Book Review: Minaret

Minaret by Leila Aboulela

Minaret is a story about a girl named Najwa who lives in a luxurious way of life. Nevertheless, she cannot help but feel an empty hollow inside her heart. There is a missing piece that she could not find. One day, a political coup ousted her family, taking her father with them which leads Najwa and her family members fled to London. Eventually, Najwa ended up being alone as her mother passed away and her brother, Omar, went to prison. Minaret is a story about how Najwa endured all her sufferings and found her way back to Islam.

Leila Aboulela has captured the reader’s attention by her style of writing. She portrays her story in a subtle way for the readers to grasp the idea of women empowerment. One of the main issues that can be found in Minaret is the idea of Feminism and how men perceive women as powerless. This can be shown when Najwa’s lover, named Anwar, constantly feel intimidated by her just because she was more fluent in English compared to him. Najwa is often bullied into doing all his editing work which makes him more inferior towards himself. His treatment towards Najwa is disrespectful in a sense that he tricked her into losing her virginity. Anwar perceives her as someone who would do all his bidding and commands. He does not treat Najwa as his lover or as his equal. Eventually, Najwa leaves him when she gets to her senses that Anwar will never marry her.

Another idea that readers can find is the idea of post-colonialism and the impact that it gives to the society. Based on the story, Leila Aboulela reveals the outcomes of British colonialism towards the Sudanese people. The dispute between East and West shows how their Political system is unstable. Whilst some govern their hatred towards the West, others such as Najwa admire the way of living. Due to the chaos, Najwa and her family members had to flee to London while her father was captured for being a fraud. Her predicaments worsen when she had to survive on her own with no money nor protection. Nevertheless, not many people are as lucky as Najwa where she had the chance to run off to London.

The reason why this book was chosen is because the storyline is very uplifting in a sense that it gives hope to ones who think they have gone astray. Minaret teaches the readers that even in the hardest time, and at the point of giving up, Allah S.W.T will always hear one’s prayers.

Movie Review: Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them

Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them directed by David Yates

Last week, my friend and I went to watch Fantastic Beasts. The movie is quite entertaining; however, the plot of the story can be easily guessed. The movie has the Archetypal elements where there is the portrayal of witches, wizards, magical creatures and scapegoat. 

Newt is the main character in the story, plays a role as a wizard who come to New York to capture magical creatures for his collections. Upon his arrival in New York, he meets Jacob, a No-Maj (non-wizard) and it leads to one event where they mistakenly switch their suitcase. This incident is silently watched by a witch named Tina who works with Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA). 

While Newt and Jacob searching for the wondrous creatures, there is one event that is happening in the city which is destruction that is made by the unknown character. Thus, Tina suspects Newt as the culprit who creates the chaos in the city. She arrests him as an unregistered wizard and sends him to MACUSA but no one trusts her. 

While they are being together, Tina and Jacob discover a lot of fascinating beasts in one suitcase. The suitcase is where the beasts are being placed. At the same time, the unknown character who destructs the city appears and reveals himself as Credence, after his foster mother abuses him for his minor mistakes. Graves who is a Director of the Magical Security uses Credence as a scapegoat to find the culprit.