Diaspora and the Islamic Ummah in Leila Aboulela’s Minaret (Article)

The title is a research paper by Sadeghi Amirhossein and, Pourgiv Faride in “Research in Contemporary Word Literature (Pazhuhesh-e Zabanha-ye Khareji)”, Spring-Summer 2015, Volume 20, Number 1; Page(s) 163 To 179. The following is an excerpt from its abstract.

Significance of diaspora in modern countries

With the high rise of immigration in the world, the Diaspora or the presence of the immigrants’ communities in the countries of the first world has attracted significant attention from different scholars. The theoreticians of the diaspora have considered several characteristics in defining diasporan communities the most important of which is the relationship to the homeland.

Brah’s idea of “homing desire

With regards to such a relationship scholars have always focused on dependency upon the homeland and the desire to return to it. Avtar Brah putting forth the idea of “homing desire” argues that many people and diasporan communities have more an internal desire for “home” as a place of security and safety rather than a return to the homeland.

Discussion and conclusion

In this paper Brah’s views accompanied with the concept of Islamic Ummah are used to analyze Minaret by Leila Aboulela. It is argued that in Minaret a new path is suggested for the immigrant which is based on reliance on religion.