Steve Slocum - 16 July

S TEVE S LOCUM took the adventure of a lifetime when he traveled with his family of five to Kazakhstan to become Christian missionaries.

During their five years there, they were often on the receiving end of the iconic Muslim hospitality. It left a lasting impression. Back in the states, Slocum resumed his engineering career, but grew uneasy with the growing levels of animosity towards practicioners of Islam.

In 2018, he founded a nonprofit called Salaam whose mission is creating mutual understanding between Muslims, Christians, Jews and other faiths. Salaam is religiously unaffiliated, and its first workshop led to the rector of All Souls Episcopal Church in San Diego, The Rev. Joseph Dirbas, to say In a world full of division, ignorance and hate, Salaam builds the bridge of peace with education and fellowship as we share our stories and work for the common good.

Slocum is a frequent speaker at churches and civic groups, and creates awareness events, mosque visits, and other connections through Salaam. Why Do They Hate Us? is his first book.

Praise for Why Do They Hate Us?

An exploration of Islamic beliefs and history that aims to challenge American Islamophobia. A clear, concise, and thoughtful introduction to Islam.

Kirkus Reviews

In his comprehensive, helpful debut, Slocum, an aircraft design engineer and former missionary, encourages Christians to establish friendly relationships with Muslims. Effectively countering pernicious, misinformed narratives, this is an essential contribution to interfaith studies.

Publishers Weekly

Why Do They Hate Us? takes a stand against prejudice by advocating a different approach to not just tolerating Muslims, but getting to know them on a personal level. It stands out from the crowd in offering a powerful blend of historical, political, and personal perspectives on a very complex issue...

D. D ONOVAN , Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

Steve Slocum skillfully encourages us to reclaim our sight and rediscover the beautiful truth about our Muslim sisters and brothers: just like us, they are beloved image bearers of the Divine. This book is for the peacemakers, the haters, and everyone in between who long to see more clearly and who dare to believe that God inhabits uncommon friendships and, through them, is remaking the world.

J ER SWIGART , Co-Founder, The Global Immersion Project, Co-Author, Mending the Divides: Creative Love in a Conflicted World

Steve Slocums Why Do They Hate Us? offers readers a highly accessible introduction to Islam as a lived religion along with a helpful blueprint for how to build and maintain peace between Muslims and majority populations in the West. In an era of rampant Islamophobia, Slocums book is essential reading.

T ODD H. G REEN , author of The Fear of Islam: An Introduction to Islamophobia in the West

In a time when government leaders are fanning the flames of Islamophobia, citizen diplomacy is called for.

Why Do They Hate Us? is a very informative book. It can give an average American very relevant and accurate information about Islam, Muslim history and the history of the West relations to the Muslim World. Without such information an Average American will not understand what is happening and why. More importantly, he/she will not know what to do about it.

S AFI K ASKAS , Strategist, lecturer on the Quran and teachings of Jesus

Why Do They Hate Us? is a labor of love. It provides needed information about the Muslim world to help non-Muslims see through misleading propaganda. It provides real inspiration based on Steve Slocums experience as a Christian living in a Muslim country and traveling widely in the Muslim world. And most important, it is an invitation to join Steve as a peacemaker, learning to love our 1.5 billion Muslim neighbors as we love ourselves. Thats an important mission, and a lot depends on our being part of it.

B RIAN D. M C L AREN , author, The Great Spiritual Migration

This accessibly written book is an important antidote to the rising anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S. and beyond. It will appeal to those who are seeking the truth about the Islamic faith and those who are hoping to liven their spirit by reading the work of a committed bridge builder.

D R. C RAIG C ONSIDINE , Department of Sociology, Rice University

I confess to knowing very little about Islam when I began reading, and I now feel that I know much more. It left me with a hunger to befriend Muslims.

M ARTHA F REEMAN , M. Div., Pastor

Copyright 2019 by Steve Slocum

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded of otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for insertion in a magazine, newspaper, broadcast, website, blog or other outlet.

First Edition

ISBN: 978-0-9986838-6-7 (paperback)

ISBN: 978-0-9986838-7-4 (ebook)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018964027

Why Do They Hate Us? is published by:

Top Reads Publishing, LLC,

1035 E. Vista Way, Suite 205

Vista, CA 92084 USA

For information please direct emails to:

Cover design: Nathan Johnson

Book layout and typography: Teri Rider & Associates

Map 1 The Inheritance of Abu Bakr

Map 2 The Formation of the Islamic Empire under Abu Bakr

Map 3 The Islamic Empire under Umar

Map 4 The Islamic Empire at Its Maximum Size

Map 5 Distribution of Muslim Population by Region

Figure 1 Number of Muslims by Region

Map 6 Afghanistan

Map A1 The Middle East

Map A2 Middle East Close-up

Map A3 Palestinian Land Loss, 1947-Present

Map A4 Persian Speaking

Map A5 Indian Subcontinent

Map A6 Turkic World

Map A7 Southeast Asia and Oceania

Map A8 North Africa

Map A9 The Horn of Africa

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to Suzanne, Andrew, Maria, and Faith, the family who accompanied me to Kazakhstan without a single complaint. They embraced the culture and the people with love and enthusiasm. And they suffered hardships and emotional wounds that altered their lives. I honor their unchosen, but willing sacrifices.

My exposure to the Muslim world began when I was a student at the University of Arizona in the late 70s. I remember Middle Eastern students flooding the campus and driving around in luxury cars, apparently endowed with limitless cash from selling oil to the United States. I was appalled when I saw them demonstrating during the Iran hostage crisis, brazenly displaying signs saying death to Carter, taking full advantage of our freedoms to threaten death to our president.

As a newly converted Christian riding the wave of the Jesus-people movement of the hippie era, I took my exposure to Muslims as a challengeto penetrate their community and convert them to Christianity. The first step was to get to know them so I could learn and understand their culture. Armed with this awareness, I could craft culturally relevant arguments and convince them Islam was wrong and that they should convert. Although my motivation was not pure, in the process of befriending them and learning their culture, I was greatly enriched.