A superb thought provoking story.
A dying breathe wish by Bilal’s mother that he build a mosque in the village that he has made his home leads to community, family and personal discord for Bilal and his family.
Bilal has largely moved away from the religious tenets of his upbringing and has joined the community council, goes to the pub and anglicised his name. Meanwhile his wife Mariam has retained aspects of her religion, speaks Punjabi, but still faces her own challenges in terms of her personal beliefs and wishes for her life goals. Added to this is that Bilal is her second husband and step father to her son but her first husband has re-entered her life and she is unsure how she feels about this.
Bilal’s unilateral decision to approach the community council to ask about building a mosque leads to the couple becoming social pariahs as battle lines are drawn, and community tensions grow.
This is a book that reflects on identity both personal in relation to what it means to be part of a religion and in terms of what it means to be English. It is also a book that looks at the problems of integration for British born Muslims and the tight rope that this often means they walk. This makes this book sound heavy – it is not – it deals with these issues in a fun manner most encapsulated by the vividly described characters that make up the proponents of the story.
I was also taken by the cover of the book as it highlights aspects of a minaret set within a seaside village setting.
This is a must read book. For me it highlighted my sad lack of understanding of the Islamic religion and the challenges of integration in the UK.
Bilal has largely moved away from the religious tenets of his upbringing and has joined the community council, goes to the pub and anglicised his name. Meanwhile his wife Mariam has retained aspects of her religion, speaks Punjabi, but still faces her own challenges in terms of her personal beliefs and wishes for her life goals. Added to this is that Bilal is her second husband and step father to her son but her first husband has re-entered her life and she is unsure how she feels about this.
Bilal’s unilateral decision to approach the community council to ask about building a mosque leads to the couple becoming social pariahs as battle lines are drawn, and community tensions grow.
This is a book that reflects on identity both personal in relation to what it means to be part of a religion and in terms of what it means to be English. It is also a book that looks at the problems of integration for British born Muslims and the tight rope that this often means they walk. This makes this book sound heavy – it is not – it deals with these issues in a fun manner most encapsulated by the vividly described characters that make up the proponents of the story.
I was also taken by the cover of the book as it highlights aspects of a minaret set within a seaside village setting.
This is a must read book. For me it highlighted my sad lack of understanding of the Islamic religion and the challenges of integration in the UK.