Where's the Islam?

I made a trip to the downtown library which is the main branch, with what I would presume a large collection. I searched for Lahore Girls, the Kite Runner and Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources, by Martin Lings. The library was out of the first two books. Apparently they must only carry one copy, because this was my third attempt to check out these books. I made a request to put these books on hold and asked the librarian about the Lings’ book. She informed me that they don’t carry it and we checked the shelves only to find a handful of books on the prophet. She said, “Here take one of these.” I informed her that I didn’t want one of those; I wanted the Lings’ book, because it is deemed to be one of the most unbiased and factually accurate biographies (according to my family, friends and many fellow bloggers). She says, “What do you need it for class?” What? As if my only interest for a specific book about the prophet could be as a result of a mandate. Arghhh.

So, I decided to stop by my local Border’s Bookstore. The bookstore is located in a fairly affluent area of town which is noted for its multi-cultural and diverse inhabitants. I was able to locate the religion section because of its large size. The section spanned an entire wall and is undoubtedly the largest subject of the bookstore. Several large placards were lined along the wall indicating religious preference with fairly large bookcases containing various books under each. They were as follows: “New Age” “Christianity”, “Christian Fiction”, “Christian Influence”, “Judaic”, and “Eastern Religions”. I re-read them, looking for “Islam”. Scan, scan, re-scan, nope, not listed. Stunned, this peaked my curiosity.

Perhaps, Islam is in the Eastern Religions section, I thought? Nope. Mind you, there are several bookcases devoted to Christian and one entirely for Judaic books. Under Eastern Religions, there are several bookshelves dedicated to Taoism, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc. I began to get more upset as I searched for “Islam”.

I must have looked like a madwoman as I scanned the shelves, shuffling back and forth amongst the peaceful people sitting in their chairs, absorbing their new treasures. I thought to myself, “How could the fastest growing religion with millions of followers, one of the BIG three, not have a section at this corporate monster?” Surely, it has to be here, they can’t be that blatantly racist, there are thousands of Muslims who live here.

Finally, I located eleven, count ‘em ELEVEN books, two of which were anti-Islam, which took up one half of a bookshelf under the “Christianity” heading. Furthermore, not one copy of the Koran could be found.

I am stunned and insulted. I debated about approaching management about this concern of mine. But, I decided to first go home and find out, via my trusty internet, whether or not there are other people who have noticed this trend in their local Borders. I found one man out of Toledo, Ohio who voiced the same concern. He tried, unsuccessfully, to get his local Muslim group, Toledo Muslims, to join him in signing off a letter to the Border’s headquarters. Although, he did not get any fellow brothers and sisters to give their john hancock, he was successfully in his solo venture. His local Border’s now has a proper heading of “Islam” in their religion section and they now carry the Koran.

From today’s experience, I gather that this man’s fight has not influenced the corporate strategy. I plan to approach management with this by presenting a letter. I would like to know whether or not this is a problem of local or national scope. Please share with me your findings, if you are a Borders shopper. I'm most certain that the stock must vary by area demand, so I am curious about your experiences. Join me and giving Islam the literary space it deserves.