Book Report: My Name Used to Be Muhammad

I was asked by Deseret Book if I would be interested in reading and reviewing some of their current best-sellers.  Being a huge book nerd, I jumped at the chance.  They sent me copies, but the reviews and opinions are my own.

My Name Used to be Muhammad :The True Story of a Muslim Who Became a Christian. by Tito Momen and Jeff Benedict

From the publisher:  Tito Momen was raised Muhammad Momen. He was born in Nigeria and was taught to observe the strict teachings of Islam. At age five he woke at 4:45 every morning to attend the mosque and perform dawn prayer with the other men in his village. Training to memorize the Qur’an began at age six. It was at this same age that he began copying the entire Qur’an word for word. He was being raised to emerge as a leader among clerics, capable of leading a jihad, or holy struggle, to convert nonbelievers to Islam. However, Tito’s path took an unexpected turn when he was introduced to Christianity. His decision to believe in Jesus Christ cost him his family and his freedom. Tito thought he would spend his remaining days enduring a life sentence in an uncivilized Egyptian prison. For fifteen years he suffered and waited and prayed. Tito said, “I never gave up hope. I never stopped believing.” Although he was falsely imprisoned, beaten, and ridiculed, Tito’s remarkable true story is one of faith, forgiveness, and testimony that God does hear and answer prayers.

I have to admit, I was kind of hesitant to read this one--it just didn't seem like a book I would dive into.  I was absolutely wrong.  From the beginning chapters I was completely drawn into the descriptions of life in an incredibly orthodox compound--Momen tells his early life story so simply and easily that I was able to understand the way he was raised, and his matter-of-fact stories were so plain that I could see where he came from and understand his point of view.  (Early on he gives the reader a disclaimer that, while his experiences as a Muslim were not always happy, he absolutely acknowledges that they were, compared with the millions of Muslims worldwide, atypical.  I appreciated this about his story--it was HIS story, not a how-to or a call to arms for any person in any religion and, in fact, was much more a story about Christ than about "Mormonsim.")  

 **I don't want to give too much of his story away because I want you to experience it for yourself.  It was THAT good.**

As I became engrossed in his story I was repeatedly struck by how truly lucky I am to live in a country and culture that allows me to express my beliefs, to choose my own path.  Momen was jailed and made an example for the courage of his convictions, and I wept as I read how he suffered, yet I was continuously filled with gratitude for all I have in the United States right now.  (I ended up using his story in my Sunday School class when I taught about how we are commanded to ask questions and seek the truth for ourselves.  Zing!  Double-duty!)  (As soon as I get it back from my neighbor, I am making my 17-year-olds read it.  And then I will read it again.)

Without reservation, I recommend this book to you, your mom, your grandma (even though she hates everyone) and your teens--and if you are going to be in downtown Salt Lake this Thursday evening, go meet this man and shake his hand for me.  Seriously. 


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