Ramadan Reviews

Dear Reader,

In the continued spirit of Ramadan, I thought I'd write short reviews for the books I've been reading this month.

Review 1: 

Ameena's Ramadan Diary by Sara Kabil & Abu Bakr El-Banna

This is basically a self help guide disguised as a young woman's experience. It begins 6 weeks before Ramadan with helpful tips in preparing for Ramadan and then during Ramadan how to make the the most of it, productively and spiritually. Each entry is supported by Ayat from the Qur'an of authentic Hadith. The best bit however, I feel, is the Ramadan File at the back which can be revisited year after year.

This is a great book for new Muslims, with it's explanations, glossary and transliterations of Du'as. But it can also be really helpful for any Muslim who wishes to take advantage of all the opportunities that Ramadan presents.    

Review 2: 

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

This is Marjane Satrapi's autobiography that begins in Iran in the 1980's and tells the story of her unforgettable childhood, coming of age within a large and loving family in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution; of the contradictions between private life and public life in a country plagued by political upheaval; of her high school years in Vienna facing the trials of adolescence far from her family; of her homecoming--both sweet and terrible; and, finally, of her self-imposed exile from her beloved homeland.

However, what sets this book apart from other autobiographies is that it is also a graphic novel. The black and white drawing style is rather cute and very easy to read, though sometimes the only way to distinguish between people was there hairstyle. This can become confusing at times if you put it down for long periods of time and don't read the book all at once. 

I really liked the first half of this book, "The Story of a Childhood". Being a graphic novel it was, in my reading experience, a unique way to tell one's own story of oppression and war, while still maintaining an imaginative, light and humorous tone.  Despite the fact that there were some things in this book that I didn't really agree with (e.g. the depiction of God), I do not dispute that this is the truth as Marjane Satrapi experienced it, which opened up a whole new perspective for me. However, it must be taken with a grain of salt, as I hope that anyone reading this book will recognise that this is a story about living under an extremist regime, just like Nazi Germany or Russia under Stalin; regimes that will use any excuse to oppress people, and that it is not reflection of what the Islamic Religion is all about.

Nevertheless, the second half of this book "The Story of a Return", was a thorough disappointment and so different to what the first half set it up to be. The tone of the story became so bleak and self-pitying that I could no longer bring myself to care much for Satrapi's depiction of herself and it felt like a chore just to finish the book off. I doubt I would recommend this book to anyone for any reason, other than the novelty of being an autobiography in the form of a comic book/graphic novel.   

Review 3: 

The Butterfly Mosque by G. Willow Wilson

This is also an autobiography and, as the sub-title so precisely summaries, it is the memoir of how a young American women's journey led to Islam and Love. Born into an atheist family, Willow Wilson actually begins telling the story of her life from an unusual point; while in her second year Boston University she was hospitalised for an acute reaction to medication and then suffered through adrenal distress for many months. It is during this time that she begins philosophising and contemplating the existence of God and what God means to her. And of all the major religions, her ideas about the Divine are confirmed in the Qur'an. After that, she began studying Arabic and Islam but resisted conversion to Islam until she was given the opportunity to word as a teacher in Cairo.

However, it is while she is in Cairo that her story becomes truly interesting, as she is torn between the secular West and the Muslim East. In The Butterfly Mosque, Wilson records her intensely personal struggle to forge a "third culture” that might accommodate her own values without compromising the friends and family on both sides of the divide. Though not always chronologically, Wilson tells her story in such an enchanting and contemplative manor that I could not help but cheer her on as she overcame one hardship after another.   

On a personal note, I could sympathise a lot with a the author when she wrote about moving to Egypt and navigating the great chasm between the American and Egyptian cultures; i.e. the East and the West. But while she was new to all of this, I feel like I've become an Old Pro. Being born a British-Asian Muslim I have spent me whole life in this "interworld". My entire existence lies in the "little fissures between East and West", as the author so eloquently put it, and thus I have become quite adept at finding the right balance, or the middle ground so to speak.    

But coming back to the book itself, I did not want The Butterfly Mosque to end. I wanted to continue on this journey with the Willow Wilson, I wanted to know what her life was like when she moved back to the USA, how did she and her husband adjust? I wanted to know her thoughts on/experience of the Arab Spring (2010-2011) and how she came up with the idea for her graphic novel Cairo? But more than any of that, turning the last page of this book felt like standing in Departures at an airport, saying goodbye to a beloved friend. 

I can say with complete confidence that The Butterfly Mosque is now among my favourite books, right beside Love in a Headscarf by Shelina Z. Janmohamed. At present, I'm greatly looking forward to reading Wilson's latest urban-fantasy novel: Alif the Unseen, which promises to be unlike anything I've read yet.  

Nida

Once more: meeting Maggie

Dear Reader,

A few weekends ago, Maggie Stiefvater came back to London for a book signing. It has been a while and she's come out with a couple of new books (3 to be exact) in the mean time. And so of course, I went to see her again (aside: if you  don't remember the last time, dear Reader, then just click here) to get the new ones signed too. Because it was such short notice, I wasn't able to coerce any of my friends to come with me (they're all busy with their fancy jobs or are preparing for exams) so I took my younger brother, Codename: Monkey, with me instead. I just want to take a moment now to say thanks to Waterstones for arranging the whole thing in their gorgeous store and for having such friendly staff, who took the picture below.

We talked a bit about her blog, writing and finding critique partners. I also gave her one of my favourite books as a gift (its the pink/purple book that can be seen in the picture above). It's Shelina Z. Janmohamed's autobiography, the only book I've read  recently that I think define's me as a person and what I believe in. Maggie really appreciated the gift and I hope she enjoys it as much as I did.

Maggie's latest book is Raven Boys, which I'm sure I've mentioned before on this blog. I didn't own a copy of it so buying that, and a few other books (I couldn't help it), was the first thing I did when I got there.

And this is what it looks like on the inside:

Anyway, since I was among the first few to get me books signed, I also received this little specially drawn and signed Raven:

I wasn't really sure what I was meant to do with it, so I turned it into a book mark, complete with red beads and a black-heart...

And then wrote the date of the signing on the back...

I haven't read Raven Boys yet. Let me know if you, dear reader, have and what you thought of it or if you plan to read it. If you have no idea what the Raven Boys is about, here's the trailer that Maggie Stiefvater made, I think it was last year.

After the signing, my sweet not-so-little Monkey gave me a treat for being the bestest, most nicest sister in the world (my words, not his). He had bought tickets so the two of us could go watch the new Oz: the Great and Powerful on the cinema within that shopping centre. It's a prequel to the Wizard of Oz, which had been one of my favourites as a child. Oz: the Great and Powerful was a surprisingly fun film and exceeded my expectation (though they weren't all that high to begin with), and I generally ended up having a great time. 

Nida

International Women's Day

Dear Reader,

After commenting on a post (by Shelina Zahra Janmohamed) about International Women's Day, I realised I had far more to say than what I wrote in the comment and so I decided to write a blog post about it. Shelina's post basically asked 'which Muslim women inspire you?' Considering this year's theme is Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women, my answer went something like this:

"There are two that I would particularly like to mention, who inspire me for the same reason: their desire to seek and spread knowledge. The first is Aisha (radiallah-hu-anha) the wife of the Prophet Muhammed's (PBUH), and the second is our contemporary Na’ima B. Robert. These two examples just go to show that no matter where you’re from or what time period you live in, knowledge has always been and always will be vital, not only for self-improvement, but also for the progress of society."

You see, I believe that the acquisition of knowledge is the best weapon against oppression. Because, if you are no longer ignorant of your what is going on, if you have knowledge of other cultures and beliefs, you are less likely to be prejudiced and stereotype people, and you are more able to stand up for your rights. In Islam, both men and women are repeatedly encouraged to seek out knowledge, not just about Islam but about all aspects of life. For example, there is a hadith (sayings and doings of the Prophet Muhammed [PBUH]) which states that the Prophet (PBUH) once said:

"If anyone travels on a road in search of knowledge, Allah will cause him to travel on one of the roads of Paradise ... The learned are the heirs of the Prophets, and the Prophets leave neither dinar nor dirham [Arabian currency], leaving only knowledge, and he who takes it takes an abundant portion" Dawud

However, it's not just good enough to accumulate lots of knowledge. You need to do two things once you've gained knowledge:

1) Spread it - hoarding knowledge is selfish! Plus, it's no good to anyone if no one knows about it, right? After all how do expect to bring about change if you don't tell people what you know? For example, imagine the first person who invented a specific language. If he/she hadn't taught other people to read or write that language, then the whole of humanity would have been as illiterate as monkeys today and we wouldn't have all these fancy electronic gadgets that we do now. Okay that example is a bit extreme. Well, how about one of the greatest leaders known to mankind, the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH), also known as Al-Mualim - The Teacher. When he received the first revelation from Allah (SWT) "Read! In the Name of your Lord Who has created (all that exists). Has created man from a clot (of blood). Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous, Who has taught man writing by the pen." (Surah Al-Alaq 96:1-5), he didn't just keep it to himself, he first told his wife Khadija (RA) and then the rest of the Arabs and thus began the spread of Islam, through the spread of knowledge.  

2) Use/apply it - knowledge without application is just information. For example, (given my field of study, this is obviously the first example that I will think up) suppose there was a medical student who finished his degree with flying colours, those 5 years of hard work and coffee and effort, finally paying off. Then at the end of it all he decides that he'd rather not get a job as a doctor, that he'd much rather stay at home and languish away his life in front of a T.V. What a waste! He has all the information on how to treat people but decides not to apply it for the good of his fellow man. I know, I know, he has free will and can decide to do whatever he wants with his life, but honestly, what was the point of all those years acquiring that information if he isn't going to put it to use and turn it into knowledge. Because knowledge, is not just about written words on paper, it also encompasses what we learn through our experiences.

Just the same, what we as Muslims learn from the Qur'an and Hadiths, if we apply it to our lives it becomes knowledge.       

But anyway, coming back to the reason I began this post: I leave you, dear reader, with the question: which women inspire you and why? 

Nida

tales of Fairytales

Dear Reader,

I interrupt your daily routine to discuss, of all thing, fairytales. You see, these past few weeks I have felt quite surrounded by them. And they seem to come at me from the strangest places. For example, as last week was the half-term holidays for the primary and secondary schools, my beloved little monsters, I mean cousins, (ranging between 5-12 years old) came to stay around my house. Now, one morning as I was eating breakfast with the youngest one, Codename: Weedy, in Urdu he began telling me a very Grimm-Brothers-esque story he had come up with. It went something like this:

"One day, a Baker made a Ginger-bread man. But the Baker was really fat and so the Ginger-bread man ran away out of fear. While he was running through the forest, he came across a Giant who had a sweet tooth. The Giant said 'I want to eat you, Ginger-bread man.' And just as he reached down to take the Ginger-bread man, a Wolf jumped out of a bush and stepped between the Ginger-bread man and the Giant. He told the Ginger-bread man that he will protect him from the Giant but he should run and hide in the bush just in case. And the Giant did get scared of the Wolf and ran away..." At this point I was thinking 'Awww what a nice wolf, so much for stereotypes' before he continued to the end of his story. "Once the Giant was gone, the Wolf went into the bush and ate the Ginger-bread man!"   

I guess the moral of this story would be not to trust strangers ... or make assumptions about people by how fat they are ...

Do you, dear reader, see what I mean by 'Grimm-Brother-esque'? I had no idea my little Weedy had such a morbid streak, given his penchant for Disney movies and happy endings, his favourites so far being 'The Princess and The Frog' and 'Cars' (which he has made me watch at least fifty times with him now, to the extent that I now know all the dialogues off by heart).    

This reminded me of the importance that fairytales play in our childhoods, and how much influence they can have on children's lives, especially now with mass media companies like Disney. And because of this, it's important that we allow fairtales to retain they're original role in providng basic lessons like 'do not trust strangers' and not focus on the intanglible 'happily ever after'.    

Relating to this is this youtube video I reacently watched,  by author Jackson Pearce. Most of her videos are quite informative when it comes to writing and she give quite good tips. But in this video she talk about how fairytales adapt and change over time according to what society need them to be at the time.  

I only became interested in Jackson Pearce after I read her book Sisters Red last month (this book is part of my 2011 Reading Challenge, for more info click here or here, your choice). It is essentially a modern twist on the old fairytale, The Little Red Riding Hood. It's a very well written fast-paced book. And though I saw the main twist coimg from a mile away, it still kept me on the edge of my seat and still made me cry. I also love Pearce's use of symbolism and metaphors: from the scar on SCARlett's face, and the weapons of choice, to the actual wolves themselves. An incredibly enjoyable read overall, but not recommened for the faint hearted who do not like blood and gore.  

I'd like to end this post with link to Shelina's blog post about fairytales and breaking out of the stereotypes that girls 'need to be rescued' to find their 'true loves'. Read it. It's really quite interesting and enjoyable  

Nida

Love and Loving Islam

Dear Reader,

I could claim that I did not blog last week because I was oh so busy with my revision, but that won't be entirely true. As part of my upbringing and my in-built what-ever-you-may-call-it, I have always deemed it better to tell the truth - as you might have already guessed. So, in truth, I just forgot. It's an inherited disorder, this forgetting, passed directly from mother to daughter.

But never mind, all excuses and apologies aside. What I really want to blog about today is this extraordinarily ordinary autobiography that I've just finished reading, Love in a Headscarf by Shelina Z. Janmohamed. I can't seem to stop going on and on and on about it to whoever comes within 2 meters of me. So I've decide to write down all my thoughts, just to get it out of my system once and for all.

Reading this book has completely changed my life. Okay, okay, I know that's a bit too overly dramatic. Nothing overtly radical happened, like all of a sudden deciding to wear a headscarf. Hold on a moment - I already wear the hijaab! Let me re-phrase. Reading this book has subtly changed my perspective of life. And I didn't even realise it until after I had turned the last page and began looking... no, seeing the world that I live in. It also...:

1. made me ask question about my own cultural values and traditions, and how much they seem to differ from the teachings of Islam.
2. gave answers to some of the questions above. But also answered questions I hadn't thought to ask.
3. reminded me of the stories I vaguely remember being told to me in childhood. Reading about them with adult's eyes, I felt a surge of rediscovery within in, seeing deeper in to those simple stories, recognising ways of applying them to my own life. 
4. most importantly, increased my understanding of Islam and what it truly meant to be a Muslim, a servant of Allah (swa). 

I was about two-thirds of the way through the book when it clicked that this story isn't just about the conventional romantic love that the title brought to mind. It's about all of the kinds of love one encounters in one's life, only through the eyes - or rather the heart - of a muslim woman. It's about the Love of the Divine, the love for the Divine, the love for one's parents and friends, the love for humanity, all human kind and justice ... the love for yourself. And Shelina's journey to find love takes her from the London suburbs to the highest peak in Africa and to the Ancient city of Petra; all of which is, surprisingly enough, approved and encourage by the Holy Qur'an.   

Another reason why I absolutely adore this book is because, simply put, I can relate to it. I know exactly what it's like to grow up a British Asian Muslim woman. I have also experienced being torn between my "multiversal" identities. And to top it all off, I'm at exactly same point in life as Shelina was when she begins her story. 

And since I'm writing about the beginning, I would also like to mention how hilarious the book is to begin with. Although the humour is maintained throughout the prose, as the story progressed, it also became more mature, with sections of deep insightful thought. I felt as if I was also growing older with Shelina, watching as she increased in experience, confidence and wisdom. It feels like Shelina and I have been good friends for a long time. And as with all my other good and great friends, I remember her in my prayers, wishing her the best of luck with whatever she's doing right now.     

And because of this connection and relatability, Shelina success story has instilled in me a secret hope that maybe, one day, I'll find my 'one' as well. There is something quite Austen-esq about it all. 

For some unfathomable reason, I was reminded of the song "You've got the love" by Florence and The Machine, when I read this book. Only the love in the song has taken the form of the Divine Love, "with a capital l", that Shelina talks a lot about. As yet I haven't worked out how to upload a .mp3 clip onto a blog, or even a video. So, for now, here is the link to youtube for the song - if you which to hear it.   

Maybe I'm being a bit obsessive, maybe I'm completely biased, but I believe that everyone, not just Muslim men and women, should read about Shelina's incredible and inspiring journey. It's a stand for feminism if nothing else. Well, no matter, the second sentence of the book made me promise not to keep this story a secret and that's exactly what I'm doing. I've even brought three or four copies of the book to distribute amongst my friends after exams.    

Anyway, I must get some shut-eye now (seeing as it is 1:20am) if I want to be even remotely conscious during the last official day of my academic year.  

Nida