Two academics, one Jewish and one Muslim, come together to show how much their faiths have in common—particularly in America.
This book provides a braided portrait of two American groups whose strong religious attachments and powerful commitments to ritual observance are not always easy to adapt to American culture. Orthodox Jews and observant Muslims share many similarities in their efforts to be at home in America while holding on to their practices and beliefs. As Samuel Heilman and Mucahit Bilici reveal, they follow similar paths in their American experience.
Heilman and Bilici immerse readers in three layers of discussion for each religious group: historical evolution, sociological transformation, and a comparative understanding of certain parallel beliefs and practices, each of which is used as a window onto the lived reality of these communities. Written by two sociologists, one a religiously observant American Jew and the other an American Muslim, Following Similar Paths offers lively insider and outsider perspectives that deepen our understanding of American diversity and what it means to be religious in a modern society.
"At a time when so many assume that observant Muslims and Jews share nothing in common, Samuel Heilman and Mucahit Bilici—colleagues and religiously engaged scholars—introduce the lived religions of Judaism and Islam in the United States, stressing their parallel practices and structural similarities. Anyone interested in American religion and life should take notice. Timely and much needed."—Jonathan D. Sarna, author of American Judaism: A History
"While many devout Jews and Muslims in America view one another with mutual suspicion, Heilman and Bilici reminds us how much the two communities have in common, and how much they can learn from each other. Mabruk and mazel tov!"—Charles Kurzman, Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
"Observant Jews and Muslims in America have a lot in common. For those who don't already know this, Heilman and Bilici's book is a must-read, countering long-lasting stereotypes. But even for those of us who already recognize the many connections between Muslims and Jews, this book is a revelation, not only for its careful sensitivity to historical detail and sociological theory but also for its ongoing grounding in the American experience of two minority religions."—Jeffrey Guhin, author of Agents of God: Boundaries and Authority in Muslim and Christian Schools
