Muslim Women – Marilyn R. Gardner

“I have waited for a book like Pillars all my adult life, a personal book that discovers similarities and
honors differences between Christianity and Islam, a book that . . . shows what can happen when we
connect rather than collide.”
Marilyn R. Gardner, author of Between Worlds: Essays on Culture and Belonging

I think it was in 2012 when I first “met” Rachel Pieh Jones. We connected online over a mutual love and struggle over lives lived between worlds, over writing, and over a shared connection to Muslim majority countries. Meeting Rachel has been a gift that keeps on giving. Through the years we have shared our hearts and our stories and I have learned much through my friendship with this extraordinary woman.

Today, Rachel’s second book Pillars is released and I cannot tell you how excited I am about this book! I had the honor of reading an advanced copy and feel like I have been waiting for it my entire adult life.

Below is an interview from the press release for Pillars developed by Plough Publishing.

When Rachel Pieh Jones moved from Minnesota to rural Somalia with her husband and twin toddlers eighteen years ago, she was secure in a faith that defined who was right and who was wrong, who was saved and who needed saving. She had been taught that Islam was evil, full of lies and darkness, and that the world would be better without it.

Luckily, locals show compassion for this blundering outsider who can’t keep her headscarf on or her toddlers from tripping over AK47s. After the murder of several foreigners forces them to evacuate, the Joneses resettle in nearby Djibouti.

Is there anything you find daunting about putting your story out like this for the world?
Absolutely. Spirituality is deeply personal. Sharing such a personal story makes me feel incredibly vulnerable. I hope to honor my Christian tradition, even as my ideas of what it means to be a Christian have been transformed and I’m not sure how people will respond to some of my conclusions. I also aim to honor Islam as I experience it in the Horn of Africa and it is daunting to present another faith tradition as an outsider. I hope to have done so respectfully.

Why do you choose to do it in spite of those apprehensions?
I’m a peace-builder at heart and have learned that peace does not come through avoiding hard conversations, and that peace does not mean homogeneity or agreement. Peace is built right in the middle of complexity as we learn to honor another’s perspective. This is something our communities desperately need. Peace is built through shared experiences of joy, grief, fear, and celebration, through choosing to love people without needing to change them, and through realizing that we are the ones being loved too. That conviction compels me to share this story as one example of what peace-building can look like.

How do you imagine your story will be received by North American evangelical Christians? By the Muslim community?
I don’t expect all readers, whether Christian or Muslim, will agree with all the conclusions I come to in Pillars. I even anticipate some pushback because Christians and Muslims have a complicated history that can make it hard to see positive aspects in the other. I hope even in the places that feel uncomfortable, readers will find intriguing possibilities for conversation andfurther exploration. At the same time, I know many Christians and Muslims who have developed
meaningful relationships. I hope these readers will feel less alone in their quest to find common ground.

REVIEWS:

Eboo Patel, author of Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation
“This is a beautiful story, beautifully told. It’s much more than the memoirs of a Christian American living in Africa and exploring Islam with devoted Muslims; it’s about learning how to be a good neighbor to the people around you, wherever you might be in the world. This is the kind of book we need right now.”

Amy Peterson, author of Dangerous Territory: My Misguided Quest to Save the World
“Filled with hard-won insights of a mature faith lived in long community with Muslim neighbors, Pillars refuses sentimental calls for the kind of peace that glosses over differences. Instead, Jones finds her faith unraveled and rewoven, stronger for what she’s learned in the Horn of Africa and from her Muslim friends. Anyone whose faith has been challenged by life experiences will find a helpful model for spiritual growth here.”

At the end of my full review I said this, and I leave you with it now:

“Read and savor this book, which shows what can happen when we connect rather than collide.”

You can purchase the book here.

Bloggers Note: Warning: This is a post in which I rant instead of making a thoughtful argument. Read at your own peril.

I need help here. I need someone to explain to me why the west freaks out over Burqas and Hijabs but thinks Charlie Sheen’s behavior is worth a spot on a major network. I need someone to explain to me because I’m having a cultural disconnect. I need someone to guide me through the thinking process of a nation that turns its back on Libya and it’s enslavement through a cruel narcissistic dictator, but embraces the public viewing and story of the sick habits of a narcissistic misogynist called Charlie Sheen. I am longing for an explanation from Jeff Jacoby of the Boston Globe on how he justifies that we deserve democracy but Egypt does not based on their treatment of women. I want him to walk me through his logic of why a country so voyeuristic that it is glued to news stories of this pitiful excuse for a man deserves democracy and Egypt doesn’t. Is it any wonder that a good part of the Muslim world when interviewed sees us as morally bankrupt?

What is wrong with us and why do we put up with it? After all, no one is making any of us turn on the television. It’s not state-run TV that forces propaganda into our living rooms – or is it? No I know it’s not state-run, but what kind of idiotic propaganda about men, women, children and life is making its way into our homes and we, desensitized to valuable news that can inform and guide, begin thinking this is worth watching? What are we, what am I, letting into our homes that has a subtle but dangerous effect on how we live our lives and what we think about?

Let’s just suppose for a happy second that a news network besides PBS would set aside major time to do an informative, substantive, non-biased interview with Muslims, or more specifically Muslim women. It strikes me that a major network show depicting women in Hijab or Burqa, interviewed, explaining their world view could actually help our nation and guide us collectively into more understanding of a part of the world that we at best misunderstand, and at worst, grossly stereotype with freely expressed misconceptions. Imagine networks that were willing to see behavior like that of Charlie Sheen’s and Lindsey Lohan’s as sick, and not news worthy.

Hundreds of people are dying in Libya, having courageously fought to bring about change. Hundreds of thousands want a society that is free of a cruel dictator and allows more freedom. And we sit around and enjoy our freedom by sitting on our couches, increasing our obesity and inactivity levels, thus raising our healthcare costs, and watch….Charlie Sheen? This is freedom? Wow America! We really do need a wake-up call.

“If there’s a symbol of everything wrong with television news, it’s the focus on Charlie Sheen. Here we have America caught in historic budget debates that could lead to a shut-down of government, and the Middle East is in the midst of an equally historic democratic uprising — and TV “news” is giving a microphone to a fallen drug user with serious personal issues? It all makes me embarrassed for the news media.” Nicholas Kristof Facebook status update, 3.1.11