He moves with his wife and kids, and after a short period of adjustment to small town America, they find themselves thriving in the community. Tired of working in a busy hospital where the main focus is getting patients in and out, he decides to move to a small town in Minnesota to take over a position in the hospital there. The honesty, humility, outrage, and truths in this book are so refreshing and educational - personal but also the experience of so many people.ĭr Ayaz Virji is a doctor, father, Muslim, and American. This book packs a huge punch - and is a necessary read. By the conclusion Virji (and his family) will likely sound like the kind of people you'd want as friends, neighbors or members of the community. The book starts to lose its way or focus a little in the final few chapters - perhaps some editorial work could've tightened it up - but I'll certainly remember the initial burst of energy from the first 120 or so pages. His speech - which is neither boring nor deadly serious, and actually has some well-placed humor in comparing / contrasting Christianity and Muslim faiths - is something A LOT of Americans would benefit from hearing or reading. Virji still has an interesting life story and he sounds sincere about the type of physician he wants to be for his patients. Although this is not strictly a biography, Dr. Much of his Love Thy Neighbor text is framed around his talk from that night.Īs I had commented to a GR friend I quickly read through the initial nine chapters in one night, though the book is only about 200 pages.
In response to growing concerns and some (thankfully non-violent) incidents he was then invited by a friend, a deputy pastor at a Lutheran church, to present a speech / Q&A session to some community members. and suburban Pennsylvania (woot-woot!) he sought to instead practice "dignified medicine." As the midwestern / heartland area of America has been in dire need of physicians, he moved his wife and kids to a small town in southwest Minnesota and became a supervisor at its medical center.Īfter two years in the community Donald Trump was elected president, and Virji details that he could sense a noticeable shift in how acquaintances and neighbors felt about / acted around he and his family. After quickly tiring of "turnstile medicine" (a high volume of patients = move them in and out as fast as is reasonable) during stints at hospitals in Washington, D.C. He was educated at Georgetown University, and though he was Muslim he also had a great interest in learning about Christianity in tandem with earning his medical degree. Ayaz Virji's speech to fellow community members We don't have to agree on everything, but let's know first. We need to join together and build a foundation of love and respect. In Love Thy Neighbor, Virji relates this story in a gripping, unforgettable narrative that shows the human consequences of our toxic politics, the power of faith and personal conviction, and the potential for a renewal of understanding in America's heartland.
#6TH ANNUAL LOVE THY NEIGHBOR KUAR SERIES#
That invitation has grown into a well-attended lecture series that has changed hearts and minds across the state, while giving Virji a new vocation that he never would have expected. But in 2017, just as he was lining up a job in Dubai, a local pastor invited him to speak at her church and address misconceptions about what Muslims practice and believe. Virji watched in horror as his children faced anti-Muslim remarks at school and some of his most loyal patients began questioning whether he belonged in the community. But in 2016, this decision was tested when the reliably blue, working-class county swung for Donald Trump. In 2013, Ayaz Virji left a comfortable job at an East Coast hospital and moved to a town of 1,400 in Minnesota, feeling called to address the shortage of doctors in rural America. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY PUBLISHERS WEEKLY A powerful true story about a Muslim doctor's service to small-town America and the hope of overcoming our country's climate of hostility and fear.
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