I was born in Egypt during the time of the British occupation. This played quite a role in my life, since the earliest of the earliest of my memories as a little child was my mother's prodding time after time, "When I was carrying you I made a pledge to call you Hassan and devote you to expel the British from Egypt." That registered with me quite powerfully. The result? No care-free childhood and no delinquent adolescence. There was a cause, and a purpose in life!

My generation followed in the footsteps of previous generations in combating the British occupation by whatever means necessary. To the British and their surrogate Egyptian governments we were terrorists, to the rest of the country and the world we were freedom fighters. We were lucky to see the end of the British occupation. When I lived in Britain later on to pursue my studies, I acquired love and admiration for the British people. I realized that people can be very different from the foreign policy of their politicians and statesmen. The same also happened to me much later on when I came to America to make it my home.

Seriousness and resolve fueled my scholastic life. I sailed through my higher clinical qualifications in obstetrics & gynecology, and to ensure a solid academic base I received my Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland; my thesis was "Studies in Normal and Abnormal Human Embryogenesis". I had the satisfaction of achieving my life dream of becoming a university professor, chairman of my department, clinician, scientist and teacher and of attaining high standing in my professional circles nationally, regionally and internationally.

All this however was only one of my two lungs with which to breathe. My other love was the study of religion, primarily my own but others also. My readings were no less extensive than those of formal students of religion, but my background in science and medicine provided me with an invaluable tool by which to think my religion, understand it, and explain it.

Being bicultural and bilingual, I realized that Islam is very widely known in the West for what it is not (sometimes I feel that Muslims themselves ought to take part of the blame). Active slandering and tarnishing of Islam has become a mission and a career of some groups in politics, the media and the entertainment field.

I am a strong believer that it is a basic human right to be known for what one is. I am also a strong believer that peace, harmony and goodwill between people can only be based on correct understanding and not on myth or falsehood. People will then become aware of similarities and differences, and hopefully respect their differences and agree to tolerate and live with them.

This book is a humble contribution in that direction on behalf of the religion of Islam, the faith of one billion of our neighbors on this planet.

I present it in LOVE.

Love is from God. Hate is from the Devil.

Hassan Hathout