Being Na’ima B. Robert: An Interview with Award Winning Muslim Woman Author
Posted by Bushra
MuslimMatters.org, 19 July 2010
Na’ima B. Robert is “Muslim, Black, mixed-race, South African, Western, revert and woman all in one”. Descended from Scottish Highlanders on her father’s side and the Zulu people on her mother’s side, she was born in Leeds and grew up in Zimbabwe. She went on to gain a first-class degree from the University of London. Having worked in marketing, the performing arts, and teaching, she is now an award-winning author and Editor-in-Chief of SISTERS, a magazine for Muslim women.
Na’ima is author of the best-selling book From My Sister’s Lips and has been published in The Observer, The Times and is a regular contributor to The Times Online Faith section.
Her second book for teens, Boy vs. Girl, is out now.
You’re an author AND editor of SISTERS. What made you want to write?
I became Muslim in my second year of university, and then married in third year. I moved to South London in 2000 and began teaching in Brixton. After my son was born, I started a home school. As my son started growing, I wanted to spend more time with him but it was difficult with the home school that I was running. I then got the inspiration to write children’s stories and poems and sent them to several publishers, both Islamic and multicultural. The multicultural publishers loved it and I began my publishing career with one of the multicultural publishers. I eventually branched out with Tango Books and that was how I met my agent, an American from New York. I invited her to dinner in my home, because I cover and couldn’t uncover and enjoy dinner with her properly in a restaurant. When I met her, I told her about Islam, modesty and hijab (. My agent then told me that she could get my first book published, From My Sisters’ Lips. I did a book tour in South Africa, where a lot of women (literally means concealing, screening, cover, protecting and is used to refer to the mandatory dress of the muslim female) were inspired by the book and then the idea for the magazine flowered.
I decided to move to Egypt about three and a half years ago, around the same time SISTERS began. I came to the UK in the summer to spend some time with a Somalian youth group and that’s where the idea for ‘From Somalia with Love’ came from.
I write books to deal with the issues affecting children and the youth. I want to reach out to young people. ‘From My Sisters’ Lips’ was a book that I could write at the time because of the state and position I was in at the time.
Prior to writing your new teen novel, Boy vs. Girl, you wrote another book aimed at teens – From Somalia, with Love. What made you want to write teen novels?
Young children are emphasised in the West to read. I know what kind of novels they read, Harry Potter, Twilight, all the vampire romance stories. There were no alternatives to represent Muslim teens. Girls are more emotionally susceptible to reading, especially romance. Girls’ books are constantly about boys and romance and it’s around the age of 13-16 years where girls have self-esteem issues and therefore want to be able to identify with emotional feelings, to feel wanted. It’s not easy being a teen, because these books feed the nafs (soul or self) and their desires, and their need to feel beautiful about themselves. Stylish hijabs and being a ‘hijabista’ show that one should be beautiful to the outside world, despite covering – somewhat of a paradox.
We need to be careful of the messages being portrayed to young girls, and being a ‘fashionable hijabi’ says that one can be covered and still have ‘it’, which is the opposite of being a humble, modest Muslim woman.
What inspired you to write this book? Is it based on a true story?
After writing ‘From Somalia, with Love’, the Pakistani culture felt suitable to write about. However, it was MUCH harder, much more challenging than writing about Somalian culture. I was interested in seeing the double standards between how boys are raised and how girls are raised, for example, boys going out at night and no one questioning them as to where they’re going and with whom, whereas with girls, they need to have a chaperone.
In reality, it should be the other way around. I find the carefree attitude towards boys to be a crime. They’re totally left to their own devices and to their own peril. They end up going towards gang culture, pornography, etc. When I was writing ‘Boy vs. Girl’, I realised the original story was set 10 years back. I really wanted to focus on parents who were brought up in the UK, aged around the mid-40s. I wanted to make Faraz (the male protagonist) a dynamic character. I also wanted to bring Malik (one of the characters in the story) to the fore and show that the heroine, Farhana, could do the right thing. However, being very cautious of appearing to glamourise the wrong, I needed to do my bit to enjoin the good.
Boy vs. Girl touches on some very sensitive issues, such as gang culture and drugs. Do you think that Muslims who are involved in gangs themselves would want to pick up a copy of this book?
I’m not quite sure. It depends on how much they read.
This book is a way of flagging up to the older generations that their sons are not safe out there. Faraz is vulnerable and his parents don’t know about his passion for art and his unsuitable friends. Teenagers lead a double life and parents are completely clueless about it.
The book also touches on a deeply religious character, Najma, having a very extrovert personality amongst her own family and friends. Do you think many readers will find this to be a realistic portrayal of a woman in niqab (A piece of cloth that covers the face except the eye)? Or do you think it will dispel some of the theories and stereotypes that people generally hold about ‘strict’ Muslims?
The whole point of Najma was not to be a boring person, but to be like every other niqabi out there. She was brought in to show that being a niqabi or even just deeply religious doesn’t mean that one loses their personality. I wanted to subvert the stereotype and show that she wasn’t the type to constantly give lectures. It was important to make her appealing, understanding and fun. It’s probably not what people are expecting. Najma reflects the ideal scenario.
The female protagonist, Farhana, faces some family criticism when she chooses to wear hijab. What advice would you give to women who are currently going through the process of covering themselves and having difficulty with parents/family/friends accepting this change?
Farhana became pensive and quiet when she first started wearing hijab, but I didn’t want her to lose her personality, particularly since she is an outspoken, A-grade student at school.
For sisters who are going through the same process, keep reminding yourself of your intention. Covering must be for the sake of Allah (God). When it comes to the crunch, your friends won’t be there. You have to be patient with your parents, but stay strong. Make lots of du’a (a supplication to God), because Allah is in charge of everything and everyone. We must turn to Him. It’s a real Tawheed (Confirming the Oneness of Allah. It is the basis of Islam.) and ihsaan (perfection or excellence) thing. It’s important to realise that we will face problems and trials when following the Straight Path and that it’s part of the deen (Religion. A way of life for Muslims) to be tested. Bottom line: stay strong and humble.
Some may criticise your choice on writing fiction with the opinion that fiction is haraam (prohibited, illegal. Mostly used in referance to actions as well as foods) and the fact that the front cover has a picture of a girl with her awrah (parts of the body that are not supposed to be exposed to others) uncovered. What would you have to say to that?
With regards to fiction, I’m not going to get into the religious discussion. In an ideal world, there would be no need for fiction. But I took the decision for writing fiction because children are reading it already and I felt I had to provide alternative fiction. I wanted to get into the children genre and subvert everything by bringing in reminders and reflect what kids are going through. When it comes to fiction, there are different grades of it, from trash to learning from the books. We learn about history and facts from non-fiction books, but I find that stories tell a lot about the culture of a particular era.
These books [Na’ima’s novels] humanise Islam and Muslims. We are under so much scrutiny and pressure [in the media], but Muslims who are out there writing don’t always write about Muslims in the true light. Everyone has a haraam element in their life; it’s what you do about them that make the difference. Therefore, it would be unrealistic to write a book about a perfect Muslimah (female Muslim) as the majority of readers can’t relate to that. The Muslim narrative shows what’s really happening with the deen, it tells people that they can write their own narrative. Additionally, you can tell a lot about an author from what they write.
As for the front cover, it wasn’t my choice and I’m not in a position to veto. I tried to avoid it as much as possible, but the publishers went ahead with it. It’s a regret of mine and if I had my way, I wouldn’t have it there at all.
Some of my favourite parts of the book were when some of the daily issues that every Muslim child goes through were brought up…such as the generation and cultural gap between parent and child, the moon sighting debate, the gluttonous attitude towards Ramadan, treating segregation of sexes as a minor issue, culture coming before Islam, etc. I felt this book raised several important issues. But the main one that struck a chord with me was the differences in thinking between the parents and the children. What advice would you give to children who are going through that? And any advice to parents who want to understand their children better?
This book is a way to tell parents that they must allow children to be real with them. Even if they don’t talk to you, they shouldn’t feel that their children aren’t up to anything bad.
I’m not sure if book would bridge the parent-child gap. It wouldn’t, because those issues aren’t resolved in the book and it was not my original intention. Najma gets married, but the racism factor in the book remains unresolved. It [the book] may not solve the problems, but it’s good to discuss them with family and raise these issues to bring the answer forward.
I find that with traditional women, the mother is the role of a care-taker. They may not be up-to-date with their kids’ lives, such as school, friends, Internet, and the cultural divide is there. It appears that getting to know them doesn’t seem to be part of a mother’s role.
Is there a happy ending for Malik and Farhana?
I liked Malik. He’s a good guy all around and not a player. He loves Farhana for real. When he sees her in hijab, he’s genuine and he respects what she stands for and why she’s doing what she’s doing. The ending was ambiguous to give some hope for Farhana. But she’s still young, only 16-17 years old, so who knows what could happen?
I have a couple of other questions…if there was one turning point that led you to convert to Islam, what was it?
The woman in Egypt wearing hijab. She was beautiful but she covered and it led me to question the superficiality behind beauty and I delved further into learning about Islam as a result of it.
What are your favourite books? Fiction/non-fiction?
I have a weakness for world literature. I read very few novels and only read them for research. If I want to read about a people or a time or place, then that’s the only time I read fiction. For example, if one wanted to learn about Regency society, they would read Jane Austen.
I also enjoy reading non-fiction, biographies, social commentary. A recommendation would be ‘Toxic Childhood’ by Sue Palmer.
I am a strong believer in reading widely. My father did his PhD from Oxford University and would encourage reading widely and well. I love reading Islamic history, too, especially Road to Mecca.
I’d like to add that if you’re already a reader of fiction, then I challenge you to read non-fiction. Non-fiction challenges certain faculties of the brain in a way that fiction doesn’t.
I also have a library at home, where I’ve built up my collection of books over the years. It keeps growing.
Finally, what advice would you give to budding writers?
Read a lot. Read widely and well. Also read critically. If a story is blatantly about an adulterous relationship, don’t read it, because you’ll be drawn into it and it’s better to stay away from stuff that compromises your beliefs and principles.
Write, write and write some more. Write whatever you want. Keep reading. If you don’t read, your vocabulary will become limited. Part of good writing is the ability to express oneself. Being able to express yourself well can never be in vain. It’s important to arm children with that skill.
Writing requires more work than reading will. Also, keep a happy, inspirational journal – one with happy thoughts or eureka moments.
http://muslimmatters.org/2010/07/19/being-naima/
http://www.islamic-dictionary.com/
Picture: http://africa.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/From-Somalia-with-Love.png