Frank Romano

Dear Readers,

I am author of a new book, "Storm Over Morocco"; it is about a spiritual voyage that I took to Morocco in 1978 from Paris where I was studying philosophy. I was searching for supreme truth and studying Eastern religions as the path that would lead me there. While I was in Morocco I was invited to study Islam in a mosque where I resided for several weeks.

It turned out that it was a militant Moslem group and that I was not free to leave. During my stay, I had different confrontations with the Imams and Islamic gurus, especially over the concept and treatment of women in orthodox Islamic communities in which I lived.

My questions as to the treatment of women served as a catalyst for one of the Islamic gurus to accuse me of being a Zionist spy destined to sabotage the "back to Islam" movement. I was eventually acquitted of sabotage by an internal inquisitorial tribunal, but I remained a prisoner behind the tall walls of the mosque on the outskirts of Casablanca. The leaders of the mosque tried to convert me which I resisted thanks to my ecumenical approach to religions, such that I do not believe any one religion holds all the pieces of the puzzle.

I finally had to escape the mosque and friends hid me in Casablanca until I could safely leave the country.

I was able to withstand conversion due to my profound knowledge of different religions and the desire to focus on the common denominators among them.

The book is about my spiritual path and about fundamentalist religions and brainwashing techniques. It also discusses the status of women in orthodox/fundamentalist Islamic communities. It, however, is not at all a criticism of Islam as I learned a great deal from that religion.

After a successful conference and several successful discussions/signing events in the US concerning my book, I have returned to Paris.

A tenured professor at the University of Paris and member of the California and Marseille Bars, I organize and participate in interfaith events in Israel and Palestine.

For more information, see a copy of the prologue here

The book can be found at Amazon and at World Audience

If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to include them here or send me an email..