The Faith Club

Publisher's Summary

A groundbreaking book about Americans searching for faith and mutual respect, The Faith Club weaves the story of three women, their three religions, and their urgent quest to understand one another.

After September 11, Ranya Idliby, an American Muslim of Palestinian descent, faced constant questions about Islam, God, and death from her children, the only Muslims in their classrooms. Inspired by a story about Muhammad, Ranya reached out to two other mothers to write an interfaith children's book that would highlight the connections between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. After just a few meetings, however, the women realized that they themselves needed an honest and open environment where they could admit-and discuss-their concerns, stereotypes, and misunderstandings. After hours of soul-searching about the issues that divided them, Ranya, Suzanne, and Priscilla grew close enough to discover and explore what united them.

A memoir of spiritual reflections in three voices, The Faith Club has spawned interfaith discussion groups in churches, temples, mosques, and other community settings. It will make you feel as if you are eavesdropping on the authors' private thoughts, provocative discussions, and often-controversial opinions and conclusions. As the authors reveal their deepest beliefs, you watch the blossoming of a profound interfaith friendship and the birth of a new way of relating to others. Pioneering, timely, deeply thoughtful, and full of hope, The Faith Club's caring message will resonate with people of all faiths.

©2006 Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver and Priscilla Warner (P)2012 Tantor

Wow I'm so glad I read this. I had no idea.

More than met my expectations. I want to start my own faith group. Really fascinating. Loved it so much all

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Good book for understanding others

Would you consider the audio edition of The Faith Club to be better than the print version?

Yes, It was better to hear Pam Ward read this story. The narration was fairly good.

What did you like best about this story?

It helped you understand others and not make stereotypes about other people and their beliefs.

What does Pam Ward bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The feelings of the women in the book are felt in the reading of this book.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I would not say an extreme reaction, but it helped me understand others' point of view. It also helped me understand my beliefs better.

Any additional comments?

Our culture was accepted two lies. First, the first is that if you disagree with someone's lifestyle you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do, Both are nonsense. You don't have to compromise convictions to be compassionate (Rick Warren). We can learn to love and appreciate other of different beliefs and lifestyles is we try to understand them. Compassion and understanding for other is better than just tolerance.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great book, slightly irritating narrator.

Narrator has a weird accent/regional dialect where she pronounces some words off. But, other than that she does a fine job. (i.e. instead of Jewish, she says jeweesh, weesh instead of wish.)

Listening is Key

I feel this book challenges is to listen and learn from the experiences of others and not assume all are the same as the story we tell ourselves. True compassion only comes when we take time to be with smoother.

A prerequisite for Interfaith engagement

This book is a good primer for anyone who is interested in Interfaith engagement because it addresses the difficult questions that can become contentious and difficult to work through in those kinds of conversations.

Searching

This book has been enlightening. I learned a great deal about all three religions as I listened to their struggles to understand the other points of view. I would recommend this book to anyone desiring to know about religions other than their own and wanting to deepen their own faith.

Insightful and informative

Here's a sample of one of the gems, "The opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty."