Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation
Hardcover – June 4, 2007
Description
From Publishers Weekly Patel, a former Rhodes scholar with a doctorate in the sociology of religion from Oxford, is the founder of the Interfaith Youth Core, an organization that unites young people of different religions to perform community service and explore their common values. Patel argues that such work is essential, manifesting the faith line that will define the 21st century. Patel's own story is more powerful than the exhaustive examples he provides of how mainstream faith failed to reach young people like Osama bin Laden and Yighal Amir, the assassin of Yitzhak Rabin. With honesty, Patel relates how he suffered the racist taunts of fellow youth, and, in response, alternately rebelled against and absorbed the religion of his parents—Islam—but in his own way. Meanwhile, he continued to pursue interfaith work with vigor, not quite knowing his end goal but always feeling in his gut that interfaith understanding was the key. This autobiography of a young activist captures how an angry youth can be transformed—by faith, by the community and, most of all, by himself—into a profound leader for the cause of peace. (July) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. “A beautifully written story of discovery and hope.”—President Bill Clintonxa0“[A] visionary book, part coming-of-age memoir and part call-to-action . . . A shining vision of the possibilities of interfaith cooperation and pluralistic discourse.”xa0xa0—Adam Mansbach, The Boston Globe “The best recent American statement about living one’s faith in a pluralistic society.” — Robin Lovin, Christian Century “Remarkable . . . A well-written, compelling testimony to how one man is trying to ensure that different religions can live side by side in peace.”—Paul Raushenbush, Beliefnet.com“Eboo Patel is an exciting new voice of a new America: diverse but not divisive, hopeful but not utopian. He speaks for all of us from a rising generation of bright, brown, and bold Americans who have much to offer a country embarking on a new millennium and in need of new blood.”—Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, executive director of the Zaytuna Institute From the Trade Paperback edition. Eboo Patel is founder and executive director of the Interfaith Youth Core, a Chicago-based international nonprofit building the interfaith youth movement. He is a regular contributor to the Washington Post , National Public Radio, and CNN. Named one of America’s Best Leaders by U.S. News & World Report, he was appointed by President Obama to the Advisory Council of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Acts of Faith is the 2010 recipient of the prestigious Grawemeyer Award in Religion. From the Trade Paperback edition. Read more
Features & Highlights
- With a new afterword
- Acts of Faith
- is a remarkable account of growing up Muslim in America and coming to believe in religious pluralism, from one of the most prominent faith leaders in the United States. Eboo Patel’s story is a hopeful and moving testament to the power and passion of young people—and of the world-changing potential of an interfaith youth movement.
- From the Trade Paperback edition.
