, I rather enjoyed it.
May 29, 2008
This book shows one college-aged person's struggle to find meaning in life through religious searching, political activism, and personal mentors. His questing takes him in and out of radical Muslim beliefs in the years right before 9/11. He writes this book as an act of confession of sorts -- as a way to explain to people how he came to such a life and what he did (and did not) know about his employers' ties to terrorist activities overseas.
January 15, 2009
The author describes his youthful crisis of faith and the search for belonging that gradually drew him into an American Islamic group that supported terrorist causes. I would have liked to read more about how and why his rejection of the violence and dishonesty in this group should have led to his conversion to a third religion, neither Islam nor the religion of his parents. But what he does describe is interesting.
June 10, 2011
I thought this was a very good book and honestly, it shows how some Muslims can take the wrong road thinking their reasons are religious when actually they're inspired by the political injustice that some Muslims face (Palestine, Kashmir, etc)
I was disappointed he converted at the end since he really seemed serious about Islam. But I am happy he was positive about Islam through out the book considering the nest of crazies he fell into!
I was disappointed he converted at the end since he really seemed serious about Islam. But I am happy he was positive about Islam through out the book considering the nest of crazies he fell into!
May 30, 2012
Perhaps I was expecting something more from the title, but it's not quite what I'd envisioned. A well educated, middle class, intellectual drifter meanders into becoming a Moslem, becomes involved in a very dogmatic sect, has tangential encounters with other Moslems who become more radicalised and end up on various Government hit-lists.
After a while, our hero realises that he's become a bit too involved and dogmatic, decides to stop and becomes a Christian. We all live happily ever after.
After a while, our hero realises that he's become a bit too involved and dogmatic, decides to stop and becomes a Christian. We all live happily ever after.
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