The Fictional World of Ali Al-Muqri as Seen in The Handsome Jew

Introduction

The fictional world of any writer is a vision that can be extracted from portraying a world, which is an artistic equivalent of life as comprehended by the novelist through her/his techniques, contents, and topics. Like a philosopher or thinker who sets up her/his vision of the world within the techniques and topics of intellectual or philosophical writing, the novelist introduces her/his vision through fictional art and its techniques. The world vision is as close as to an individual, collective, philosophical, and intellectual system to bring coherence to the world, the self, and society. Hence, the vision of the world in the writing of the writer, novelist, or others is the world as it appears through the writing of the novelist or her/his works, or it is the world as it is viewed naturally, or as the writer realizes or understands through her/his intellectual vision and tools introduced through the collection of works that constitute the fictional world (Al-Khateeb, 2018, p. 1269). Like great thinkers, great writers can provide a coherent, conscious, integrated vision of the world or a coherent narrative with philosophical dimensions depicted by the tools and techniques of narrative art and through a highly technical ability.

Fiction is one of the most important literary and prevalent genres in the modern era. An important aspect in a novel is the novelist’s point of view. This may be called the philosophy of life. Great novelists have been great thinkers and keen observers of life and present their philosophy of life directly or indirectly. Yet, Yemeni novel is a late twentieth-century genre that suffers from a serious marginalization not only in its own literary and historical contexts but also in both contemporary Arabic and world literature. This can be attributed to the fact that modernism came late to Yemen, much later than any other Arab country. The early rise of the novel in Egypt, Iraq, and the Maghreb is ascribed to a bundle of factors ahead of which was the encounter with the West and its culture. However, the emergence of this new form in Yemen is firmly linked to the dawn of the republican system in 1962, which supports modernism and includes it as one of the revolution’s six goals (Sharaf, 2012, p. 3). The strict isolation policy adopted by the Imam regime before the revolution stands behind, lagging in literary development.

The dawn of the short story came from those who were living or studying abroad in Egypt and other Arab and non-Arab countries. Mohamed Abdul-Wali was the main figure who declared the birth of the Yemeni short story. The second major writer is Zayd Mutee’ Dammaj, whose work, The Hostage makes him eternal (Dammaj, 1994. Al-Muqri, 1966, Habib Al-Sarori, Sameer Abdul Fatah, Wajdi Al-Ahdal, Al-Garby Emran, and others comprise what can be called the new generation of Yemeni novelists whose narratives cling to and reflect the artistic component of novel in its modernist sense. Yet, Al-Muqri, who is one of the few Arab novelists, possesses a world vision. Throughout his fictional world, he presents a philosophical vision that seems to be influenced by human rights, principles of dealing with others, and issues of cultural diversity.

Al-Muqri, 1966, who swims against the tide of the society, abandons poetry and turns into a novel that allows for diversity. The topics of his novels are controversial. They dismantle some facts, postulates, and mental stereotypes that has been internalized for ages, despite the boldness and strangeness of some of their topics. He introduces his own private experience crossing the stable societal perceptions, classifications, and general stereotypes and tackles issues which are considered prohibited to the extent that Al-Qaeda in Yemen accused him of blasphemy (Ibrahim, 2015). Throughout his writings, he maintains controversy, beginning with his first novel (Al-Muqri, 2008). Al-Muqri’s (2009) second novel, The Handsome Jew, once again engaged with a minority group, the Jewish community, who lives on Yemeni society’s margins.

To Al-Muqri, the Jews of Yemen are a symbol of the suffering of a national, religious, or other human group. This does not mean he intends to express full and complete sympathy for the Jewish people’s suffering. He sees in them only representatives of every people or minority, whatever it may be, under the yoke of suffering and injustice. This proves his supreme moral position, which does not distinguish between human beings based on a certain standard (Toubi, 2019, p. 364). In his article Qaid (2017) says “Al-Muqri’s novels carry a comprehensive and universal meaning of life, revealing the suffering, humility, obsession and misery of the human soul.” Al-Muqri’s ability to touch the most sensitive and aesthetic places in the environment in which he lives, with its unlimited human extensions, makes his way up in the Arab and international cultural scene. What is peculiar about his philosophy of life is his humanitarian vision that is apparent in all of his works; the vision that humanity should surpass all the differences; and misunderstandings that arise due to ignorance and misunderstanding of the real spirit of all religions. The primary purpose of most philosophies and worldviews is “to create unity among people of different races, ethnicities and cultures on the basis of their relationship with the Ultimate Truth or impersonal God and to create compassion for people on the basis of their similar divine nature” (Junghare, 2015, p. 217). We “as a species on this planet need to come to the realization that our intolerance of one another’s faiths, ideologies, discourse, cultures, ethnicities, etc. is killing us” (p. 217).

Right from the beginning of his literary journey, Ali Al-Muqri has been siding with a humanistic vision based on the idea and principle of citizenship. From his point of view, the narrative is humanitarian, emphasizing tolerance that transcends cultural boundaries and intolerance to the homeland or nation. The common human factor and cultural and religious tolerance are a starting point for Al-Muqri’s narratives. To him, identity is formed not based on religion or race, but on this common human experience and accumulated culture. To some writers, Al-Muqri is a unique person who combines secularism, Muslim Brotherhood, leftism, Sufism, and libertarian. He hates narrow-minded ideological and intellectual classification and is always searching for looking about humanity in this universe, especially those who do not hurt others’ feelings and who do not interfere in their privacy. These are manifested in The Handsome Jew (Al-Muqri, 2009) that highlights his philosophy of humanism through the lens of civilized dialogue, equality, knowledge of the culture of the other, fine discourse, respecting the privacy of the other, openness, principle of coexistence, and the idea of religious tolerance, where the heroine marries a Jew to confirm this tolerance.

Note on Methodology

Before embarking on this study, it is worth saying that the fiction written by Ali Al-Muqri is still underrepresented in the literary anthologies of contemporary Arabic literature in translation. Thus, as a contemporary Arab narrative in its postcolonial and postmodern period, an eclectic approach is adopted to investigate the form and content of the narrative. Friedman (1975), in his theoretical study, states that there is no way of separating the form of a literary text from its content; a work of literature is everything at once and “the meaning is a function of the form” (p. 191). To achieve this task, a close reading of the novel and providing the readers with a synopsis of the story is essential. According to Rimmon-Kenan, this plot summary serves as the “surface narrative structure” (Kenan, 2002, p. 14) of the text. Second, it examines the themes that come out through the textual analysis. Third, it explores the narrative techniques that pass along the themes, focusing principally on the art of characterization, epistolary, intertextuality, and setting. Lodging the text in its social and historical context is an important methodological step to perceive themes and meanings, for it is regarded as necessary that the writer is a part of the society and the environment he is symbolizing. However, this article’s major aim is to give a critical account of Ali Al-Muqri’s vision and philosophical world. He employs the past as it will be elaborated “to envision a space for harmonious Muslim-Jewish relations, but the impacts of the present mean that even in the fictional environment, possibilities are limited” (Irving, 2016, p. 359).

The Handsome Jew

The Handsome Jew by Al-Muqri (2009) has received many literary accolades and awards and translated into other languages including French, Italian, and English. It is an exceptional novel in modern Arabic literature that deals with a topic that has been avoided for ages by Arab writers dealing with Jews as citizens, not as non-Muslim subjects living in a Muslim country. To Al-Muqri, the Jews in Yemen and the Arab world represent a humanitarian ordeal reflected on the existential level. This is because the clash between them and other religious sects was great, especially for the Jews of Yemen who have been marginalized throughout history. Before Islam, Judaism was not only the dominant religion in Yemen, but the Jews were the kings of Yemen. Historians established that the Jews of Yemen are among the oldest Jews in the world and were present in Yemen before the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BC (Kirwan, 199, p. 64). In the Islamic era, they were marginalized and refuted, and those who rejected the economic dependency of the central Islamic state were fought.

Toubi adds that the Jews

were forbidden to ride a horse, or even a donkey except with both legs on the same side like a woman; or to build a house more than two stores high; or to carry arms. Obviously, intermarriage was not tolerated, except by conversion, i.e., Islamization. (Toubi, 1999, p. 210)

The Jews and Muslims lived isolated from each other, and this “was in the interest of both sides, Jews as well as Muslims.” The Jews “wanted to preserve their special way of life to avoid assimilation” (p. 210). Al-Muqri vehemently rejects every aggressive stance by the traditional Islamic approach to Jews and Judaism and considers them equal. This doctrine forms part of Al-Muqri’s philosophical and social thought, which is now an integral part of his narrations, which come to defend minorities, whether religious, national, social, or gender. This philosophy is reflected in his novel The Handsome Jew, which tries to monitor the human test of the relationship between Jews and Muslims because the Jews are so strictly restricted that they do not feel that they are citizens or that they live in their homeland. Although they are Yemenis, where the society is still adhering to races, genealogies, and origins, the Jews come second from the lowest layers of society and before the servants who are rejected by the will of the people. Such marginalization may interpret the stance of the Jews and Al-Akhdam ¹ groups that abandoned their role in protests and demonstrations against Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh or even to express an opinion about the Arab Spring revolution (2011) that affected Yemen (Al-Amree, 2011).

Analysis

Perhaps it seems significant to give a brief synopsis of the plot to get an idea about what is taking place in the narrative space. The Handsome Jew tells the story of Fatima, the educated daughter of a mufti, who falls in love with a Jewish man, Salem, and marries him after a stealthy friendship and romance, lasting 7 years, carried out through secret exchange of letters and books. Although Fatima initiates the plan of tutoring Salem to read and write Arabic, opening his eyes and mind to the culture of the other, the exchange becomes mutual, with Salem teaching her Hebrew and Jewish religion and law. Upon hearing his son reciting the Qur’an, his father tries to ban Salem from attending the lessons. Fatima visits Salem’s home and convinces Salem’s father to allow Salem to resume his lessons. The lovers flee the city toward Sana’a; however, Fatima continues to perform Islamic rituals in her room. Then, she dies in childbirth. Discovering that Fatima is not Jewish, Fatima’s corpse is received neither by the Muslim cemetery nor by the Jewish cemetery. Salem discovers that their baby, Saeed, also falls victim to ethnoreligious rigidity because Jewish descent follows the female line, whereas Muslim law favors the male line; hence, Fatima’s sister rejects the child considering him a Jew. After that, Salem converts to Islam. When Salem dies, his corpse remains in the grave only one night and four people come and exhume his grave and take his body and bury it in an isolated grave far from the Muslim cemetery because they believe that he is an infidel and it is not permissible to bury him with Muslims. Fatima and Salem did not meet even in one cemetery. Finally, their graves remain empty and open.

What draws attention and changes the stereotype in the recipient’s imagination and expectation is the narrative’s title. The image of the Jew in this title abandons the familiar stereotype in Western and Arabic literature, especially in the Palestinian narrative.

In contemporary Arab writing, Jews and/or Israelis are often compared to the Crusaders, i.e., a foreign body that invaded the Middle East. The foreignness of Israel is perceived as Western, hence the terms of disparagement used against Israel, such as ‘a Western wedge in the Middle East’ and the like. (Bouskila, 1999, p. 120)

Fatima who calls Salem as “The handsome Jew”, reverses the negative image of the Jew. The adjective “handsome” bestows the Jew , a new aspect that has nothing to do with the harm that Zionist cause to the Arab world today.

The title seems to deny any negative impression that might be attached to it. It highlights the message of religious tolerance contrary to the negative attributes that have been attached to the name “Jewish” in Islamic literature throughout ages (Toubi, 2019, p. 356). Having a look at the title Al -Yehudi -Al-Halyee (The Handsome Jew), it is realized that the Yehudi (Jewish) name ranked first due to its importance and is followed by the adjective word “Halyee” that means the handsome. This adjective denies any social background, especially social race. Thus, the distorted image of the political dimensions that come to the mind is excluded from the title. The title “The Handsome Jew” does not refer to a Jew who belongs to the present time. The Jew here is far away from the receiver’s imagination that has a negative connotation usually attached to Zionist ideology, and the novel succeeds in creating a positive connotation (Judy, 2015, p. 86).

The significance of the word “handsome” in the title indicates the perspective of the novel that breaks the pattern of Arab-Yemeni cultural relationship and generates human and national meanings by avoiding intolerance, hatred, and mutual intrigues. This role is not limited to Arab Islam culture in general, and on the Yemeni culture in particular; at the same time, it is even exercised toward Judaism culture, which is full of fanaticism and hatred (Busaq & Fudhalee, 2019, p. 72) as it will be elaborated later on. In short, Al-Rubaidi concludes that the title of the narrative “is significant in revealing the worldview of the whole text. It is recognition of the beauty of the other, who deserves not only to be perceived as a full and competent human being but also to be appreciated, loved and celebrated” (Al-Rubaidi, 2018, p. 14).

The story is set in the seventeenth century, in Raidah, ² where Fatima and Salem rise above all and overcome the obstacles that emerge from bad traditions. After nearly seven decades of conflict, war, occupation, and repression, one wonders whether it is possible to find a neutral image of the Jew, far from what Arab novels, especially Palestinian ones, portray as an occupier? It is perhaps fortunate that we find fictional works such as The Handsome Jew that deal with this character far from the homeland of “Palestine,” which is presented in a realistic human way. Through his short narration and brief informative scenes, Al-Muqri presents a clear, realistic, and integrated picture of the Jews in Yemen at that time, and how their lives were and what might arise from conflicts between them, and how incidents and situations evolve into killing in many cases. It includes suppressing one sect for another, rejecting and besieging one culture for another within the Yemeni context. Jews were considered as an intruders in the country, as they migrated to Yemen, which resulted in a historical conflict in Yemen because of the followers of the two religions.

As far as our study is concerned, it is remarkable that Fatima represents Al-Muqri’s philosophy and ideal vision of human society in the twenty-first century. Offering to teach Salem reading and writing Arabic language right from the beginning seems as if the text in its entirety is based on the word “Iqra” (read, the first word revealed in Islam). What is meant here is to read freely and away from the preceding and inherited views. This motivates Salem to visit Fatima’s house to seek knowledge (Judy, 2015, p. 89).

From its inception to the end, we can infer from many instances in the novel, Al-Muqri’s intellectual philosophy. Teaching Salem reading and writing Arabic and Fatima’s visit to Salem’s house are a sort of tolerance and unity in the formation of Fatima. Yet, Salem’s father’s concern about Fatima’s teaching his son Qur’an reveals the Jewish phobia about the domination of the Muslim majority culture, dissolution of its privacy, and the loss of the identity of the Jewish minority, the identity crisis that the Jewish people go through as a marginalized and suppressed minority. This crisis is introduced right from the opening lines of the novel when Salem contemplates: “I still remember that day when I started to ask who are we? It was a big question in my head, I who wasn’t yet past ten years of age at that time. I know, only, that my name is Salem” (Al-Muqri, 2009, p. 22).

The Jews do not want to be dominated or influenced by the Muslim culture. This pushes Salem’s father, the Jew to prevent his son, Salem from learning Arabic language. Preventing Salem from studying Arabic shows fanaticism and hatred toward the other. In fact, the Muslims and the Jews try to develop their own independent identities. Salem’s reading of the Quran sparks dismay and anger throughout the Jewish Quarter. Salem’s father “was almost about to go crazy … Oh My God! … Oh My God! … this is the Quran ... this is religion of Islam. They will corrupt the son ... they will corrupt the son of the Jew” (p. 13).

However, it is only Fatima’s acceptance of all faiths, her respect and value for the privacy of the other, and her knowledge of the culture of the other that assuage Salem’s father.

What I taught him is science in the Arabic discourse, so that he can read and write. I know that he is Jewish, you have your faith, we have ours… We are descendants of Adam, and Adam is from the earth. Discourse is not only religion, in it, there is history, poetry and sciences. I say to you before God that there are many books on the shelf in our house which, if the Muslims read them, would make them love the Jews, and if the Jews read them, would make them love the Muslims. (pp. 15–16)

In fact, Fatima’s dialogue contributes to building a joint bridge between her and the Jewish family and to clearing the distorted image, or rather her culture. In this respect, Al-Rubaidi says: “The different articulations of the characters make clear how man communication can develop ways of tolerance and co-existence from within extreme sentiments and contexts of hatred and misunderstanding” (Al-Rubaidi, 2018, p. 10). Paying a visit to Salem’s home, an adventure that no Muslim woman had ever done before, breaks down the barriers established by delusions. It turns out that knowledge denies any misunderstanding between them, and for this, she addresses Salem’s father: “I think you are angry at his readings of Arab science. What I taught him is science in the Arabic discourse so he can read and write” (Al-Muqri, 2009, p. 15). Her respect and value for the humiliated Jews get Salem’s father “cheered up and brightened, like someone regaining their dignity” (p. 16). The discourse of dialogue eliminated intolerance, rejection, and fear; hence, the father agreed that Fatima should continue teaching his son. Fatima’s words affect Salem’s father to the extent that Salem says that his father “does not mind even if I become a Muslim” (p. 17).

What is good about Al-Muqri is that Fatima is not alien to her heritage, or rather a stranger to her religion. Her discourse is derived from her religion, which seems open and able to change the awareness of the self and the other together. Thus, Salem’s father describes Fatima’s speech “Your words are so sweet, logical and enter the heart, not a thousand men like you. Whatever you want do it, teach him whatever you desire, you are our lady and our crown” (p. 16). The dialogue reveals the reality of the other and expels Salem’s father’s delusions, and thus, contributes to establishing a relationship based on knowledge. Fatima’s dialogue shows respect for the privacy of the other “you have your faith; we have ours” (p. 16). It also promotes culture and demonstrates its enlightening role in establishing a feeling of love among people, be they Jews or Muslims. Love can change the direction of this conflict through a meeting of culture. Fatima affirms the unity of human belonging and the unity of destiny, “We are descendants of Adam and Adam is from the earth” (p. 16).

It is worth mentioning that Fatima does not revoke the privacy of her Jewish husband until the last moment of her life. “She never asked me to change my religion, she didn’t even ask me: ‘what is your religion?’” (p. 94). She married a Jew, and both of them keep their religions. After her death, Salem converts to Islam to be connected with her attributes that are timeless. As far as religion is concerned here, it is better to say that after Salem’s conversion, Al-Muqri criticizes the hollow jurists whose main concern is changing Salem’s name, making sure of his circumcision and cutting rid of his Zunnar ³ (p. 107). The shallow jurists care only about the formalities, and they even persist in their subjugation of man, whether Muslim or non-Muslim. The matter goes further as Salem is denied choosing his new name after his conversion to Islam. “When you are born, your father name you, yet if your father was an infidel, then you converted to Islam, then whoever name you is the religion of Islam that becomes your new father” (p. 108). Salem is helpless to fulfill his obligations because he is torn between the components of the external world of personality and the components of the outside world. This psychological alienation deepens and becomes more severe when he finds himself forced to change the name “Fatima” when she travels with him. It can be realized that the tragedy of Salem stems not from being in confrontation with destiny, but rather from a struggle with humanitarian forces formed by sectarian and religious doctrines.

Through Salem, Al-Muqri continues attacking those who distort the image of the religions that call for love and peace. Upon his son Saeed’s rejection by Muslims and Jews, Salem wonders about the religions that reject saving the life of the newborn child, Saeed. “By God, is it permissible in your religion and in your custom to leave a child whose age is one day without mercy until he dies?” (Al-Muqri, 2009, p. 101). The humanism vision of the novelist extends to include even the animals seen as a part of God’s creation. “In The Handsome Jew, animals (dogs, cats and ants) are appreciated in a mystical way, in accordance with the Sufi visions that form the basis of Fatima’s and Salim’s humanist positions” (Al-Rubaidi, 2018, p. 20). Upon sacrificing the sheep during Eid Al-Adhah, Fatima weeps acrimoniously, saying, “They killed my brother mercilessly…they killed my brother and left me alone” (p. 19). Fatima requests Salem to repair the inscription in such a way that it does not harm the ants or their house, which underlines Fatima’s sensitive, loving nature for all beings. “I invite you to clarify the inscription on the wall of our home office” (p. 60).

Al-Muqri goes on assaulting the clergy, who fuel the fire of sedition among Muslims and the people of the book, who are moving away from the spirit of forgiveness. Saleh, the muezzin, is seen asking the Jews of Raidah: “When are you going to your country? ... Where do we go…Where is our country? You say that Jerusalem is your homeland, go to there or go to hell instead” (p. 35). Perhaps one of the most important advantages of the novel is that it exposes the ignorant clerics who are far away from the tolerant spirit of religion. A reader of the narrative realizes that the prevalence of ignorance reinforces the discourse of tension and hatred between Muslims and Jews, as reflected in the Jews’ fanatic discourse. “Do not bother yourself with his words…The Jews will not only inhabit Jerusalem; they will control the whole world. When Christ, the Savior, appears, the authentic Jew will sit on the king’s throne in Jerusalem and order the annihilation of all enemies ... This is the will of the Lord” (p. 52).

The arrogant discourse establishes hatred in the hearts and destroys the possibility of coexistence. Hazza says: “I will take revenge on all Muslims even those who do nothing to me” (p. 32). This implies that Jewish people themselves bear part of the accountability for their suppression and marginalization as they never appear to have a feeling of belonging to the land they are dwelling in. Alkodimi supports such an argument saying: “Jewish people themselves bear part of the responsibility for their oppression and marginalization as they never seem to have a feeling of belonging to the land they are inhabiting” (Alkodimi, 2020, p. 7).

Al-Muqri’s message through Fatima is that religions are a unifying factor between human beings, not a factor of separation. This is manifested when Fatima addresses Salem “You are our cousins and our beloved in God and our neighbors” (Al-Muqri, 2009, p. 22). It is an attempt to draw a new style for the religious personality that embodies openness to the origins of religion and some interpretations of the enlightened jurists. That is why Fatima relied on a fatwa for Abi Abu Hanifa, who permitted an adult woman to marry herself without a guardian, and Abu al-Ma’arif Bahauddin al-Hassan Ibn Abdullah declared that a Muslim woman could marry a Jew or a Christian.

I have reached to my decision after I studied the sayings of Sharia, and I saw in it a sea of difference that brings together Muslim scholars without agreement. My guide to my decision was Imam Al-Jalil Abu Hanifa who, permitted an adult woman to marry herself without a guardian, and Abu al-Ma’arif Bahauddin al-Hassan Ibn Abdullah declared that a Muslim woman can marry a Jew or Christian. (p. 74)

Fatima chooses what suits her without deviating from her religion, which shows that diversity and difference are a means of acquaintance and openness, not a means of hostility and hatred. She resorts to the opinion of jurists to seek the legitimacy of what she has to do (Busaq & Fudhalee, 2019, p. 75). However, she has taken the marriage decision after a radical transformation in Salem’s personal and religious identity, as she equipped him with a reading experience that enabled him to know the Islamic and Jewish heritages, then provided him with the skill of writing to become a historian of the events of his era.

It can be said that due to her cultural and religious expertise, Fatima overcomes fanatic thought despite the difficulties she faces. What is striking about Fatima’s relationship is that she strives to build it on an epistemic basis. She is not satisfied with the emotion that may blind and cause deafness. On the contrary, she believes that culture is the one that enlightens the path of man and woman and guides them to a new world that can accommodate them regardless of their religions or customs. Thus, Fatima not only teaches Salem to reading and write Arabic, but rather she learns from him. “Please kindly teach me the Jewish law” (Al-Muqri, 2009, p. 22). They exchange Arabic and Hebrew books “I will give you some books in Arabic…and you give me books in Hebrew” (p. 43). This also confirms Fatima’s credibility about tolerance and acceptance of the other when she asks the Jew to teach her Hebrew telling him that she “knows a lot about Judaism, perhaps more than some Jews” (p. 21).

In this way, Ali Al-Muqri creates his own salvation utopia, which affirms that dismantling fanaticism can be done by accepting the values of multiculturalism. In this respect, Magda Hamoud says:

Cognitive openness will not lead to the cancellation of the other’s identity as there are broad human prospects that encompass human beings, regardless of the diversity of their religions, races, and ideas. Fatima is also able to exceed the limits set by the patriarchal authority. She listens to an inner call in which her faithful heartbeats and manages to spread love and sympathy. (Hamoud, 2012, p. 38)

Her death in childbirth is nothing but a symbol of her sacrifice to create awareness among her next generation. When she is dying, she appeals to her husband, saying, “This is my will if I die, give it to our son” (Al-Muqri, 2009, p. 92). Fatima’s death is a symbolic cargo, for it carries many additional feminist undertones. It “signifies female self-assertion and self-empowerment; it constitutes the final act of her rejection of male oppression and domination” (Tijani, 2009, p. 49).

The universe in Al-Muqri’s vision is one family where there is no difference between one creature and another. Thus, Fatima sees Salem as a human being and one of God’s creatures, and not as the others look at him. The superiority of the other is not tolerated by the new Jewish generation armed with knowledge. Assad, the Jew, wonders, “Where did the Jews come from, didn’t God create them…” (p. 49). The message here is a call for coexistence, acceptance of differences, love, peace, and forgiveness. In fact, “It is our differences that can make us stronger: variety is not only the spice of life, but it is of the utmost importance in evolving into a healthy society and a healthy species” (Junghare, 2015, p. 218).

It is a call for linking the past to the complicated realities of today’s Arab world “where religions can be open doors to co-existence rather than serve as barriers” (Al-Rubaidi, 2018, p. 10). This is clear in the message sent to Salem congratulating him on the Jew Holy Eid. She wishes for Muslims and Jews and for “the followers of all religions, for those who have no religion, the safety of days and the joy of eternity” (Al-Muqri, 2009, p. 59). This quotation exhibits that Fatima represents the ideal human condition, which attempts to restore the civilized, rational, and logical Islam.

This bridge of understanding established by Fatima passes on to the new generation. Saeed, Salem’s son, tells his father that he married a girl whose mother is a Jew. “We got married your way with my mother, Fatima. She told me, ‘I marry you’ and, I said, ‘I accept’” (p. 136). This demonstrates the vital role of younger generations in accepting the other, in contrast to the parents’ generation whose acceptance of the other is not without fear that this knowledge will cancel privacy. Thus, we hear Salem’s father addressing his son, “Learn from them how to read and write, this is reasonable, but be careful, beware that you learn their religion and their Qur’an ... they are Muslim, my son and we are Jews, have you understood?” (p. 11). After Fatima’s death, Salem becomes keen on adopting her style, method of thinking, and behavior to spread understanding and reinforce bridges of communication. Therefore, he is interested in instilling in his grandson the culture of openness and respecting all religions. This means that raising children well and establishing family necessitate gaining knowledge as the passion alone will not be able to withstand the forces of darkness. That is why Fatima, right from the beginning, infuses in Salem love of knowledge. It is not strange to say that the novelist is able to embody through Fatima’s sayings and actions, the ability of an open mind to change by relying on knowledge and love (Hamoud, 2012, p. 40).

Generally speaking, ignorance deprives Muslims and Jewish of the blessing of living in peace. That is why Salem, after the death of his wife, suffers from injustice, hatred, and lack of supportive feelings. He tries to search among the followers of Islam and Judaism for someone to care for his infant son, Saeed, but in vain. This can be attributed to the fact that appearance is the yardstick of evaluation by the commoners. “My Zunnar are hanging on both sides of my head kept Muslims away from taking one merciful look at me. Nor did they intercede for me among the Jews” (Al-Muqri, 2009, p. 101). This deformation is inflicted even on children who have an aggressive dialogue since their tender age. They imitate adults in using this discourse. We find Hussein while playing, wants to exile Salem, the Jew asking, “where do you belong?” “...from Raidah…this countryside,” Salem said. However, the boy shouted, “It is not your father’s…this is our homeland…you are an infidel Jew” (p. 22). A child stripped another child of the right to belong to the homeland. This shows Al-Muqri’s sympathy with the Jews seen inferior to the extent a Muslim when referring to the Jew, adds “Azak Allah,” a form of apology for referring to a dirty creature or as if he would hear the name of an imperfect person or something, not dear or generous (Al-Muqri, 2009, p. 105).

However, such ill discourse has no place in the dictionary of Fatima. Yet, it is found among ignorant people who do not read Qur’an, which calls for equality and tolerance. Salem tells us that “Their eyes were casting evil. They wanted to kill us. They will kill us because of what I did with Fatima because they believed that it was against their religion” (p. 145). It seems that the novelist attacks both Muslims and Jews who hold the accountability of the discourse of hatred and exclusion as they practice physical violence in the novel against Jewish and Muslim youth together, especially when they use the discourse of prohibition, which prohibits marriage of the young people who love each other. Qasem (Muslim) and Nashwa (Jew) commit suicide together after being prohibited to get married (p. 61). Perhaps what distinguishes this novel is that it does not limit the discourse of thinking and exclusion to one party without the other. What happened to Salem after the death of his wife, Fatima, is a fine example. Salem says: “I tried to convince them that she had married me after her persuasion that her marriage does not contradict Islam” (p. 94).

Al-Muqri’s philosophy views marriage as a symbol of tolerance. Thus, Fatima’s marriage to Salem seems to be a translation of this philosophy that calls for tolerance and human partnership that crosses all red lines, even if it comes to religious beliefs and acceptance of the beliefs of the other. To maintain relations, Fatima changes her name to become Fatimah (female Jew name). The significance of the names (Fatima and Futtima) is that they share most of the letters to the extent that the receiver feels that there is a meeting between the two discourses that belong to Siamese. The historical depth of the two religions reveals the extent of their nodal, linguistic, and civilizational affinity.

Fatima’s marriage with Salem violates the laws of sectarian hierarchy, including that a Jew has no right to ride horses or a donkey and that a Jew has no right to build a house above Muslim houses or to carry a weapon. “We Jewish are not allowed to ride a horse, but we can ride a donkey on the condition that we do not pass in front of sitting Muslim” (Al-Muqri, 2009, p. 82). During their elopement to Sana’a, Salem says,

I felt that I was in a dream. I never imagined that I would appear on a donkey back in front of a Muslim, so how can I believe that I go before him riding on his presence and desire. As for my wife is a Muslim, I am not in a dream. (p. 83)

Though Al-Muqri shows that hostility and intolerance come from both Jews and Muslims, he does not deny that Muslims have power, expressed in a ban on Jewish homes being taller than those of Muslims (p. 58). The novel seeks to search for presumed rationality and rare formulas for the voice of love amid an atmosphere of religious struggles overwhelmed by hostility and hatred. Fatima seeks to overcome this hostility or to return to the foundations of religion and its marked tolerance and acceptance of the other. The story of Salem and Fatima’s love is nothing but the story of this hostile history, where religion is an identity and affiliation, not the homeland, as it is the place of life, birth, and death. Driven by her love, Fatima seeks to overcome this enmity, or to return to the foundations of religion and its tolerance, and acceptance of the other.

The novelist goes further to say there are many roads that unite people rather than separating them. Upon questioning Fatima, if she would prefer to listen to Jewish music or Arab music, her reply is “Listen, there is no such thing as Jewish art or Arab art ... There is only art, art or no art” (p. 46). To support such a view, the novelist introduces the Jewish poet and mystic Salem Al-Shanbazi, who is loved by Jews and Muslims (p. 47). Art is not limited to dancing, singing, or otherwise, but it is embodied in sculpture and the procurement industry. The art is also associated with religion. The way in which Quran as well as Torah is recited pleasantly is art. Moreover, calling for prayer is raised in an enjoyable manner. This means art has a share among us because it addresses the soul and goes to the core of things and dissolves negative distinctions between people.

The result is that throughout the years of their friendship and courtship, Fatima respects and values Salem’s Jewishness; she admires his side locks and insists that neither should expect the other to convert for them to marry. In this regard, Irving says:

al-Muqri explicitly states that neither converts in order to marry; rather than seeking to achieve hybridity, he seems rather to be demanding the right to be different but equal within an environment of radical tolerance, in which difference—as Ella Shohat has demanded—should be admissible and celebratory, rather than elided by a hybridism that ignores specificity and power differentials. (Irving, 2016, p. 353)

It is clear from the above discussion that the best title of the novel could be “Fatima Doctrine,” as it is Fatima around whom the whole plot moves, both in her life and in her death. From her words and actions, Al-Muqri crystallizes his ideas of equality, which does not differentiate between humans based on religion, origin, lineage, and gender. The narrative “voices its idealistic aspirations, i.e., equality of all regardless of their race, birthplace or religion, in the voice of Fatima” (Alkodimi, 2020, p. 8). In one scene, Fatima addresses Salem telling him that they belong to each other and there is no difference between them whatsoever: “Allah, the Almighty, is the creator of all of us: Muslims, Jews, Christians, the Magi, Hindus, and the infidels” (Al-Muqri 2009, p. 75).

This means Al-Muqri’s belief is universal, and that Fatima represents his philosophy in the twenty-first century. Yet, through Salem, Al-Muqri reaffirms that equality between people, whatever they are different, is Fatima’s real path. In his philosophical logic, influenced by the idea of Fatima’s private equality, Salem does not break his connection and sympathy with his Jewish community despite his loyalty to Fatima’s path and his life within the Muslim community. He does not abandon them during their ordeal, and he goes with them to Muza’a to bear some of their hardship and fatigue. In his philosophical logic, influenced by the idea of private equality of his wife, Fatima, his reply to his son Saeed who leaves for Muza’a is “It is true, calamities and the pain unite people. They become equal regardless of their religion, or their origin, color, or gender” (p. 136).

This sympathy for Muslims and Jews alike is passed on by inheritance to grandson Ibrahim, who lives many years confused about his identity until he arrives at a simple decision “I am from Fatima and the handsome Jew, and back to them. They are my past origin and my next lineage” (p. 143). The narrative provides us with examples in which both sects find themselves sharing the same destiny. The poor Jews and Muslims participated in persecution and oppression. Dessert is forbidden for them. “These sweets are brought in from Aden, and they are very expensive. They are only eaten by the Imam and his workers. Neither the Jews nor the Muslims can obtain it” (p. 24). In this regard, Magda Hamoud says: “In this way, the political tyranny is embodied through social oppression practiced on humans regardless of religion” (Hamoud, 2012, p. 44). Another example is that “They are good, but they have become cruel…although they are like Jews. All of us are under one guillotine, which threatens us daily with execution” (p. 36).

Al-Muqri connects two central aspects of his philosophical belief in which no one can exist in the absence of the other because each is formed from the other: equality and culture. One cannot be a bearer of views calling for equality, and at the same time, he is ignorant of the culture of the other. The one who is familiar with the different cultures of the world can call for equality. Those who believe in the ideas of equality seek to understand different cultures out of their belief in equality. This orientation is similar to that of Fatima, who deals with absolute equality to the extent that it reaches the point of attachment to a Jew. Though Fatima is older and commences the relationship, Salem is not a lesser partner. She is keen on marrying him, leaving behind her Islamic customs and traditions. What concerns her is to marry him and to form a family with a Jew whom Muslims overrule.

Fatima’s ambiguous visit reveals the absence of equality and the humiliation of the Jews in their relationship with Muslims in Yemen in the seventeenth century. The inferior view with which Jews regard themselves and the vulnerability they display to Muslims is striking. An insult is remarkable in the words of Salem’s father who wishes to tell Fatima the truth. The Jew speaks in a discourse of courtesy that elevates the Islamic self. He says: “…your position is great and grand beside us, and your father is higher than our heads,” then he soon turns into a discourse that magnifies Muslims and underestimate them “…all Muslims are our masters, and we don’t tell them: No, never …” (p. 15). The recipient realizes the voice of the Jewish minority, which fears the anger of the majority. All this to tell Fatima that he does not want his son to learn the Qur’an. Fatima’s visit also discloses another dimension that heals Islamic ally as Fatima expresses to Salem’s father her respect for the religion of the Jews, indicating equality between people.

Not only that, but it is Fatima who takes the initiative to teach and expand Salem’s awareness by teaching him the Arabic language, which represents the culture of the other. She is keen to learn the culture of the other to expand her culture and knowledge. The novel tackles an important element in social life. Fatima tries to teach Salem the Arabic discourse and the concepts of the Holy Qur’an in exchange for teaching her the Hebrew discourse; each contributed to adding a new discourse to the other. This means the meeting of Salem and Fatima does not stop at the state of infatuation, which leads her to call him “the handsome Jew” and then offers to marry him. But that their relationship also rises against the knowledge background that Fatima develops with her decision to teach him reading and writing Arabic and in return, he teaches her Hebrew and their exchange of the writings of Muslims and Jews belonging to a culture of coexistence and rationalism, such as Ibn Hazm Al-Andalusi and Al-Shabsi. Fatima appears to be a Jewish religious scholar and a researcher in Islamic law. Abu Hanifa, as she says, permitted “an adult woman to marry herself without a guardian,” and “Abu al-Ma’arif Bahauddin al-Hassan Ibn Abdullah” declared that a Muslim woman can marry a Jew or a Christian (Al-Muqri, 2009, p. 74). Anyway, Fatima remains a unique title in this novel or a discourse that belongs to a young generation who rebels against blind obedience and is illuminated by a religion that opposes the power of violence, ignorance, and hatred.

Going further, the novel implies that human instincts are too strong to be suppressed by beliefs and that the religious texts of all kinds are subject to interpretation according to human needs. This is obvious as Fatima wants to keep Salem, the Jew, next to her; she tells her parents that she will teach him Arabic to attract him to Islam. She is guided by a special interpretation of the hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, that no child is born except on the Fitrah [nature]), and then his parents make him Jewish or Christian. Fatima says

My father has his interpretation of the texts of the books and does not fully accept what I said. I explained that the hadith does not say that the parents’ son could also become Muslim. The speech is directed at Muslims, calling them to work to Islamize the children of the Jews, Christians and the infidels who are still natural. (p. 88)

When Salem asked her if her goal was to really make him a Muslim, her reply was, “In fact, I do not know if your handsome small face was behind my desire to stay with me, or Hadith of the Prophet, may the prayers and peace be upon him, or both” (p. 88).

Narrative Technique

The novel works on a narrative idea that no one has the right to transcend the barrier of belief to build equal human relationships that allow each party to accept the other. Both Fatima and Salem alternate narrating the story to convey the idea of civilized dialogue, equality, and cultural communication. The novelist seeks to establish the principle of equality; this equality is based on the text in general, through the formulation of events around the romantic relationship between the Muslim girl, Fatima and the Jew, Salem. The flashback technique is employed to bring the events back to the seventeenth century to emphasize the historical dimension of the novel. The history is a mask for contemporary political issues, the most important of which is the relationship with the other, which is racially, religiously, and ideologically different.

Dialogue that respects the privacy of the other has contributed to the elimination of negative feelings, intolerance, rejection, fear, and the elimination of misunderstanding between the ego and the other. Al-Muqri depends on it to draw the characters, determine their traits, and detect their emotions, psychological dimensions, and their positions toward the events and the surrounding situations. In it, the interlocutors get rid of fanaticism and extremism. It is also the first and essential step on the path to peaceful coexistence in societies. Due to the fact that the dialogue reflects the level of intellectual personality and its nature, the discourse of dialogue ranged between two patterns: a discourse of love and tolerance represented by Fatima and Salem and the discourse of violence and hostility uttered by the ignorant people of both religions.

The epistolary technique is employed to reveal the escalated relationship between Fatima and Salem. Its importance lies in expressing the bitterness of their distance from each other and their psychological frustration from the social environment and sectarian and doctrinal division. Thus, the letter functions as “a bridge” between Fatima and Salem. In this sense, it connects the two lovers around them the narrative revolves. According to Janet Altman, the importance of letters acts “as portrait/mask, presence/absence, bridge/barrier” (Altman, 1982, p. 186).

The characters play an essential role in embodying the idea of the novelist. Life is breathed into the characters and ideas of the novel in a way that harmonizes with Al-Muqri’s vision; for example, Fatima’s name is symbolic. Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, is sacred and loved among Muslims. Her name is suitable for Muslims and Jews (Fatima and Futtima).

Moreover, her name reveals the historical depth of the two religions and the extent of their ideological, linguistic, and civilizational convergence. Moreover, the name grants her ideas of tolerance and religious dimension. Salem’s name, a symbol of peace, is the name of Rabbi Shalom al-Shabazi, the most revered person among the Jews and Muslims in Yemen. The significance of the name “Ibrahim,” the grandson of Fatima and Salem, has its special symbol; Ibrahim is the father of the Israeli people and the father of the Ismaili nation, Judaism, and Islam.

The novel managed to relieve the pressure of different traditions by establishing an exceptional relationship between Fatima and Salem, nurtured not only by feelings but also by the spiritual culture established by the scriptures. This means intertextuality has been used in this narrative; Fatima used the Holy Qur’an and Prophet Muhammad’s sayings to strengthen her opinion with some verses that recognized the right of difference and equality and reveals the connotation of freedom of belief. The hadith is used to broaden the significance of cosmic unity, which unites a person regardless of his identity and belief. As a technical term, intersexuality, according to Adolphe Haberer, “is a concept often associated with postmodernism, more particularly with that sphere of postmodernism where literature encounters critical theory” (Haberer, 2007, p. 54). The magic of the narration is manifested through simple discourse. This simplicity takes us from one event to another without feeling that we are reading; at the same time, we do not feel weary, as the narrative discourse formed a cornerstone of the novel’s aesthetics (Judy, 2015, pp. 119–120).

The ending of the narrative seems ambiguous where Ibrahim seems no longer to be in Yemen, “implying that this mixed Muslim-Jewish line can only survive in exile” (Irving, 2016, p. 358). It declares in its way the defeat of the Jewish–Islamic meeting in front of those who reject it from both sides, whether in the distant past or today. Al-Qadhi adds that the ending of the narrative carries only one meaning with what Salem called “Fatima Doctrine” he believed in his entire life: the good people of any religion and of any sect are those who rule. There is no solution except for forgiveness and reconciliation, and with them, peace is possible (Al-Qadhi, 2019, p. 421).

Conclusion

Perhaps we can sum up our reading to this novel saying that The Handsome Jew is a prominent piece of fiction based on Al-Muqri’s philosophy of humanism first and before any other consideration, and on the idea of citizenship and equality away from deadly affiliations. It is about Al-Muqri’s vision that transcends the confinement of religious belief and is based on the knowledge that requires accepting the beliefs of individuals as cross-cultural perceptions that do not promote estrangement. This means the root of all virtues is knowledge; thus, the first thing Fatima does is teaching Salem. Through Fatima and Salem, the narrative tries to highlight coexistence between religions and the possibility of achieving dogmatic stability in one society. This can be achieved through rethinking of the other, which is what Fatima and Salem, that is, the protagonists, call for. It is a call for rethinking in our cruelty toward those who are religiously different because such brutality turns back toward us at the same time. Rethinking in our relationship with the other will lead us to a coalition-dominated society even if we disagree.

Through “Fatima Doctrine,” the novelist calls people of different religions and culture to try to figure out the best in each faith and integrate them in mutual respect where each party is not obliged to give up her/his religion in favor of the other, but in accordance with “Fatima Doctrine” where people continue living according to their religions. The one who is familiar with the different cultures of the world can call for equality. Those who believe in the ideas of equality seek to understand different cultures out of their belief in equality. This means coexistence can be realized through the philosophy of dialogue, the culture of understanding, and accepting the other with a transcendent spirit and breaking all restrictions of intolerance in all its forms. It can be realized through interpreting religious texts in a way that preaches inter-religious tolerance, acceptance of the other and the different. The universal liberal values can be interpreted as religious texts according to human needs as it happens with Fatima’s interpretation of hadith to keep Salem next to her.

The narrative focuses on the cultural reconstruction of the Arab mind based on an open reading of what we have in our heritage of texts that depend on love, tolerance, and open dialogue, embodied by the “Fatima Doctrine” that opposes the power of violence, ignorance, and hate. The narrative gets rid of the negative connotation of the Jew, which haunts the imagination of the Arab recipient in this era and manages to surround it with the discourse of love.

Believing in open dialogues at all levels and between all parties, internally and externally, is essential for a healthy society because the dialogue is a gate to coexistence and problem-solving. Coexistence between religions can be achieved through knowledge of the culture of the other. What brings the lovers (Salem and Fatima) together is not emotion alone but also the love of knowledge. However, such coexistence is not utopian in which “difference” is eclipsed but an approach that claims that the possibility of diversity remains present with all the implied cultural variation.

The novel reflects a new model of the Jewish personality in the Arabic novel, Salem, who holds human traits that we are not used to in the Arabic novel that deals with the Jew, and in particular, the Israeli Jew. He is presented in a completely realistic human way. The portrait of the protagonist of the novel is not naive, as the novel does not neglect the historical conflict between Muslims and Jews since the birth of Islam. On the contrary, the novel deals with a historical stage in the history of Yemen, specifically in the seventeenth century, a novel in which we see the aesthetic sense of a person who removes all factors of separation and sectarian, ethnic and religious hatred.