The Fall of the Imam
240
The Fall of the Imam
240eBook
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Overview
Bint Allah knows herself only as the Daughter of God. Born in a stifling male-dominated state, ruled by the Imam and his coterie of ministers, she dreams of one day reaching the top of a distant hill visible through the bars of the orphanage window.
But Bint Allah's ambitions do not escape the attention of the Imam, who never feels secure no matter how well he protects himself. When the Imam falsely accuses Bint Allah of adultery and sentences her to death by stoning, he is not prepared for what happens next.
A postmodern fantasia, this powerful and poetic novel is a call to arms against those who use religion as a weapon against women.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781846591396 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Saqi Books |
| Publication date: | 01/18/2020 |
| Sold by: | Bookwire |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 240 |
| File size: | 818 KB |
About the Author
Nawal El Saadawi (1931-2021) was an internationally renowned feminist writer and activist from Egypt. She founded and became president of the Arab Women’s Solidarity Association and co-founded the Arab Association for Human Rights. Among her numerous roles in public office she served as Egypt’s National Director of Public Health and stood as a candidate in the 2004 Egyptian presidential elections. El Saadawi held honorary doctorates from the universities of York, Illinois at Chicago, St Andrews and Tromso, and her numerous awards include the Council of Europe North-South Prize, the Women of the Year Award (UK), Sean MacBride Peace Prize (Ireland), and the National Order of Merit (France). She wrote over fifty novels, short stories and non-fiction works which centre on the status of Arab women, which have been translated into more than thirty languages.
Jenni Murray is an English journalist and broadcaster. She has presented BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour since 1987 and writes for magazines and newspapers including The Guardian, Daily Express and the Daily Mail. She is the author of seven books including A History of Britain in 21 Women and Woman’s Hour: Words from Wise, Witty and Wonderful Women. Murray was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to broadcasting in 1999 and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours. She is a patron of both Breast Cancer Campaign and the Family Planning Association, vice-president of Parkinson’s UK and a supporter of Humanists UK.
Read an Excerpt
The Search Begins It was the night of the Big Feast. They hunted me down after chasing me all night. Something hit me in the back. I was looking for my mother in the dark, running alone with my dog following in my tracks. Something struck me from behind. I turned round to face them, but they disappeared like frightened fish. They cannot look into the sun, cannot bear its light. They sleep all day and rise up at night. They do not know how to fight, have no honour, have no pride, they always hit you from behind. Before I fell, before letters and words had time to fade, I asked them, ‘Why do you always let the criminal go free and punish the victim? I am young. My mother died a virgin and so will I.’ They said, ‘You are the child of sin and your mother was stoned to death.’ But before the letters could fade from my mind, before my mind became a blank, I said, ‘I am not the child of sin, I am Bint Allah. That’s how they called me in the orphanage. Even if I lose my memory, I cannot forget. I cannot forget my mother’s face. After I was born, she went to fight the enemy. She is a martyr.’ They said, ‘Your mother never knew what loyalty meant, neither to our land, nor to the Imam Allah. She died an infidel and is burning in hell.’ I said, ‘Before the life blood leaves my brain and memory ends, my mother was never a traitor. Before I was born my father abandoned her and ran away.’ They said, ‘And pray who might your father be?’ And I said, ‘My father is the Imam.’ They screamed, ‘Not another word. May your tongue be cut out of your head.’ They cut out her tongue first. Later came the rest. For the Imam ruled according to the laws of God’s Shari’a. Stone adulterous women to death. Cut off the hands of those who commit a theft. Slash off the tongues of those who spread rumours about irradiated milk. Pour all bottles, all casks, all barrels of alcoholic drink, into the waters of the river. On the eve of the Big Feast they slunk away before the spies of the Imam could see them, descended to the river and drank from its waters until their minds were blank. In the morning, suddenly awake, they got up, full of remorse, clamouring for mercy, since on the night of the Big Feast the Imam graciously pardons everyone. The doors of prisons and the concentration camps are thrown open, and out of them march the dead, the martyrs, the victims of nuclear radiation, the women stoned to death, the thieves who have one foot missing on the right and one hand missing on the left. It was her turn to be free, but the spies of the Imam spotted her as she slipped out, trying to escape in time. They saw her running in the black of night with her dog close behind her. It was just before dawn. She had almost given them the slip when something struck her in the back. As she fell, the question echoed in her mind: Why do you let the criminal go free, and kill the victim? Their voices faded away into the silence. Her mind was dark as night, her memory all black or white, retaining not a word, not a letter from the alphabet. Only her mother’s name remained behind.