A Factual Error in the … Title? Really?
We’ve been warned since childhood not to judge a book by its cover. But we can probably be forgiven if we judge a book by its title, especially when it includes a factual error.
Yes, it happened. An American book publisher, Beacon Press, located in Boston, Mass. (and a department of the Unitarian and Universalist Association), has published a book that includes a factual error in its title.
The book in question is Light Without Fire: The Making of America’s First Muslim College written by Scott Korb.
The book is about Zaytuna College, which CAMERA has written about here.
Zaytuna College, located in Berkley, California, is not, as the book’s title states, “America’s First Muslim College.” That honor belongs to another school, American Islamic College, located in Chicago, Illinois.
AIC’s website states the following:
History of the AIC:
The American Islamic College was established in 1981 as a private, not-for-profit, four-year college offering programs leading to the Bachelor of Arts degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies. In March 1983, the college purchased its present landmark building on Lake Shore Drive, and in September 1983 began its first academic semester.
The College has been the only Islamic institution of higher education with degree-granting authority in North America. In 1991 the College was granted the authority to offer the Associate of Arts degree in addition to the Bachelor of Arts degree; this authority was later removed by the IBHE (Illinois Board of Higher Education) due to the administration’s inability to meet IBHE criteria. After significant reorganization and the installation of a completely new administration with the mandate of the Board of Trustees and the Executive Council, the American Islamic College has reinitiated the Operating Authority process via the IBHE. Until such authority is received, we continue to offer a variety of non-credit and non-degree classes that include: history, Islamic studies, art, music, and Arabic and Turkish language.
Currently, neither Zaytuna nor AIC are accredited institutions. Zaytuna’s website states that it is “moving forward with our plans to establish the first accredited Muslim college in the United States.”
AIC, which was founded in 1983 was previously accredited and has since lost its accredidation, which it is trying to recover. And more to the point, AIC was in existence prior to Zaytuna College, which was founded by Hamza Yusef in 1996.
It’s kind of an egregious error for a publishing house that describes itself as “an independent publisher of serious non-fiction and fiction.”
Just how “serious” can a book be if it publishes a book with a factual error in its title?
More from SNAPSHOTS
Double Standards: Boycotts and Discrimination in MassLive
May 16, 2025
Anti-Israel activists, including Harvard University’s Lara Jirmanus, a clinical instructor, seem to struggle with the concept of “discrimination.” Quoted in a May 14 MassLive article, “Harvard ‘failed to respond’ to 450 discrimination complaints. Staff hand-delivered [...]
Swarthmore Students Are Learning: It Was Never About Palestinian Rights
May 14, 2025
Students at Swarthmore College are so close to understanding the conflict. An article in the Swarthmore Phoenix details the frustrations of student activists with the college’s Students for Justice in Palestine. The gist of their criticism is [...]
AFP Arabic Stops Mislabeling Northern Israeli Communities ‘Settlements”
August 10, 2021
A view of Metulla, northern Israel (Photo by Hadar Sela)After failing to set the record straight last May when Agence France Presse's Arabic service repeatedly referred to Jewish communities in northern Israel as "settlements," the [...]
NY Times Praises Ilhan Omar’s Book While Glossing Over Her Antisemitism
August 19, 2020
A recent New York Times book review boosts Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) autobiography while glossing over her antisemitism. In the paper’s Aug. 16, 2020 edition, NYT reporter Christina Cauterucci writes: The memoir offers breathing room [...]
When TV Interviews of Ilhan Omar Constitute Journalistic Malpractice
August 11, 2020
Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) documented animosity toward Jews and Israel was ignored in recent interviews by MSNBC and C-SPAN. MSNBC’s The Beat for July 23, 2020 included host Ari Melber’s 10-minute conversation at 6:16 [...]
Boston TV Station WCVB Teamed Up With Terrorist Supporter CAIR
July 7, 2020
WCVB-TV (channel 5) (Boston’s ABC network affiliate) recently misled area viewers about a matter involving antisemitic propaganda. This occurred on its local Sunday show Cityline hosted by Karen Holmes Ward who is described by the [...]
Harper’s Magazine Echoed Palestinian Propaganda Condemning Israel And America
June 2, 2020
Writing in Harper's, Kevin Baker condemns the U.S. Middle East peace plan [“The Striking Gesture,” Easy Chair, May 2020], mischaracterizing it as, “Give up all your [Palestinian] hopes and your holiest places, embark on a [...]