Safiya Hussain

An emotional and transformational Journey

From just the beginning of the book, the author's note and the dedication to her mother, I almost immediately fell in love with this book. I am not a Muslim, but respect all faiths, and have educated myself beyond the negative stereotype of most, including Islam, so it was beautiful to see the quotation of Islamic beliefs and practices included so early on.

I love the author's style, the way she includes repeating motifs throughout the text, the way she uses events to foreshadow circumstances later in the book, that draw you in to what is happening, and the simple yet poetic beauty in the flashback sections all serve to make this am more real, more emotional read than one often gets from memoirs.

I also liked that the author included, in an understated, human kind of way, many facets of Islam that those of us outside of the faith see presented only in the negative - the treatment of women for example - which is balanced here the truth against the prejudice. One thing that also struck me was the self-analytical conversation, part way thought, where those inside Islam discussed those fanatics, and radical, politicised Muslims.

There were times when the author, whose Hajj we share presents as a little too whiny, but I think that helped, somewhat, to contrast the description of her transformation to a more spiritual state through the course of the journey; from someone that was not necessarily a 'nice' person, to someone who was more mature, considered and considerate, but that was truly the only less than positive thing I experienced through the course of my reading.

All in all I would recommend this book to anyone interested in what it is like to experience the Hajj.… (lisätietoja)