Representations of Islamic belief and practice in a South African context: Reflections on the fictional work of Ahmed Essop, Aziz Hassim, Achmat Dangor and Rayda Jacobs

Abstract

Summary This study explores the representation of Islam in the fictional work of four South African writers: Ahmed Essop, Aziz Hassim, Achmat Dangor and Rayda Jacobs. After clarifying significant principles of Islam, I follow a threefold basis of enquiry, considering how far these authors, in terms of their fiction, reveal Islamic belief as an empowering force for social justice and compassion; how far they are prompted by feminist views; and how far they feel a need to interrogate Islamic teaching and practice. Given particular attention in my enquiry are: Essop's story, “The Hajji” (1978) and novel, The Visitation (1980); Hassim's novel, The Lotus Eaters (2002); Dangor's novella, “Kafka's Curse” (1998) and novel, Bitter Fruit (2001); and Jacobs's novel, Confessions of a Gambler (2003a) together with her short story collection, Postcards from South Africa (2003b). To begin with I contrast Dangor's more interrogative stance towards the use of violence with Hassim's apparent readiness to countenance it. In the next section what emerges is a reluctance or refusal on the part of prominent male characters to show compassion or forgiveness, although such a response would be profoundly in keeping with the Muslim tradition. Women, on the other hand, exemplify a readiness to engage in various kinds of merciful intervention. Finally, in relation to women's rights, I reveal how male‐centredness is, perhaps surprisingly, not typical of fiction by Muslim writers, although it is the one woman writer in this study who engages in a more searching interrogation of conventional Muslim gender attitudes and assumptions.