Local author seeks to break Muslim stereotypes

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Dr. M. Wasiullah Khan (center), chancellor at East-West University, receives an autographed copy of the book "Sikander" from author Salahuddin Khan (left) of Lake Forest at American Islamic College. | Buzz Orr~Sun-Times Media

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Updated: November 21, 2011 8:41AM

Salahuddin Khan’s first novel, “Sikander,” may be about everyday Muslim people, but the award-winning book is anything but ordinary.

The Lake Forest resident had never written anything before conceiving the story about the transformation of a Pakistani youth from a mujahideen fighter in Afghanistan to a post-Sept. 11 corporate executive in America.

In some ways, the tale is autobiographical because Khan was born in Pakistan of refugee parents who had fled India during the 1947 partition of the country.

He grew up in England, where he was educated to be an aerospace designer. But after visiting the United States in 1972 and watching the launch of Apollo 16, Khan decided this is where he wanted to live.

He moved his wife and three sons here in 1988, and added three daughters. And by 1996, Khan was the chief technology officer of Massachusetts-based Computervision Corp.

In 1998, he moved to Chicago-based NAVTEQ to make digital maps used on websites and navigational systems, where he became the chief technology officer and senior vice president for global marketing and strategy.

And in 2007, he founded his own business, QMarket Associates, focusing on corporate strategy, product development and marketing.

He also became the host of a talk show about Muslim issues on Radio Islam (www.radioislam.com).

But it was a “flashbulb moment” in 2009 that led to him to write about the human phenomenon of misunderstanding and being misunderstood.

‘An eruption’

“The book basically erupted from me in six weeks,” Khan said. “It was an eruption I could not stop until it was complete.

“After that, I had it professionally edited and since then, several editions have come out.”

He developed the story from research indicating that the vast majority of Americans could not say they knew a Muslim, though they may know one and not realize it, he added.

“I discovered that the information most Americans have about Muslims comes from characteristic media stereotypes, whether from the news media or the highly stereotypical portrayal in entertainment,” Khan said.

So what Khan wanted to convey in his book was that fundamentalist convictions in religion, such as Islam, do not equate to militancy.

This is more readily understood about the Jewish faith, where Orthodox Jews are considered fundamentalists, but not necessarily militant, Khan said.

“Islam has something of that militant reputation,” Khan said. “But with the vast number of Muslims in the world, there will be some who use the religion for their own objectives, and unfortunately they get the higher profile.

“They fashion a lens through which people see Islam, which is really unfortunate, because most of us live a very ordinary life in the sense of having the usual aspirations and fears that most people have.”

Muslims do not have the “DNA of violence,” Khan stressed.

“There is the thinking that even though Muslims as individuals may not be violent, there is something in them that is tilting in that direction, which is a complete misunderstanding,” Khan said. “I don’t think I would be considered an apologist for Islam by saying that if the facts were researched, that would not be the conclusion of an objective individual.”

Khan noted that after the tragedies of Sept. 11, 2001, Muslims in the Chicago area felt as if they no longer belonged.

Some chose to “keep their heads down” in fear of the negative sentiment, and others tried to be better understood, he stated.

Every reaction imaginable from taunting Muslims to curiosity about them took place, Khan said.

“In one case my youngest son, who was going to Lake Forest High School at the time, befriended a Christian who elected to become Muslim as a result of the conversations they had,” Khan said.

“Anyone who doesn’t know Muslims should try to find out more about them before making judgments about them, which is what ‘Sikander’ is about.”

The Sacramento Book Review called “Sikander” “an epic novel” and “an eye-opening look at something often glossed over in search of easy depictions of good and evil.”

Former CIA officer Duane Evans, author of “North from Calcutta,” described it as “a journey worth taking.”

Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, the Ibn Khaldun chair of Islamic studies at American University in Washington D.C., said it’s “the scope and scale of ‘Gone With the Wind’.”

The book, which is almost 600 pages, was published by Karakoram Press in Lake Forest and sells for $29.95.