A review by aish_dols
The Fall of the Imam by Nawal El Saadawi
3.0
'The Fall Of The Imam' is told back and forth, like memory in poetic waves. I had this feeling of opening the doors of so many characters' memories
not knowing which door I'd open, the past, the present or even the future. The details of occurrences were in transitions and imperative parts were skipped only to feed the reader with it later.
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It was written in Arabic in 1987 but translated to English, & the translator did a swell job. The flow was confusing at several points maybe because of the interwoven multiple narrators/narrative style. First person into third, straight up in your face, unfiltered.
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Apart from the desperation in the quest for power and pleasure of both this world and the next which led to deep religious hypocrisy and proclaimed self righteousness, from the objectification, and debasement of women which led them to suffer heavily in the hands of tyranny, there was this blind followership as most turned the Imam into God himself and actually worshipped him and his ways.
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TFOTI screams for justice, women & children's rights and equity, debunks abuse and domestic violence as well as extremism in religion & I'm all for that but
I disagree to some characters' perception about what true freedom meant and I believe it was due to their dire situations that they had to reason that way. °
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In several parts of the book, the interpretation of the Quran and sunnah was also manipulated to fit the hypocritical ways of the religious leaders. But even in the hearts of the 'innocent' it wasn't really understood because their leaders had bent interpretation to them so they were misguided at several points.
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Knowledge seeking can never be overemphasized. We should learn about our religion from the right sources, the Qur'an & sunnah and not let anyone deceive us. Righteousness isn't in actions done for the world to see but it is what's truly in our hearts. Also being righteous & religious can be different. We should learn from the examples of the companions of the prophet Muhammad SAW.
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Impressive book because it was written in 1987 but we still face issues like this.
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Thank you Saqi Books for sending me an e-copy.
not knowing which door I'd open, the past, the present or even the future. The details of occurrences were in transitions and imperative parts were skipped only to feed the reader with it later.
°
°
It was written in Arabic in 1987 but translated to English, & the translator did a swell job. The flow was confusing at several points maybe because of the interwoven multiple narrators/narrative style. First person into third, straight up in your face, unfiltered.
°
°
°
Apart from the desperation in the quest for power and pleasure of both this world and the next which led to deep religious hypocrisy and proclaimed self righteousness, from the objectification, and debasement of women which led them to suffer heavily in the hands of tyranny, there was this blind followership as most turned the Imam into God himself and actually worshipped him and his ways.
°
°
°
TFOTI screams for justice, women & children's rights and equity, debunks abuse and domestic violence as well as extremism in religion & I'm all for that but
I disagree to some characters' perception about what true freedom meant and I believe it was due to their dire situations that they had to reason that way. °
°
°
In several parts of the book, the interpretation of the Quran and sunnah was also manipulated to fit the hypocritical ways of the religious leaders. But even in the hearts of the 'innocent' it wasn't really understood because their leaders had bent interpretation to them so they were misguided at several points.
°
°
°
Knowledge seeking can never be overemphasized. We should learn about our religion from the right sources, the Qur'an & sunnah and not let anyone deceive us. Righteousness isn't in actions done for the world to see but it is what's truly in our hearts. Also being righteous & religious can be different. We should learn from the examples of the companions of the prophet Muhammad SAW.
°
°
°
Impressive book because it was written in 1987 but we still face issues like this.
°
°
°
Thank you Saqi Books for sending me an e-copy.