Farooq A. Shah

At two years old, Farooq Shah, author and spiritual teacher, was diagnosed with Systemic Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. In and out of hospital, his childhood and adolescence were fraught with physical and emotional setbacks. Growing up in Chicago, Shah struggled to fit in at school and to live up to his parents’ expectations. Thirty years later adversity revisited the author when he sustained a severe neck injury. During recovery, Shah awakened to his life purpose. “Brokenness is my blessing,” Shah writes in A Moment of Belief, a memoir about overcoming the limitations of disability and emotional suffering. His illustrated children’s book Frankie Saves the Day is about a seven-year-old boy whose differences become his strengths. Shah teaches that love is the greatest of all superpowers, and once you reclaim your place in the world, there’s no holding you back. Read more about Farooq Shah on his website: https://www.farooqashah.com.

Key words: Memoir, self-love, adversity, disability, Rheumatoid Arthritis, spiritual.