The Arabic Language: A Weapon against Islam?1

What’s in an Arabic Name?1

Language Study as an Indicator of Foreign Policy1

The Future of the French Language in Light of French Anti-Islamism1

Anthologies of academic articles are traditionally reserved for retired professors as a mark of their emeritus status. It typically takes an entire career in academia to produce sufficient scholarship to create a volume of any size. There are those who may count it as brash and premature that I have compiled this collection of commentary and opinion in less than the requisite thirty to forty years. I can only blame the vibrant and compelling times we live in and a personal commitment to use my knowledge to advance the conversation.

I accepted this opportunity to write a brief prologue to Dr. John Andrew Morrow’s Islamic Insights: Writings and Reviews because I consider it a valuable contribution to the critical study of Islam. As readers will undoubtedly acknowledge, the author of this cogent series of essays casts himself into the eye of the storm where he scrutinizes, with serenity and attention, all of the various phenomena, both positive and negative, which have surged from this powerful movement over the course of the centuries.

I would like to thank all the professors, scholars, and shaykhs who shared their knowledge with me over the past two and a half decades. I am most grateful to my friends and colleagues, Héctor Manzolillo, Barbara Castleton, and ‘Abdullah Shahin for constantly reviewing, correcting, and editing my works.

Dr. John Andrew Morrow is a university professor, author, and research scholar. He has worked as an Assistant and Associate Professor at numerous universities, including Park University, Northern State University, and Eastern New Mexico University. In the Fall of 2011, he acted as professor of Advanced Spanish, World Literature, and Cultural Studies in Islam for the University of Virginia’s prestigious Semester at Sea program.

“The Future of French in Light of French Anti-Islamism.” John A. Morrow. The Message International (March). Copyright © 2004 by The Message International and John A. Morrow. Reproduced with permission of Mahbubur Rahman, editor of The Message International, and John A. Morrow.

“Language Study as an Indicator of Foreign Policy.” John A. Morrow. Iran Daily (Dec. 7th). Copyright © 2004 by Iran Daily and John A. Morrow. Reproduced with permission of Iran Daily and John A. Morrow.

In memory of my honorable father-in-law, the wise and noble patriarch of our family, al-Hajj Moha Bejja (1926-2007)

In memory of my sister-in-law Mama Bejja (1955-2010)

To my esteemed mother-in-law, Lalla Fatima, my cherished wife, Rachida, my beloved sisters-in-law, Nezha, Fatiha, Zhor, and Khadijah, and all the members of the extended Bejja family, our Amazigh clans and tribes, and all the Imazighen

To all the Companions of the Prophet and Imam ‘Ali who brought the Islam of Ahl al-Bayt to North Africa