Minaret

In modern society there seems to be this over-arching generalization that Islam is this incredibly oppressive religion for women. This is coupled with the large lack of female voices in arguing a counter-case of this generalization that has allowed this view to go fairly undiscussed. As Mahmudul Hasan writes, “Muslim women have often been portrayed as disempowered, oppressed and belittled by Muslim men, subservient to their husbands with no equa

In modern society there seems to be this over-arching generalization that Islam is this incredibly oppressive religion for women. This is coupled with the large lack of female voices in arguing a counter-case of this generalization that has allowed this view to go fairly undiscussed. As Mahmudul Hasan writes, “Muslim women have often been portrayed as disempowered, oppressed and belittled by Muslim men, subservient to their husbands with no equal rights, utterly neglected by parents and mistreated as daughters-in-laws, and most notably always kept under the veil of ignorance and at home” (90). In general, the literary representations of Muslim women have been in validating this style of assumption and is done with a general lack of insider understanding. In modern society there have been few actual examples of female Muslim authors writing in such a way as to elevate the general perspective of Muslim women. Hasan continues that more often than not there “is a huge bulk of literature by women with Muslim names that describes similar misery stories containing accounts of patriarchal oppression in Muslim societies” (91). Thankfully Leila Aboulela wrote the novel Minaret in order to truly illustrate how a Muslim woman is able to function within society, and in such an honest way that the story may be misunderstood as flat or uneventful.

The story itself opens in the early 1980’s in Khartoum the capital of Sudan with the main character Najwa experiencing a very secular upbringing. As a general understanding Sudan at the time represented in the novel was experiencing a certain form of stability after years of civil war. This would only hold for so long, both in real life and the novel. The realism portrayed is to such an extent that Aboulela’s novel could be likened to James Weldon Johnson’s Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. The reader is easily able to understanding historic references without the narrator ever having to truly explore them. Much like the opening section of the novel the reader is able to understand notes of modern history merely by mentions of the year. This adds to the poignancy of the novel and allows the reader to begin to focus their preconceived notions of a Muslim woman in modern Western civilization.

One of the most important experiences in the novel comes from the inevitable Sudanese Coup in which resulted in the Sudanese Civil War of the early 1980’s (Rich). The reader is introduced to Najwa and her family as a well-off Sudanese family with government connections, and with a general knowledge of the outcome of the Civil War it is easy enough to infer what the potential conflicts that would shortly present themselves. As people began to emigrate from the war-torn country it is easy to imagine Najwa’s family following in the massive throngs. It is not these major moments of history that make this novel important. It is the close examination of Muslim culture and religion in such a way as to dispel ideas of oppression and control. The reader early on feels sorry for Najwa for the inevitable tragedies that befall her family due to the Civil War, and the assimilation into Western society. As the ultimate victim of Westernization Omar, Najwa’s twin brother, is incarcerated for dealing drugs once the family moves from Sudan to London after the coup. It is only once Najwa becomes a practitioner of Islam that the reader understands the true importance of Omar incarceration, as Najwa states “I wish that he [Omar] had been punished the very first time he took drugs. Punished according to the Shariah” (Aboulela). This moment illustrates an incredible change in the personal character of Najwa, a moment nearly three quarters of the way through the novel. Najwa begins to consider the greater ramifications of a person’s actions through the religious laws of Islam in relation to a past in which did not exist at the time. In relation to Najwa’s comment, Omar would not have been tried under Sharia law at the time he was doing drugs in Sudan.

Omar is meant as a moral understanding, as are most of the men within the novel. Each man that Najwa comes into contact with allows herself and the reader to come to a better understanding of Islam. Whether it is Najwa’s father, who’s early fate makes a huge impact on the rest of the novel and allows Najwa to truly reflect on her view of Sudan. There is also Anwar who is both present in Najwa’s early life in Sudan, and her pre-Islamic life in London. He can be seen as a major catalyst of Najwa’s self-discovery. In one of the most distressing moments in the novel Najwa is playing cards with Anwar and his friends, as she comes to the realization that Ramadan has already begun. Despite her lack of true Islamic practices early in the novel Ramadan was one of the only times Najwa ever acted like a Muslim. This type of religious observance is very similar to most Christians who use Christmas and Easter as markers for their religious observance. It is not the point of this review to comment on the religious practices of anyone, but it may help to draw this comparison. Imagine for a second what it could mean to wake up on December 26 only to realize you had missed Christmas. This is exactly the type the of response in which Aboulela wants to illicit. The reader is meant to begin to understand the nagging sensation in which Najwa feels early in Sudan as she watches other Muslim women pray at school. As a catalyst for Najwa’s self-discovery the missed Ramadan allows the reader to understand the need for a major change. Anwar, much like Omar, becomes merely a moral examination for Najwa that allows her to better understand Islam as a way of living. The fact that Najwa is busy gambling as she learns of Ramadan makes the moment all the more potent in the readers understanding of Islam.

As much of the novel is focused on Najwa life prior to her true conversion and practice of Islam the reader begins to understand a world very similar to their own. There is even a very extensive discussion throughout the novel of the wearing of different forms of scarves or body covering for Muslim women. Much like the rest of the novel this idea of being covered is both an important part of Islamic practice, as well as a way of connecting and discussing the practice with the reader in order to highlight the very personal decision in which comes with wearing any form of covering. In the first section of Minaret Najwa flips through magazines with her friends, a commonality to western young women, as they discuss the Iranian Revolution, and how women were photographed wearing full covering. Najwa also states a sentiment that many western countries have said regarding the head coverings, “I looked down at the picture and thought of all the girls in university who wore hijab and all the ones who wore tobes. Hair and arms covered by our national costume” (Aboulela). At no point is the reader overly surprised by the transition that Najwa comes to as a true convert to Islam as she begins to wear a tobe. It is not in the nature of Aboulela’s novel to surprise the reader. This type of writing is what makes the novel more about exploration and understanding than it is about entertainment. The reader is constantly given similar instances of misunderstanding of Islam from the perspective of Najwa as a way of commonality. Once Najwa develops a better understanding of common practices is the reader also brought to an even greater understanding. Luckily Najwa represents an insider, but in such a way as being an observer and a learner.

The love affair, even nonsexual, between Najwa and Tamer allows an exploration of love in a very fundamental Islamic form. Aboulela’s examination of “fundamental” allows the reader to reexamine their own pre-conceived notion of the word. There is even a moment of exchange between Doctora Zeinab and Najwa where Doctora admits her fear for Tamer’s potential of being recruited into a terrorist organization based on her perceived understanding of his “radical” Islamic practices, but she reassures Najwa that “thankfully he’s not interested in politics” (Aboulela). This moment calls into question societies continued assertion that Muslims are all terrorists, allowing for an even greater examination of the representations of Muslims in literature. Continually the examination of Islamic practices is from within a closed community of insiders as Najwa. Rarely is the reader confronted with societies impression of Muslims, and even when they are Aboulela glosses over it as a common occurrence. Much in the vain of the rest novel Najwa subjected to religious discrimination as she is riding a bus in 2004 as a random man pours “Tizer” on her and calls her “Muslim scum” (Aboulela). This moment is not really observed more than cursory, but the reader begins to feel a certain indictment on a society in which is very much common place. Discrimination of this nature is not surprising, as before acknowledged, Aboulela is not interested in entertaining the reader. It is this type of illustration that adds to the continued understanding of Islamic women in society.

What truly makes Minaret so important as a novel is its close examination of Islam from the perspective of someone who comes to a new and better understanding of what it truly means to be an Islamic practitioner. The reader goes alongside Najwa as a way of truly examining their own personal understanding of Islam, and how women fit into that much misunderstood religion. The importance of this self-discovery coming from the perspective of a woman is all too easy to understand. The very lack of voice given to Islamic women propagates the assumption of oppression; Aboulela gives the reader that much needed voice. Najwa allows the reader a friend in misunderstanding and assumption, as she begins to transform her own understanding of Islam. The fact that Aboulela focuses so much on surface understanding of historical relevance, but a heavy examination of Islamic practices prevents the reader from being bogged down in background information and focus on the more important subject of preconceived notion of Islam. The background information such as the Sudanese Civil War, migration, or modern terrorist attacks are truly unimportant to the greater understanding of Islam and women. Minaret is a must read for our modern society. Islam is such a prevalent subject on news and public discourse that it is in the best interest of all to truly examine how we understand the religion and its practitioners. Najwa is one of the strongest characters to take the journey of self-discovery on and end our misunderstandings of Islamic practitioners. Minaret is as much a novel as it is a discourse on modern society. In reading it we will all have a much better understanding of Islam than before, which inevitably makes this novel important all on its own.