Reading with Navid Kermani

With his book, Navid Kermani, German-Iranian writer and Orientalist, fulfils one of his late father's last wishes: to explain and teach Islam to his 12-year-old granddaughter. In a personal dialogue between father and daughter, a philosophical exchange develops about the big questions that even children ask themselves: Why am I, and why is not nothing? And what was before something was? For Kermani, the origin of all religion lies in the realisation of infinity: "It is a relationship between the finite, which we are, and the infinite, which is also called God." And so this book takes a look not only at Islam, but at all world religions, and calls for mutual respect and rapprochement. Especially since his daughter, whose mother has Iranian and German roots, takes part in Catholic religious instruction at her school.

At the end of the book, Navid Kermani cannot be sure that he has convinced his daughter how enriching it is to believe in God. Doubts remain with her, and the father knows from his own experience how difficult it is to be a Muslim in a foreign country and not hate one's own religion when people are oppressed, tortured and killed in its name.

The devout Muslim and tireless mediator between Orient and Occident, between Islam and Christianity, has presented a wonderfully poetic, illuminating book that aims to open our eyes to a contemporary, modern Islam. The reading is enriching for young people and adults alike.