Undivided

A Muslim Daughter, Her Christian Mother, Their Path to Peace

By: Patricia Raybon, Alana Raybon

Narrated by: Suzie Althens, Simona Chitescu-Weik

“Mom, I have something I need to tell you…”

They didn’t talk. Not for ten years. Not about faith anyway. Instead, a mother and daughter tiptoed with pain around the deepest gulf in their lives – the daughter’s choice to leave the church, convert to Islam and become a practicing Muslim. Undivided is a real-time story of healing and understanding with alternating narratives from each as they struggle to learn how to love each other in a whole new way.

Although this is certainly a book for mothers and daughters struggling with interfaith tensions , it is equally meaningful for mothers and daughters who feel divided by tensions in general. An important work for parents whose adult children have left the family’s belief system, it will help those same children as they wrestle to better understand their parents.

Undivided offers an up close and personal look at the life of an Islamic convert—a young American woman—at a time when attitudes are mixed about Muslims (and Muslim women in particular), but interest in such women is high. For anyone troubled by the broader tensions between Islam and the West, this personal story distills this friction into the context of a family relationship—a journey all the more fascinating.

Undivided is a tremendously important book for our time. Will Patricia be able to fully trust in the Christ who “holds all things together?” Will Alana find new hope or new understanding as the conversation gets deeper between them? And can they answer the question that both want desperately to experience, which is “Can we make our torn family whole again?”

Hard to put down

What a profound book of a mother & daughter’s journey. Useful understanding of a mother/dtr relationship in so many aspects.

Undivided

Loved this book. Helped me with issues I have in my personal life. The book confirmed my saying that communication is a key ingredient to peace and understanding.

A Tale as Old as Time: Agreeing to Disagree

This account challenges the reader to lay aside any belief system they have in order to achieve openmindedness regarding each author's perspective. It can be used as a discussion template for many parent - adult child conflict regarding choices either of them make.

A mirror of my life

As a converted Muslimah with a Christian mother, despite our efforts, we cannot see eye to eye between our faiths. This story speaks directly to me as a Muslim sister who understands Christianity because I was raised in it and understood it wasn’t for me. However, it’s been incredibly difficult to share my faith with my mother in the way she insisted her faith be shared with me as a child in her home.

This story between these two women explores conflict out of love- not out of spite. Listening to each of their stories, I could my mother in Patricia and my own voice in Alana. What a feeling of validation to not be alone in the world when you feel you’re losing your family through faith. As well, both of these strong women demonstrated it’s not about agreeing with each other, but respecting each other- and that the journey is long and emotionally exhausting.

The last chapter was very fitting- not the warm and fuzzies you might want out of a great story like this. It was a neutral close to the anxious frustration felt during certain chapters, when you knew there would be no closure, but it was obvious this was going to be a lifelong discussion and exploration for mother and daughter.

Confused Muslim

As I once concluded before Muslims are so confused. I felt like Alana didn't care for her family to want to become Muslim but just truly wanted her mother to love her and to get to know her. Her mother on the other hand prayed for her daughter to know truth. Alana is so confused that she believes that Allah and Jesus of Islam is no different than God and Jesus of Christianity. This belief she has is so far from the truth. I've personally contacted Alana and she's unwilling to testify what she believes is truth. I feel like she's a New Ager. Any rational person would be able to tell that Mormonism (Isa. 29:11) and Islam (Isa. 29:12) can't both be true while understanding the verses (Isa. 29:1-12) in context. They can both be false but they both can't be true.