Acts of Faith

Acts of Faith

The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation
Eboo Patel

In Acts of Faith, Eboo Patel, a Muslim of Indian heritage, relates his journey from an angry, displaced college student to the founder of the Interfaith Youth Core. Throughout the book, he asks an important question: How do some young people become violent militants for their religion or other beliefs while others choose a more peaceful and productive path of inclusion and understanding?

Patel sees himself as having narrowly missed the path of the violent militant. As he relates in the book, he had more than a passing acquaintance during his college career with militant groups both religious and political. Had the timing been only slightly different, he could easily have walked the path of the terrorist.

Instead, Patel found another path. Inspired by Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement, he envisioned an organization where young people of all faiths could work together in cooperation and understanding, while at the same time coming to a deeper, more fulfilling relationship with their own faith. His journey to make the Interfaith Youth Core a reality brought him from the University of Illinois to Oxford (as a Rhodes Scholar), and then to the India of his ancestry, where his venture was encouraged by none other than the Dalai Lama. Along the way, he not only brought this unique organization to life, but came to grips with his own identity as an Indian Muslim, deepening his own faith and coming to a greater understanding of those of other faiths.

Patel tells an involving, moving story, pulling few punches. Much of his theory behind IFYC is that young people are starving for meaning and worth, and if that hunger isn’t fed by compassion and love, then it will be filled by those who wish to turn them to beliefs that lead to violence. Church youth groups can fill this need.

Patel also offers much food for thought. How are we failing our children, our faiths, and our future by drawing lines in the sand that label different faiths and beliefs as “other?” The very fact that Patel is Muslim will turn some people away from this book. Those are the very people who should be reading it. His presentation of Islam is worlds away from the vision we receive every day through oversimplified news reports and fear-based judgment of Christian religious organizations. Patel’s organization leads youth to further understanding of each other—reading his book, spending a few hours inside his head, can lead anyone who reads it to further understanding of Patel, Islam, and the necessity of interfaith understanding.