Jihadi Jane by Tabish Khair

Tabish Khair’s book like Jihadi Jane is a tale of disaffected second generation immigrants finding solace in radical Islam. It is a book that traces the radicalization of young women who willingly go to fight for ISIS and becoming jihadi brides. The two friends, Jamilla and Ameena are daughters of Pakistani migrants who moved to Britain. They were as different as they could be – Jamilla, the hijab wearing religious one, Ameena – the regular British teenager fooling around.

Problems in school and a bad break up left Ameena down and alone. It was then she took to visiting the local mosque with Jamilla where they met other women and talked about religion. Coming from a broken family, Ameena found respite in Jamilla’s home and family. The changes in Ameena’s outlook were slow and subtle but could not escape Jamilla’s eyes. Ameena traded her jeans with loose trousers and started wearing a hijab. Taking part in animated discussions with Jamilla’s brother Mohammad and his friend Ali, she would often make a case for doing something against the persecution of Muslims. While Mohammad and his friend would enjoy a moral high ground talking about such things, Ameena’s agitation was real.

It was around this time, that many sympathizers of ISIS started using social media to reach out to people. And the girls came in touch with someone called Hejjiye – an entrancing woman working with the ISIS. They cannot pinpoint why they took to liking her – was it her beautiful cat Batala, her stylish Gucci bags, her amiable relationship with her co-wives or just her righteous take on the fight?? She would talk to these girls about their duty – that is to be wives to the jihadis and support the cause. While Ameena seemed convinced and was even talking to a fighter Hassan about marriage, Jamilla felt pushed against the wall by her family who wanted her to give up further studies and get married.

Left with too few options, they both made their way to Syria to fight for the ‘cause’. On reaching there they started working in Hejjiye’s Orphanage and school for young girls. Ameena was soon married off. While the war torn cities of Syria already took away some sheen from the cause, the conditions in the orphanage further disillusioned Jamilla. Convincing young girls to become suicide bombers was one such. When a young teacher Halide mentioned that Quran forbids killing oneself, she was severely punished. All these paved the way for skepticism.

Ameena’s own life saw many ups and downs. Hassan’s cruelty knew no bounds and made Ameena doubtful about her own convictions. For her the breaking point was when a young servant boy Sabah was beheaded for being Yazidi and Ameena was lashed for trying to save him. Ten year old Sabah was almost a son to Ameena.

Ameena comes back to the orphanage and she is left to repent. It is here that she decides her future course of action. When Kurdish soldiers attack the orphanage, Ameena decides to become a fidayeen and cause casualty to the Kurdish. Convinced of his wife’s repentance, Hassan agrees. But at the last moment Ameena blows herself up killing Hassan and his men – her revenge for Sabah and so many other things.

This entire book written in a captivating way is a telling tale of the high costs of religious fanaticism. However there are few interesting things that Khair’s book points out. For Jamilla, the escape was an escape from a marriage that she was not ready for. For Mohammad, who was an orthodox Muslim, jihad was limited to following a restricting limiting version of Islam. For Ameena, who felt let down by her own family, her romantic interest Alex, the respite was a new purpose of life in the form of jihad.

The book traces radicalization that starts in small subtle ways. And radicalization that draws relatively privileged women to take extreme steps. This becomes important at the instances of the entire world witnessing instances like the Dhaka killings – where educated youths became fidayeens. The book beautifully maneuvers its way through various paradoxes – the Islamophobia in the west that Jamilla faces along with the acceptance of her teachers and classmates that she enjoys, the doubt that creeps into Jamilla’s heart along with her piety about the ‘jihad’, the disillusionment about Islam in a world under ISIS that both the girls understand with much loss and much pain.

The book gives one a peek into the raging debates of the time – what makes young men and women from the West mainly take up such causes? Is it alienation or Islamophobia alone? Or is it a dangerous cocktail of religious leaders sowing ideas in the fertile minds of those looking for an answer to the problems that the Muslim community is facing? 

Night of Happiness by Tabish Khair

 

Tabish Khair's book comes with an enchanting blue cover and an equally enchanting story of loss and longing. The title of the book is taken from Shab-e-Baraat, a night when some sects of Muslims visit the graves of ancestors, light incense sticks and prepare halva. They also pray for the departed souls. Anil Mehrotra owns a company and he believes in treating his employees right. One of his employees Ahmed, comes across as a dignified hard working man. Mehrotra has no complaints as Ahmed works even on the day of Eid. The only holiday he wants is on the day of Shab-e-Baraat. But on one such day, due to unavoidable circumstances Ahmed was compelled to put in some extra hours of work and Mehrotra decides to drop him home. At Ahmed’s home Mehrotra expected to meet his wife who was busy preparing the halwa. But she doesn’t meet him. Ahmed explains that she maintains hijab. In fact when Mehrotra is served food, he witnesses something which forces him to question Ahmed’s sanity. Ahmed serves him a plate of nimki and asks him to enjoy the nimki and halwa. Ahmed himself starts enjoying the non existent halwa with such delight that Mehrotra is almost offended.

Was Ahmed all right? Did he need professional help? All these questions put Mehrotra in a difficult situation. He did not want to come across as being prejudiced. At the same time he could not ask Ahmed to clarify. He then takes the help of a private eye Devi Prasad to check out Ahmed’s background. Devi Prasad’s report left Mehrotra more confused.

Ahmed grew up in the village of Phansa. It is a village that has appeared in many novels of Tabish Khair and is often assumed to be an imaginary representation of Gaya. The deepening orthodoxy which stopped Ahmed’s mother from visiting his father’s grave pushed him away from his religion. The book captures the myriad shades of faith and the nuances in the religion. When Ahmed married Roshni whose religious identity was questioned by many, he was further isolated by his community.

He moved out. Everything was fine till his family got caught in the communal clashes of 2002. What happens then, changed his entire life. Ahmed lost Roshni to a communal clash. But he was desperate to cling to her memory. Mehrotra didn’t know how to handle this. So he did what he thought best. He let go of Ahmed for a year. And towards the end of the book another surreal incident makes Mehrotra question his own conviction. After a year on the day of Shab-e-Baraat someone leaves a tiffin of halwa for Mehrotra. It takes him no time to understand that it was Ahmed. When Mehrotra reaches Ahmed’s home to show his gratitude, he is told by his neighbours that Ahmed passed away a few days back. This makes Mehrotra question his own sanity and what to believe.

The book shows the predicament of Indian Muslims – caught in between the growing influence of orthodoxy and at the same time struggling against stereotypes propagated by many in the mainstream. Ahmed was a model employee but a slight inconsistency in his behaviour led to many speculations. The book is an enquiry into the nature of loss and trauma and how people, survivors deal with such trauma. The short book is nonetheless thought provoking and tries to reflect upon the socio-political situation of present day India.