Textbooks: Who Is Yahya Emerick? Our Pat Robertson

“As I have seen Muslims marching in various social justice protests and joining with various political parties made up largely of liberals and leftists, I have often wondered what the result will be. These leftists promote every un-Islamic thing. Homosexuality, bestiality, Communism, pedophilia, ‘casual’ relations between the sexes, and moral relativism. (The #MeToo movement is something of a counter-protest against the sexual revolution, though leftists failed to make the connection that traditional values are actually better and more respectful of women.)” – Children’s author Yahya Emerick

There is a reason I don’t want my children taught by this man. Ever since Halima brought him to my attention, I have been on a mission to find out who the hell he is.

Ideologue

Yahya Emerick is not just the author of the above quote but also of some of the bestselling textbooks for Muslim-American children. I was shocked to learn that his popular “It’s All About Islam” – currently for sale on Amazon – tells young people that it establishing an “Islamic state” is a “mission” for all Muslims (It’s All About Islam, Grade 8, p296). Last year, the government of Singapore banned his textbook.

Digging a little a deeper I was further shocked to learn that Bernie Sanders’s campaign surrogate Linda Sarsour has endorsed his writing:

So who is Yahya Emerick? The quick answer: Emerick is the articulate ideologue of the Muslim ultra-right. A white convert from the Midwest, he has infused the hard-line Evangelical culture war into Muslim communities and at the same time dismisses centuries of tradition carried by Muslim immigrants of color. Imagine if Pat Robertson suddenly converted to Islam. 

Refreshing Honesty

At first glance, I found myself nodding in agreement with his critique of the Islamist establishment: “You have a lot of Muslims who are trying to import the garbage of the Muslim world into North American Islam… The garbage of the Muslim world, brought here in the suitcases of those who came here, disillusioned a whole lot of people for nothing.” 

There is something refreshing in his honesty. Unlike operatives like ISNA’s Sayed Sayyid, Emerick is a consistent man of ideas who doesn’t let political expediency eclipse his ideological commitments. The problem is that those commitments are super dangerous to the minds of young Muslim-Americans –precisely Emerick’s target audience. His textbooks are being used in schools all over the country, and he is adept in messaging to American-born youth and converts.

The Rise of a Muslim-American Pat Robertson

John Adam Emerick was born in the late 1960s and grew up in the Midwest during the “Moral Majority” culture wars. It seems that as a teenager he became deeply dissatisfied with America’s increasingly secular society and the cultural influence of the progressive left. In the winter of 1988 as a 19 year-old college student in Michigan, he converted after a Muslim friend recommended the Quran as a way to address his dissatisfaction.

Conversion

In 1992 he began working as teacher as Islamic school in Michigan and founded Amira Publishing to “further his ideal of publishing American-oriented literature on Islam.” He recalls seeing in the classroom that imported teaching materials from overseas weren’t appealing to American kids. When he started telling stories in class, the students were fascinated. He then decided to dedicate his life to producing quality Islamic children’s content.

In 1994, he married a South Asian woman and founded a nonprofit – the Islamic Foundation of North America – but it never took off. He is a prolific author who has produced over 20 books. Throughout 1990s and 2000s, he could regularly be seen at ICNA and ISNA conventions as a bazaar vendor and speaker.

Hardliner

Emerick categorically rejects secular democracy, taking advantage of its anything-goes values to advance his agenda. He writes: “America today is literally Sodom and Gomorrah, a place where anything including Islam is allowed. You are like the prophet Lut in the midst of the pit of sin.” 

He adds: “The advantage for Muslims here is that no one can legally oppose you, and you have access to the most accurate Islamic information from books… And you don’t have the stupid village traditions about wily djinns, evil eyes, palm reading, and the like to dilute your knowledge, as they have in virtually all Muslim countries.”

In 2003, a reporter from the New York Daily News confronted Emerick about the intolerant content in his books. Emerick proudly stood by the language and denied his books were inflammatory. “Islam, like any belief system, believes its belief system is better than others. I don’t feel embarrassed to say that… It’s telling kids that we have our own tradition.”

Yahya Emerick Brings the Evangelical Culture War to American Muslims

Emerick has married some of the aspects of his far-right Evangelical roots with Islamist doctrine.

Hostility To Mainstream Culture

First, Emerick brings Baptist hostility to liberal mainstream culture. His books are filled with resentful denunciations of: abortion, homosexuality, women’s liberation, separation of church and state, any limits on religion in public life. He is particularly outraged by dating. His inner Jerry Falwell comes out easily: “The Democratic Party . . . is at the forefront of tearing down all morals.”

Old Christian Hostility To Jews

Second, Emerick imports Christian hatred of Jews for rejecting Christ. His books obsess with a non-issue for most Muslims: how the Jews supposedly killed Christ (classical Islam does not believe Jesus was actually killed and thus doesn’t dwell on who tried to kill him). His writing talks about how Jews betrayed God’s original covenant, and he accuses Jews of charging interest only to non-Jews (classical Islam never mentions this trope).

White Man Saving The Clueless Natives

Third, Emerick acts like a missionary savior proselytizing to the ignorant natives. He is the enlightened white man who has come to save backward people of color. As the initial textbook post noted, Emerick declares that just because you have a Muslim name or come from a Muslim country does not make you Muslim. He further argues that Muslims from the Muslim world mostly don’t understand true Islam and are not even trying to apply it. He is the classic white guy mansplaining to the natives.

Yahya Emerick is a Godsend to the Islamophobes

Emerick’s ideological agenda creates massive problems for ordinary Muslim-Americans – because his books are so widely adopted in our schools without challenge. In the original post about his textbook, the most shocking statement from “It’s All About Islam” was the call for an Islamic State as a top Muslim duty. He handed Islamophobes that one on a platter!

His other gifts to Islamophobes include: “The natural trend of Islam is towards influencing all aspects of society to conform to the teachings of the Quran. Thus secular, worldly-oriented ‘Muslims’ are the first to try and stifle Islam… If you don’t pray five times a day you can’t call yourself a Muslim” Islamophobes love to cite ISIS as the true model of Islam and dismiss us normal people by arguing: “Well you’re not really adhering to true Muslim.” Emerick would agree! 

“Islam Isn’t A Religion But An Ideology”

Emerick adds: “This ideology [Islam] cannot be passed on by merely producing more children. It must be taught, understood, and practiced.” For decades now Islamophobes have been arguing the same: that Islam is not a religion but an ideology – and therefore it shouldn’t be treated like any other faith with constitutional protections in America. Thank you, Yahya, for shoving us even deeper between a rock and hard place!

So what publishing house would give Yahya Emerick a national platform to spread his poison? Stay tuned for a look at NoorArt.