Since learning about his life, I now regard Abd el-Kader as one of the forerunners of some of the world’s greatest humanitarians, such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. for whom faith was their rock…The emir’s compassion toward his adversaries is typical of Gandhi’s notion of Satyagraha – that the way a person behaves is more important than what he achieves.
– Stephanie Fox-Dixon, 2009 Elkader HS Student Essay Contest Winner
[Abd El-Kader] was banished from his own country by the French and sent to Syria where he acquired a name as a true Mujahid by protecting the local Christians who were being attacked and killed. We need to educate Muslims as well as people of other faiths how the Emir was respected and seen as a role model in America, and how we should continue to promote the same values today by selecting the right heroes.
– Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed, National Director, Office for Interfaith & Community Alliances, Islamic Society of North America
Commander of the Faithful is one of those dazzling biographies that inform our modern life. A fascinating figure, Abd El-Kader was a man of God who put his Muslim religion into practice and served as a bridge between the European and Islamic worlds. We have much to learn from his life and from this book.
– Susan Eisenhower, author of Mrs. Ike
Middle East Warrior…a worthwhile addition to any reading list.
– Col. Jon Smythe, USMC (ret.)
Muslims and non-Muslims alike need to be reminded of the courage, compassion and intellect of Emir Abd El- Kader. His conduct in war, in prison and in exile represent the true concept of jihad [which] provides Muslims with a much-needed antidote to the toxic false jihads of today dominated by anger, violence and politics.
– Hassan bin Talal, Prince of Jordan
In Abd El-Kader we can look to a leader – a scholar, spiritual master, and warrior – who struggled for justice in his own society without transgressing the limits of just war.
– Daisy Khan, American Society for Muslim Advancement
John Kiser’s engagingly written and intelligently crafted Commander of the Faithful artfully shows how and why Abd El-Kader emerged as a world icon, and whose example is badly needed today
– Philip Khoury, Ford International Professor of History, MIT
Abd El-Kader is the embodiment of the true moral, theological and rational ideas taught by Islam . . . highly relevant to what is going on in the Islamic world.
– Muhammad Ammar Khan Nasir, Editor of Al-Sharia, Pakistan
Abd El-Kader lived by a chivalric code steeped in the Arab concept of honor [in] a time when Arab warriors embodied the noblest attributes of knighthood: courage, compassion and restraint.
– Steve Simon, Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations
John Kiser’s tale of Abd El-Kader’s heroic life and spirit [is] the perfect elixir for the contemporary West’s chronic difficulties understanding the East.”
– Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, author of What is Right about Islam
In an era when Islam is feared and widely misunderstood in the West, when we are often told that Islamic values are threatening to our way of life, here is the story of a Muslim hero whose tolerance, humanity and forbearance offer a persuasive rebuttal.
– Kenton W. Keith, Former US Ambassador to Qatar
[Abd El-Kader]’s real value for interfaith dialogue is that he is a devoutly conservative Muslim. In a way, this is who we should be negotiating with.
– David McAllister-Wilson, President, John Wesley Seminary
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