Muslim-American Novelist Examines Social Rift in the Aftermath of 9/11

Award-winning author, Shaila Abdullah's new novel Saffron Dreams offers readers a chance to explore the tragedy of 2001 from an uncommon viewpoint.

"I looked on as day after day the media tried, sentenced, and hung my faith," writes Shaila Abdullah in her brand new book, Saffron Dreams, being released online today. "I witnessed the lynching of a religion and race again and again. What proof did I have of the innocence of the rest of us?" I couldn't have expressed it better myself ! As Muslims, we've watched helplessly as all things Muslim and Islam have come under fire. The treatment meted to Barack Hussein Obama, for being born to a Muslim father, made us cringe. Shaila Abdullah awakens us to a story of a culture in shock. An award-winning Pakistani-American author, her writing focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of Pakistani women and their often unconventional choices in life.

Set in New York, the novel leads the readers through a soul-searching and at times gut-wrenching journey of its protagonist. Arissa Illahi, a Muslim artist and writer has everything going for her -- a devoted husband and a much-anticipated child on the way. After her husband's death in the collapse of the World Trade Center, the discovery of his manuscript marks Arissa's reconnection to life. Her unborn son and the unfinished novel fuse in her mind into one life-defining project that becomes, at once, the struggle for her emotional survival and the redemption of her race.

The geopolitical concerns that have drawn Islam and the West into many conflicts since 2001 have also generated a thirst for multicultural literature -- fiction and nonfiction, with a Muslim angle. At a time when much of the world associates Islamic culture with oppression and terror, the new genre is tackling such universal themes as love, hope, and women's issues. In Saffron Dreams, Abdullah captures the essence of ordinary Muslims who create nothing newsworthy and power no conflicts to be of any value to the media.

Her first book, Beyond the Cayenne Wall, is a collection of stories about Pakistani women struggling to find their individualities despite the barriers imposed by society.The book received the Norumbega Jury Prize for Outstanding Fiction and the DIY Award among other accolades. Abdullah also received a Hobson Foundation grant for Saffron Dreams. She has published several short stories, articles, and essays for various publications, including Women's Own, She, Fashion Collection, Sulekha, and Dallas Child. She is a seasoned print, web, and multimedia designer as well. Abdullah lives with her family in Austin, Texas and is a member of the Texas Writers' League.

If you liked the movie Khuda Key Liye aka In the Name of God, you'll love this book!

Comments

[Naazish YarKhan - Huffpost Blogger]

To all those interested in actually making things better, do check out www.ifyc.org.
Be a part of the solution! As Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of Free India said, Be the Change you Want to See"

[Naazish YarKhan - Huffpost Blogger]

Dear FBR79,

Do read On Being a Muslim American by Eboo Patel at the following link and you'll get a more realistic picture on Being Muslim in American. . When you're facing the music, as we Muslims have, it doesn't matter whether it's " just " a fringe group of the population that would like to hate you.

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/eboo_patel/2007/07/on_being_a_muslim_american.html

[fbr79]

So what should have been the reaction of America as a country and Americans as a society during that time? I'm not tryiing to antagonize the author of the post, just trying to hear a different point of view.

As far as President Obama, I don't think anybody who is taken seriously in the media or in politics used his middle name or heritage against him. Those fringe elements who did are the same people who had no problem using monkeys and watermelons to bring out race.

Even McCain, who mostly ran a coward's race, vocally opposed any attempts to use those traits against him.

[jcwtts1]

The price of being a minority in America, of not being white, is that we lose our individuality. One of my first thoughts after Oklahoma City and after 9/11 was, "Please God don't let any of them be Black" because I knew what would happen in America to Black people if we committed a terrorist act. I have Latino friends who said the same thing. Every Muslim was considered suspect on the day after 9/11. Why, we had very specific data on the hijackers very quickly. They were Saudi, of a certain age, of a certain denomination of Islam. That should have left about a billion people off the hook, but instead it made more than a billion suspect. If a Christian commits a crime are all Christian suspect? That doesn't even make sense because we have hundreds of denominations. We know that everyone who goes to church isn't the same, that everyone who believes in Christ isn't the same. If a Christian committed a crime would we be angry with or scared of a Brazilian Catholic, or an English Anglican, or a U.S. Methodist? Of course not, it would be ludicrous but every Muslim is somehow the same?