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A review by mubeenirfan
Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree by Tariq Ali
2.0
I knew Tariq Ali to be only a left-leaning historian before stumbling upon an entire fiction series written by him. Naturally, I wanted to read the series to find out how he has approached the famed Islamic history. Only Urdu readers would know that a writer named Nasim Hijazi has done the same where he has hyper-sensationalized islamic history in cover of historical novels. I think I wanted to read something to balance those novels out in my mind.
This first novel from Tariq Ali is approaching the fall of Muslim Spain in a different manner. He has made it not about the religion (Muslims vs Christians) but about the riches of state and how the church is prevalent in carrying out this purge to enlarge its influence. It is an interesting way to look at it but what stands out the most in this novel is the portrayal of a typical muslim household in a village near Granada. Pre-marital sex, homosexuality & adultery is a norm in the society. There are a few sceptics too who continue preaching truth & rationality over religion and are admonished for doing it. Role of the Ulemas is restricted in learned families and there are a few amicable debates between these two segments of the society. Between all these is a young male who is conflicted in himself about his love for his religion and his respect for a rational mind. Growing up in a Granada which has been recently taken up by Christians & the inquisition is underway; he ends up picking arms to fight.
Story wise, it is a very simple story relying almost entirely on dialogues and not on the construction of story line which gives a vibe that the writer is probably someone who isn’t comfortable with writing a novel. Due to this fact and due to the reason that Tariq Ali has approached an Islamic society in a very casual manner without much reference to facts, is something that makes me not like this story. I will definitely think twice before picking up part 2 of this series.
This first novel from Tariq Ali is approaching the fall of Muslim Spain in a different manner. He has made it not about the religion (Muslims vs Christians) but about the riches of state and how the church is prevalent in carrying out this purge to enlarge its influence. It is an interesting way to look at it but what stands out the most in this novel is the portrayal of a typical muslim household in a village near Granada. Pre-marital sex, homosexuality & adultery is a norm in the society. There are a few sceptics too who continue preaching truth & rationality over religion and are admonished for doing it. Role of the Ulemas is restricted in learned families and there are a few amicable debates between these two segments of the society. Between all these is a young male who is conflicted in himself about his love for his religion and his respect for a rational mind. Growing up in a Granada which has been recently taken up by Christians & the inquisition is underway; he ends up picking arms to fight.
Story wise, it is a very simple story relying almost entirely on dialogues and not on the construction of story line which gives a vibe that the writer is probably someone who isn’t comfortable with writing a novel. Due to this fact and due to the reason that Tariq Ali has approached an Islamic society in a very casual manner without much reference to facts, is something that makes me not like this story. I will definitely think twice before picking up part 2 of this series.