How Much Do You Know About the Muslim Religion?

They say, we are most afraid of that which we do not know.

That may be why, says longtime Milpitas resident Javed Mohammed, so many people are afraid or wary of Muslims.

Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, hate crimes, racial profiling and paranoia have all been directed at Muslims around the world, and especially in America.

“Ten years after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 on New York and Washington, the U.S. and its allies are still engaged in the war on terror. And, although a lot of time has passed, due to various factors, American public opinion about Islam and Muslims is still significantly negative,” said Mohammed.

“However,” he continued, “when people know Muslims, their opinion is generally positive—which shows that, for a sizeable segment of the U.S. population, knowing who Muslims are and what they believe can help bridge the gap of understanding.”

In America, where entertainment is a strong influence, Mohammed—who has authored five books himself, including the independent Islam 101, aimed at teaching non-Muslims the principles of Islam in an easily-digestible way—encourages people to turn to books and movies to learn about Muslim culture and religion, in an effort to hopefully take some of the paranoia and mystery out of the subject.

Mohammed has also written two fiction books recently, based on the true stories of refugees from India at partition and war-torn Bosnia in the early nineties.

The research he did for those books, in part, inspired the website MyFavoriteReview.com.

“In my research, I came across so many wonderful stories that I felt should be shared with a wider audience,” he said.

MyFavoriteReview.com publishes user-generated reviews of books, movies and more, but focuses on independent, non-blockbuster, non-mainstream works.

“The challenge with [sites like] Amazon, Netflix, Rotten Tomatoes [and the like] is that they are so large. Unless you know what to look for, you can spend hours searching, and even then, the hit rate is very low,” Mohammed explained. “They still cater to mainstream, and the bestsellers or blockbusters are the ones that come up on top. Amazon and Netfix have referral engines but, although [somewhat] helpful, it’s still part art, part science.”

Mohammed envisioned MyFavoriteReview.com as a site specifically for books and films of a certain niche.

“I wasn’t interested in doing another list or review site about mainstream entertainment. I wanted it to have some sort of socially redeeming content,” he explained. “Just like there’s too much junk food out there, there can be too many junk films too.”

Therefore, if someone is looking for books or movies on a certain subject, such as, learning more about the Muslim religion, or even more specifically about the yearly pilgrimage Muslims make to Mecca, they can go to MyFavoriteReview.com and see films and books on the subject recommended by the company’s experts, like Mohammed, and also read user-generated reviews that people have added.

MyFavoriteReview.com also puts out “Top” lists—such as, “The Top 101 Films that Inspired Social Change”—as well as lists tied in with certain holidays, national days of awareness and cultural events. For example, on the tenth anniversary of 9/11, the site published lists or recommended titles that can help people learn more about Islam.

“The list of books can help to provide some context of the beliefs, history, politics, and culture of Muslims and the Islamic world,” Mohammed said. “This includes our top 10 books—non-fiction and fiction—for adults, young adults and children. These lists may be useful for education as well as entertainment, for personal reference, and for schools, libraries, and other organizations.”

Just this week, the website also released the following list of books to help spread awareness of violence against women throughout the world, in connection with “International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women,” which falls on Nov. 25.

Mohammed and his family have been residents of Milpitas for roughly 20 years, and he says he does much of his research for the site at the .

MyFavoriteReview.com’s Top 10 Books on Violence against Women

10. The Slave Next Door by Kevin Bales and Ron Soodalter

9. Prostitution and Sex Trafficking (Opposing Viewpoints) by Louise Gerdes

8. Sex Trafficking by Siddharth Kara

7. Behind the Veil of Vice by John R. Bradley

6. Somebody's Daughter by Julian Sher

5. Slavery Today by Kevin Bales and Rebecca Cornell

4. The Road of Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam and Ruth Marshall

3. Not for Sale by David Batstone

2. The Natashas by Victor Malarek

1. Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

MyFavoriteReview.com’s Top 10 Films on Violence against Women

10. “Saving Carren”

9. “Born into Brothels”

8. “The Girl who Played with Fire”

7. “Holly”

6. “Human Trafficking”

5. “Trade”

4 “Sex Slaves” (Frontline PBS)

3 “Taken”

2. “Dirty Pretty Things”

1. “The Whistleblower”