Leila Aboulela, Islam, and the trajectory of the African novel

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article focuses upon Leila Aboulela’s Minaret, arguing that – in the context of the ambivalent relations between Islam and the west – it challenges stereotypes about Muslim African women, excavating Sufi traditions to challenge monolithic western understandings of Islam and Muslim women. The article’s intent is to develop the narrative about the African novel by bringing Aboulela into the debate because she offers an alternative narrative, one which refuses to fetishize difference, instead embracing cultural diversity and normative pluralism. The protagonist is a Sudanese Muslim woman who draws inspiration from indigenous cultures; she positions herself within the Sufi tradition, which challenges both patriarchal and imperialist understandings of Islam, thus finding her place in a secular society that views both Islam and Muslim women as aberrant. Acutely aware of the complexities of colonialism and religion, Aboulela shifts the African novel towards a subtle engagement with urgent questions around gender and Islam.