One of Publishers Weekly’s Best Nonfiction Books of 2022 and a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice, this riveting true story recounts America’s first homegrown Muslim terror attack, the 1977 Hanafi siege in Washington, DC. On March 9, seven men stormed B’nai B’rith International, taking over a hundred employees hostage. Shortly after, three men seized the Islamic Center of Washington, the nation’s largest mosque, while two others attacked the municipal District Building, resulting in a reporter’s death and city councilor Marion Barry being shot. The attackers were part of the Hanafi movement, led by Hamaas Abdul Khaalis, a former jazz drummer with a tumultuous past involving the Nation of Islam. Khaalis had previously lost seven family members in a notorious murder linked to the Nation. During the standoff, the attackers threatened to kill hostages unless their demands were met, including justice for Khaalis’s family and the cancellation of a film about the prophet Muhammad. Shahan Mufti’s account provides a comprehensive look at this unprecedented hostage crisis, exploring the complexities of American Islam, the international politics of religion and oil, and the intense drama of a city under siege, revealing the disarray of the 1970s and its lasting impact.
