The Agnostic Devotee

Ignorance may be bliss to some, but it doesn't change the fact that it's still ignorance. Most modern, educated people wouldn't argue that fact. So why is it that many of these same people choose to remain ignorant in the face of overwhelming evidence when it applies to one of the most aspects of their lives - their faith?

This is the question that lies at the heart of author Babar Javed's new book - The Agnostic Devotee. The very word faith implies 'acceptance' without either evidence or proof, often in the very face of science and education. "How can this be?" the author asks, "How in the 21st century, can billions of people still cling to the belief that the fate of mankind was decided when a naked woman, formed from the rib of a sleeping man, was deceived by a talking snake. Or that a Prophet literally flew up to heaven on a winged horse?"

These, among many others, were the questions Javed who was raised by orthodox Muslim parents in Karachi, Pakistan, began asking at an early age. This skepticism continued throughout his youth and by the time he was a graduate student in the US he had given up on Islam altogether.

After looking into the other Abrahamic religions he was introduced to (the cult of) Santa Muerte. Finding solace in a Mexican icon that resembled a female grim reaper was a world away from his Islamic upbringing but the author was in a strange new world, that only got stranger when he was approached by the F.B.I and pressured to become an informant in an International money laundering operation. After refusing, he became the target of death threats and Government blackmail, resulting in his arrest and eventual incarceration on false accusations of being a money launderer for the notorious underworld Don Dawood Ibrahim. While in prison Javed was re-introduced to La Santa Muerte and became a convert. But even the skeletal saint of drug dealers , pimps and cartel king pins couldn't stop the questions and fill the spiritual void he still felt inside. Eventually, over time, and after a great deal of painful soul searching the author came to realize that the path to enlightenment lay not in the words of Prophets, Gods and Saints, but somewhere much more down to earth and a lot closer to home.

Funny, sad, and sometimes downright scary, 'The Agnostic Devotee' is a story of one man's search for peace in a time of turbulence and misinformation. Few books force you to think for yourself. This one does.

Dettagli