UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS PRESS BOOKS ADDRESS QUESTIONS ABOUT ISLAM, MIDDLE EAST

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Despite media efforts to distinguish between terrorists and Muslims since the events of September 11, many Americans are finding it difficult to restrain feelings of anxiety regarding the religion of Islam and the people of the Middle East. Two books from the University of Arkansas Press address these issues straightforwardly. They help answer questions that people continue to ask, like: What exactly do Muslims believe? What exactly is the conflict that keeps the Holy Land in turmoil? And how can either religious teachings or political conflict be used to justify acts of terrorism?

"A Muslim Primer," by Ira G. Zepp, Jr., presents a brief history of Islam and summarizes the principal Muslim beliefs and religious practice derived from the Koran and the teachings of Muhammad.

"The Blood of Abraham," by former President Jimmy Carter, provides an objective account of the history of the Middle East from ancient times to the present written by a man who has had significant personal involvement in efforts to establish a peaceful compromise among its peoples.

Readers of "A Muslim Primer" will learn that Islam has close affinities with both Judaism and Christianity. They will find that Abraham, Moses, and Jesus all figure importantly in the Koran. Also, a verse in the Koran that describes the murder of Abel by Cain says "whoever kills a human being, except as a punishment for murder or other villainy in the land, shall be looked upon as though he had killed all mankind."

President Carter's book places in perspective a series of events beginning in the late 1800s that have led to the present day conflict between the stateless Palestinians and the state of Israel, which came into being in 1948. Americans struggling to understand the depths of hatred that motivate terrorists may find the beginnings of understanding in Carter's description of the systematic murder of 1400 Muslim refugees in Lebanon in 1982 by Maronite Christians in Israeli-controlled territory.

In addition to these two non-fiction books about Islam and the Palestinian crisis written by Americans, the University of Arkansas Press offers several outstanding novels and collections of poetry by Arab writers, in award-winning translations into English. Readers can come to terms with what it meant to be in Lebanon in 1975, for example, in the pages of "Beirut '75," a novel by Ghada Samman, translated by Nancy N. Roberts. A glimpse of the deepest feelings of an Arab poet can be gained from "Questions and Their Retinue" by Hatif Janabi, translated by Kahaled Mattawa.

"These titles signal our engagement with Middle Eastern studies, and we are committed to publishing more titles on the history, anthropology, and literature of the area in the future," says Larry Malley, the director of the University of Arkansas Press.

Both "A Muslim Primer" and "The Blood of Abraham" appear on Books for Understanding, a list of books that shed light on current events. Compiled by the Association of American University Presses, the books cover a wide range of topics, including Islamic thought and culture, airport security, U.S. foreign policy, peace studies, biological weapons, and grief, among other issues. The Web site is http://www.aaupnet.org/.

At a time when television news coverage presents unfolding events in simplistic terms of good versus evil, these books offer a calm and thoughtful guide through the complexities of human behavior and the tangle of world history.

For information about these and other books related to the Middle East, contact the University of Arkansas Press at 1-800-626-0090 or uaprinfo@uark.edu. The UA Press Web site is http://www.uapress.com/.