Summary Of Leila Aboulela's Minaret

Overview
Minaret by Leila Aboulela is a story about a Sudanese girl, Najwa who comes from an upper class family and lives with her twin brother, Omar and her two parents in Khartoum. Her father is a government official and they live in a luxurious house assisted by six servants including a driver. Although Najwa is a Muslim, she is westernized and secular in the way she behaves, dresses and thinks (she is sent to an American school, goes party, drinks alcohol and wears fashionable clothes). Najwa and her family do not practice religious obligations such as praying but they do fast during Ramadhan. In university, she falls in love Anwar, an atheist and a radical socialist who always attacks Najwa’s father in his speech and writing. He always

For example, Um Waleed leads the weekly talk at Regents Park Mosque and the talk is attended by many Muslim women in London. Lamya, Najwa’s employer is a mother and she continues her study in PhD, same goes to Shafinaz, who is a mother of three kids. These examples show that Muslim women are not subjected to any oppression and inequality, as stereotyped by many.
• Najwa’s character challenges the stereotype of woman where she lives abroad on her own and manages her own life. In example, she wears hijab on her own choice, even though she was once violated by a group of men in London. The judging stares and glares do not affect the way she dresses as she continues to wear hijab and cover her aurah;
"Laughter from behind me. Something hits the edge of the seat next to me and bounces down the aisle; I don't know what it is. He has missed his target this time. Will they move closer, and what if they run out ot things to throw? [...] I hear footsteps come up behind me, see a blur of denim. He says, 'You Muslim scum', then the shock of cool liquid on my head and face. I gasp and taste it, Tizer. He goes back to his friends - they are laughing. My chest hurts and I wipe my eyes" (Aboulela, “Minaret”,pp.