37 pages • 1 hour read
Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim in the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Key Figures
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
BetaSymbols & Motifs
“Ya Ali, Ya Muhammad”
Patel’s mother teaches him her favorite Ismaili chant when he is a child, telling him that it will protect him. He learns it because it pleases her, but then it is difficult for him to forget it, given the amount of repetition. But he doesn’t think of the chant for many years, until he is in India, feeling that he is failing at Buddhist meditation. Thoughts arise, and he is unable to keep them at bay, but the chant is the thought that arises more than any other. An Ismaili chant coming to him in the midst of a Buddhist practice is a sign to Patel that he is oriented toward Islam more than Buddhism. It is also an example of religious pluralism in practice.
Ubuntu
Ubuntu is a word and concept that Patel hears for the first time in South Africa. It translates roughly as “people are people through other people” (115). The work of the IFYC, and of all pluralism, is to help people learn about who they are through other people. The conference in South Africa is an example of ubuntu in action, as is the works of Patel’s wife, Shehnaz, a civil rights lawyer fighting for the rights of a mosque; Brother Wayne Teasdale, who finds the positives in all religious practices; the Dalai Lama; and the faith heroes like Martin Luther King, who Patel discusses throughout the book. Ubuntu gives Patel the chance to ask how well people can know themselves without the feedback and perspectives of others.
Mama’s Photographs
After Mama takes in Anisa, a woman being abused by her father and uncle, Patel is shocked at the danger that Mama has put herself, and possibly anyone else in the household, in. In Patel’s view, the risk seems disproportionate to the benefit. It is not until he sees the photos of the many people Mama has helped that he understands that she is not acting impulsively. . She has been helping people like Anisa for decades, and she will never stop. As a Muslim, Mama feels it is her duty, but she does it willingly, out of love, grateful for the instruction that her faith provides in this case. Mama’s box of photos demonstrates the dangers of assuming that one knows all that needs to be known about a person simply because the person is a member of a specific race or religion. Patel had known Mama for most of his life and still had not been aware of this side of her. It makes him realize that all people have pieces of identity that the world does not see.
Unlock all 37 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 8,800+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
