Summary

Lalami begins the chapter “Faith” by recalling a memory from 2015. She was on a tour to promote her new book. During the event, a woman asked a question related not to the book, but to the subject of the radical Muslim militant group called ISIS. This was not the first time that Lalami had had such an experience. Due to unfair media representation, many Americans’ only exposure to Muslim people is through the lens of news coverage about ISIS and similar groups. Lalami narrates a brief account of her family’s history, which is specific and particular and is in no way connected to militant Islamism. Lalami also gives a brief primer on Morocco’s particular recent history, which is nuanced, complex, and—like the United States—fraught with various challenges.

Lalami then points out that Muslims have been present in America...