In the summer of 1936, Arab American Muslims from across the Midwest arrived in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to celebrate the first anniversary of the Rose of Fraternity mosque, also known as the Moslem Temple. It was a joyous affair. Local community members Elaine Graham, Lucille Mann, and Margaret Hamad sang, “To a Wild Rose.” Participants belted out Arabic songs, too. Several speeches were given in Arabic and many of them were intensely patriotic. . . . At the very same moment, Palestinians were revolting against their British occupiers and Zionist settlers. And the mosque’s anniversary celebration was dedicated to Arabs in Palestine. Attendees donated $294—worth over $6,000 today—to relief efforts for Palestinians. . . .For a century, our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents in the Arab Midwest have been fighting for Palestinian freedom. I thank them and I remember them this evening for entrusting us to continue their struggle and for inspiring me to write down their stories. My deep gratitude to the Arab American National Museum for this award, and to all the people in this room and beyond who helped me write the book.

–Acceptance Speech, Arab American National Museum, Nov. 11, 2023

The 2023 Arab American national book award ceremony, held in the shadow of war and genocide, was a moving event that, as I pointed out in my brief acceptance speech, resonated with the long history of such occasions in the Arab Midwest.

The moment was both bitter and sweet, very different from the announcement, made before Oct. 7, that that Muslims of the Heartland: How Syrian Immigrants Made a Home in the American Midwest won the 2023 Evelyn Shakir Non-Fiction Arab American Book Award.

“The award,” according to the museum, “is the only one in the nation created specifically to honor Arab American writers and books about the Arab American experience.” The non-fiction prize is named in honor of the late Prof. Evelyn Shakir’s contributions to scholarship about Arab Americans.

Muslims of the Heartland explores the world of the first two generations of Arab Muslims who settled in the Midwest in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, offering an intimate portrait of fifteen women and men who lived in the Dakotas, Indiana, Iowa, and Michigan.

New York University Press published the book in hardcover in 2022, and issued a paperback version in time for the Arab American National Museum’s book award ceremony.

Reviewed in both popular and academic publications, Muslims of the Heartland has inspired a 24-stop book tour and a number of podcasts. When I found out that I won the award, I was so moved that I shed a tear or two.