Publisher's Synopsis
A gripping story of an American Muslim struggling with loss and fatherhood in the aftermath of 9/11, as his community prepares for the grand opening of what will be the largest mosque in America.
Grief-stricken after the death of his father, who died while performing the Hajj in Saudi Arabia, Yunus Sharif turned to religion, but is now more lost than ever. A divorced father of two, he is a disaffected professor at a dead-end in his career. Yunus and his father had planned to make the pilgrimage together, but Yunus backed-out, and his guilt compelled him to donate a large sum of his inheritance to help construct a new mosque for his local Muslim community. This decision, coupled with the insistence that his family begin adhering to strict religious traditions drove his wife to divorce him.
The book opens as Yunus discovers hateful graffiti scrawled on the mosque, which has been engulfed in controversy from its inception. When complete, it will be the largest mosque ever built in America, one to rival the grandeur of those in Mecca and Medina, and situated in the heart of the American south. Tensions rise between Yunus and Abass Okoro, the mosque's contemplative imam, who wants to hide the graffiti and keep the situation contained. Yunus wants to expose it so people can witness the discrimination.
Hostilities intensify with the arrival of Safia Murat, a young calligraphist hired to create the mosque's art, completing its final phase. Born and raised in Saudi Arabia, Safia has long since left behind the oppression of religious intolerance for a life of culture in London. She is seeking the defining opportunity of her career, one that would make all her sacrifice worthwhile.
As she tours the mosque with Yunus, Safia is reminded of stories her father once told her of Shah Jahan, how he spent decades building the Taj Mahal for his love. And so, she asks Yunus a simple question: "Who is it that you love?"
While the turmoil surrounding the mosque worsens, Yunus also discovers that his sons have been attending a Catholic church. Falling deeper into despair, Yunus attempts to confront the church's elderly priest, but instead of enmity, an unlikely connection forms between them. Safia's question haunts him throughout, and as he begins to develop feelings for her, it becomes the only question that matters.
