"His beautiful book is part peaceful manifesto, part love letter to his son." Slate
Omar Saif Ghobash was born in 1971 in the United Arab Emirates-the same year the country was founded-to an Arab father and a Russian mother. After a traumatizing experience losing his father to a violent attack in 1977, when he was only six years old, Ghobash began to realize the severe violence that surrounded him in his home country. As he grew older, eventually being appointed as the UAE Ambassador to Russia in 2008, he began to reflect on what it means to be a Muslim, establishing a moral foundation rooted in the belief of the hard grind that is the crux of spiritual and practical living.
This book is the result of the personal exploration Ghobash went through in the years after his father's death. The new generation of Muslim's is tomorrow's leadership, and yet many are vulnerable to taking the violent
shortcut to paradise and ignoring the traditions and foundations of Islam. The burning question, Ghobash argues, is how moderate Muslims will unite and find a voice that is true to Islam while actively and productively engaging in the modern world.
Letters to a Young Muslim will explore how Arabs can provide themselves, their children, and their youth with a better chance of prosperity and peace in a globalized world, while attempting to explain the history and complications of the modern-day Arab landscape and how the younger generation can solve problems with extremists internally, contributing to overall world peace.
PRAISE FOR LETTERS TO A YOUNG MUSLIM
"Letters to a Young Muslim is an honest and self-critical guide to the dilemmas facing young Muslims around the world. The book is full of brave questions and wisdom, and perhaps most important, it is a sincere father's heartfelt yearning for a son's generation to resist the rise of theocratic fascism." Ed Husain, author of The Islamist
"Ghobash encourages the reader to accept a modern, enlightened path that embraces diversity, not just within Islam but among all religions... It is this sort of wisdom that creates hope for a world in which people are smart enough to work together toward a common good rather than claw at one another while slowly sinking in quicksand." Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for New York Times
-
Creators
-
Publisher
-
Release date
January 10, 2017 -
Formats
-
OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781760551698
- File size: 455 KB
-
EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781760551698
- File size: 4312 KB
-
-
Languages
- English
-
Reviews
-
November 14, 2016
This deeply personal book of letters written from Ghobash to his two sons reveals what it is like to be a Muslim parent amidst the increasing ideological polarization of the “global war on terror.” Speaking from his own history of pain, loss, and trepidation, Ghobash, the United Arab Emirates ambassador to Russia, attempts to guide his children through the philosophical currents, impassioned conversations, and global context of terror, neo-imperialism, and the crisis of authority in the Islamic world. He advises his sons (and, by extension, other Muslim youth) to make decisions on how to harmonize their lives as faithful, peaceful Muslims in a tech-rich, pluralistic, and thoroughly modern world. Ghobash offers his compassionate and cultivated advice on the basics of Islamic history, the sheer diversity of its practice, and what to do when one faces Islamophobia or encounters violent radicalism in fellow Muslims. Above all, he instructs his children to take responsibility as individual Muslims and not to follow others on a path toward dichotomous thinking and violent reactions. He urges them to pursue a middle path that is simultaneously true to Islam and yet effectively and energetically engaged in the modern world. This is a fantastic book for Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
-