The Faith Club: A Muslim, a Christian, a Jew--Three Women Search for Understanding » (Large Print Edition)

Ranya Idliby was raised in Dubai and McLean, Virginia. She holds a bachelor of science from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, and earned her MS in international relations from the London School of Economics. She lives in New York City with her husband and two children.

Suzanne Oliver was raised in Kansas City, Missouri, and has worked as a writer and editor at Forbes and Financial World magazines. She graduated from Texas Christian University and lives in New York City and Jaffrey Center, New Hampshire, with her husband and three children.

Priscilla Warner grew up in Providence, Rhode Island, where she began her interfaith education at a Hebrew day school and then a Quaker high school. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, she worked as an art director at various advertising agencies in Boston and New York. She lives with her family in a suburb of New York City.

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. And this new edition provides all the materials you need for forming your own Faith Club, including sections in Hebrew and Arabic.

Pioneering, timely, deeply thoughtful, and full of hope, The Faith Club's caring message will resonate with people of all faiths.

The Washington Post - Naomi Harris Rosenblatt

The dialogue among the three friends comes across as genuine and thoughtful. They try valiantly to be frank with one another, which becomes easier as they learn to trust one another's motives and to respect each other's integrity…The conversations recorded in this book engage our attention as the women search out spiritual values common to all the three faiths and learn more about their own in the process.

Preface     9
In the Beginning     11
A Muslim, a Christian, and a Jew Walk into a Raom     22
The Abrahamic Family Feud     51
The Crucifixion Crisis     68
Stop Stereotyping Me!     97
Could You Convert?     141
Oh, Where Are You, God?     167
Ranya's Madrassah     188
The Promised Land     210
Prayer     248
Rituals     269
Intimations of Mortality     305
Conversations with a Priest, an Imam, and a Rabbi     337
A Day of Atonement     368
Happy Holidays     406
Facing Our Communities     417
Awakenings     432
Faltering Faith     458
From Here to Eternity     475
How to Start a Faith Club     493
More Faith Club Questions     501
Bibliography     511
Acknowledgments     517