Comments on: Minaret by Leila Aboulela

By: Shawna

Shawna — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 18:38:46 +0000

I thought this was a good read. One of my professors received it as a freebie. I was doing an independent study with him on self-censorship and country-imposed exile with him at the time. (We focused on Salman Rushdie and Nadine Gordimer, mainly.) He printed an article that was basically a judgement of her as a writer. I’ll have to give you a link if I can uncover it. It discussed her as writing between cultures and was really worth reading for the purpose of picking apart. I was shocked and inspired.

I read MINARET well after the class ended. I could teach a class of my own on that book! I have to say I was simultaneously bummed by it and inspired. This post makes me want to read it again.

By: Jana

Jana — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 21:30:22 +0000

Can’t believe I hadn’t seen this post til now ha! I must say I really like this author’s books. Like everyone else here, I agree that characters are truly 3D. Beats a LOT of other books by Muslim women I’ve read in the past.

By: Jamerican Muslimah

Jamerican Muslimah — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 18:15:11 +0000

Faith, I ordered them on Amazon. The other two books were published in the UK.

By: naseema salam

naseema salam — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:58:21 +0000

I read this book a while ago, and this is one of the few books that actually bear resemblence to the emotions that muslim women experience in their everyday lives. The sexual content in the book is not for the purpose of titilliation or exudes the notion of something forbidden. The ending of the book did leave me with a sense of sadness, i think i wanted a happier or more fulfillign ending for the main character.

By: Faith

Faith — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:15:17 +0000

@Jamerican: I’ve been wanting to read her other books for a while now but for some reason I haven’t gotten around to it. I’ll have to get them off Amazon. I think Minaret is the only novel that has been published in the US right?

You’re right. The characters are complex and Islam is a strong influence.

@Fatemeh: Definite must read!

@jessyz: It is a good book. Worth the read.

By: jessyz

jessyz — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 20:23:51 +0000

Sounds like a really promising book, I’ll be on the lookout for it. Thanx for the review

By: Fatemeh

Fatemeh — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:45:55 +0000

Thanks for the post; this book sounds incredibly interesting; I’m especially interested in the class angle. I’m adding it to my “to read” list!

By: Jamerican Muslimah

Jamerican Muslimah — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:32:00 +0000

Can I just tell you how much I love this author? After reading Minaret I searched for her other books and immediately ordered them. What I love about Ms. Aboulela is that her Muslim characters are complex. They don’t follow a stereotypical Muslim line of thinking or behaving. At the same time there is no doubt about the fact that her characters are looking towards Islam for their spiritual and sometimes ethical guidance. You MUST read her other books…