Yahiya Emerick
Yahiya Emerick (born John Joseph Emerick;[1] 1971 – July 11, 2026) was an American Muslim author and educator. He was the president of the Islamic Foundation of North America. Emerick wrote and/or published over 50 books on Islam.[2]
Background
Emerick was born in the Midwest in 1971, into a Baptist family. He was an avid reader from a young age. His curiosity about religion was sparked around age 15 after a sermon on the Trinity left him more confused than enlightened, setting him on a path of theological questioning that would eventually lead him away from the faith of his upbringing. [3] That search came to a head during his freshman year at Michigan State University. After roughly six months of reading the Qur'an, he found he could not deny what he experienced as a personal appeal from God to the reader, and at age nineteen, during the winter of 1988–1989, he converted to Sunni Islam.[4] He later obtained a graduate degree in history.[5]
He served as a Muslim lecturer, educator, prayer leader, and author. He founded Amirah Publishing in 1992, in order to further his goal of publishing American-oriented literature on Islam. Emerick's Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Islam has been distributed worldwide by Alpha Books. From 1998 until 2008 his books were all published by Noorart Inc.[6]
Emerick died on July 11, 2026, at the age of 55.[7]
Educator and institutional roles
Alongside his writing, Emerick built a long career in Islamic education. He served as vice-principal of a full-time Islamic school in Westbury, New York, and taught in Sunday schools, summer programs, and full-time Muslim schools across North America. He also served as president of the Islamic Foundation of North America (IFNA), a nonprofit devoted to Islamic education and outreach, a role he held into the early 2000s.[8] He was active as a lecturer, prayer leader, and voice in interfaith dialogue.
Books
- Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Islam
- Critical Lives: Muhammad
- Learning About Islam
- Complete Idiot's Guide to Rumi Meditations
- The Meaning of the Holy Qur'an in Today's English
- My First Book About Islam
- What Islam is All About
- The Seafaring Beggar and Other Stories
- How to Tell Others About Islam
- Ahmad Deen and the Curse of the Aztec Warrior
- Ahmad Deen and the Jinn at Shaolin
- Layla Deen and the Case of the Ramadan Rogue
- The Holy Qur'an for School Children
- Muslim Youth Speak
- Color and Learn Salah
- In the Path of the Holy Prophet
- Test Masters for What Islam is All About
- Test Masters for Learning About Islam
- My First Book about Eman
- Full Circle: Story and Coloring Book
- Isabella: a Girl of Muslim Spain
- Layla Deen and the Popularity Contest
References
- ↑ https://www.iqra.org/collections/yahiya-emerick
- ↑ https://www.amirahpublishing.com/
- ↑ https://muslimkidsbooks.wordpress.com/2010/06/07/meet-the-author-q-a-with-yahiya-emerick/
- ↑ Emerick, Yahiya, Understanding Islam, Alpha Books, 2004. Second Edition. From the foreword by Qusim Najar.
- ↑ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/275339/yahiya-emerick/
- ↑ Noorart Inc. Products
- ↑ Yahiya Emerick Dies at 55: American Muslim Author Who Inspired a Generation
- ↑ https://aboutislam.net/reading-islam/about-muhammad/6-best-biographies-of-the-prophet-muhammad-pbuh/
External links
- 1971 births
- 2026 deaths
- American religious writers
- American male short story writers
- American Sunni Muslims
- American former Protestants
- Converts to Sunni Islam from Protestantism
- Michigan State University alumni
- Islamic fiction writers
- Translators of the Quran into English
- American male essayists
- 20th-century American short story writers
- 20th-century American essayists
- 20th-century American translators
- 21st-century American short story writers
- 21st-century American translators
- 21st-century American essayists
- 20th-century American male writers
- 21st-century American male writers
- American essayist stubs