Rosann's Pick

Ranya Idliby,
Suzanne Oliver,
and Priscilla Warner
The Faith Club: a Muslim, a Christian,
a Jew -- Three Women Search for Understanding
Free Press, 2006

The genesis of this book is as fascinating as is the press it has received and the popularity it enjoys. After September 11, Ranya Idliby, an American Muslim of Palestinian descent living in New York City, was bombarded by questions about Islam, God, and death from her two young children, the only Muslims in their classrooms. As stereotypes and prejudices about Islam and Muslims became increasingly blatant, Idliby began to feel increasingly self-conscious about her Muslim identity, and she began to fear for the safety and security of her family. In the midst of her turmoil, she turned to her tradition and there found the story of the Prophet's night flight and ascension to heaven, a vision in which Muhammad rides a magical winged horse ridden before him by Jesus, Moses, and other biblical prophets. The story continues that as the Prophet ascends the jewel staircase to the threshold of the kingdom of God, he is welcomed by various prophets as a brother and fellow prophet. Along with Moses and Jesus, Muhammad stands at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem for communal prayer. Idliby wondered: "Why weren't Muslims telling the world this story?" She felt the sudden urge to do something, for the sake of her children, and for the sake of Islam.

Her thought: to find a Jewish and a Christian mother who, together with her, would author a children's book highlighting the connections among Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The story of how Idliby finds Suzanne Oliver, an ex-Catholic who worships at a vibrant Episcopal church in New York City, and Priscilla Warner, a Jewish mother with some experience writing children's books and also living in New York City, is as extra-ordinary as it is serendipitous. Together they decide to write an interfaith children's book whose intent was to educate children about the common heritage of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. After meeting just a few times, the women realize that they themselves needed an honest, safe, and open en-vironment wherein they could admit their ignorance of their own, as well as the other's, religious traditions and discuss their concerns, stereotypes, misunderstandings and questions. The Faith Club is a memoir of their religious/spiritual journey in three voices. Nineteen chapters cover topics that range from "The Abrahamic Family Feud," "The Promised Land," "The Cruci-fixion Crisis," "Prayer," and "Ritual," to "From Here to Eternity."

At times I felt like a silent witness to a conversation that was open, daring, reflective, and sometimes painful, but one that at its core was built on a profound trust that, over time, slow-ly gave birth to deep and abiding friendships and new ways of understanding both difference and common ground. A testa-ment both to the desperate need for accessible resources for interfaith study in a post-9/11 world and to the power of mothers seeking to find ways of peace-making in the chaos that surrounds us, The Faith Club has spawned interfaith dis-cussion groups in churches, temples, and mosques throughout the country. The paperback edition includes a Reading Group Guide, written in English, Hebrew and Arabic, that features a conversation with the authors both as a group and individ-ually; frequently asked questions; a guide to starting a faith club, including ice-breakers, start-up activities, and discussion questions; and a glossary of "Things You Should Know About ..." Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. I was completely taken by this book and recommend it to anyone who is fascin-ated by the power of grass-roots groups to be instruments of transformation in a world desperately in need of finding new ways to make peace.