Learning from Islam

About the Book

"Trust is debating the Israel-Palestine conflict with a conservative Sunni barber holding a straight-razor to your throat." - Kamal al-Kanady An immigrant white Christian businessman from Canada writes about his experiences in a majority Islamic country in the Middle East. He is a family man, a management consultant, and one of those scholarly types that reads history books for entertainment. He has been learning, not just Arabic and business, but learning from Islam about how he would like to live as a Christian. This book is a call to humility and inclusion in Christian-Muslim dialogue. There are more than a billion of each faith on the planet now, and the relationship between the world's two largest faiths is too important to be left to the minority of priests and imams to sort out. Regular everyday Muslims and Christians need to be building bridges, investing in understanding, and approaching each other with a humble orthodoxy. Perhaps we could start by simply inviting each other over for tea.

About the Author

Kamal al-Kanady is a Canadian Christian who works as a Business Development and Management Consultant in the MENA region. He holds a Masters in Leadership, a PhD in Arab and Islamic Studies, and is presently completing a Docorate in Business Administration. He speaks 4 languages including Arabic, and is a published author on business consulting. "When I lived and worked in Europe, religion was a taboo subject. Here in the Middle East it's the most dominant part of the culture. Wherever I work, from Cairo to Dubai, no matter what company I'm working with, religion is a major theme. "I've learned to rework my training schedules around the prayer times, and to speak openly about my Christian faith with CEOs and Board Members, who nearly always ask. I used to think that Islam was a backward religion, but I've learned a lot in my years here, and I'm hoping that sharing what I'm learning helps you as much as it helped me. "This is my first attempt at a book about the Islamic culture and religion. I am writing from the perspective of an immigrant Christian. I want to honour and thank my friends for their influence on me and their encouragement. I'm not a Muslim, but I'm learning from Islam, and I believe that what I'm learning is making me stronger in my own faith. It's my hope that what I offer here helps Muslims and Christians see each other more clearly and respect each other more deeply."