The writer in the book describes lives of the ordinary American Muslims in the US after the September 11 attack on the World Trade Centre. He sketches how an attack by a few people, shaped the people’s perception about Islam and Muslims today. Dr Mansoor builds a comparative scenario about the lives of ordinary Muslims living in the US pre and post-9/11 terrorist attacks. Although, the book has a limited regional focus on Connecticut, yet it depicts the story of the entire Muslim community in the US. The book is an interesting read, comprising of 271 pages.
The author starts the book with the events of the unfortunate day of September 11, 2001 and builds his recollection of the life pre and post the traumatic event around it. In the later chapters, he sheds light that how the Iranian Revolution changed the perception of the Muslims and Islam in the West. The revolution which was initially seen as a political unrest was soon converted to a Muslim unrest and hatred towards the West, especially the US. He narrates his experience when he has initially came to the US, for his medical studies, where he saw multi-ethnic societies, groups, religions and creeds all living together in harmony. As challenges grew after the 9/11, the author deemed it necessary to address the growing vacuum of misinformation regarding Islam in the West. Hence, the Muslim Coalition of Connecticut (MCCT) was founded which was specifically aimed to address and counter the anti-Islamic and anti-Muslim sentiments in the US. The writer in the book wrote that the organisation was created to overcome the increasing hate caused by the people thousands of miles away (p. 8).
