In the Name of God

I was a bit stunned by this book; I'd never read anything like it before. I didn't like Nadia or her self-righteous zealotry, but I could understand her and why she was the way she was, and I give the author kudos for being able to put me, a normal WASP American girl from Ohio, into the shoes of a fundamentalist Muslim from Syria. A possible companion book would be Robert Cormier's After the First Death, which is also about terrorism from the perspective of the terrorists themselves.

The only thing I didn't like about this book was the ending. It was a plausible way out, I suppose, but it felt like a cop-out to me. It was as if Paula Jolin suddenly lost her nerve.

Jolin shines in her first novel, In the Name of God. Nadia, a 17 year old girl, lives in Syria. She faces a world of strongly opinionated people where war, religion, and America are common, yet dangerous topics to speak of. When her cousin is arrested, Nadia decides that she must act in the name of her religion and make a point--even one that involves a suicide bombing. This story profiles the culture in the Middle East and offers a different view point of Americans. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who would like to see how radicals in the Middle East view Americans and justify their actions--it's all in the name of God.

Nadia wants to be known as a dedicated Muslim. However, in the beginning of the book, she doesn't want it as badly. But when her friend/cousin gets captured, she builds up hatred for all Americans. When she meets a "begger" on the streets she starts seeing and doing things that never crossed her mind before. This book lets people see the Musilim's POV on the war.

Nadia is 17, growing up in Syria after 9-11. She is a strict Muslim, and is confused by her family's less-than-strict devotion and obsession with America and western ways. When she meets a boy who seems to share her views, she gets drawn into a radical branch of Islam and decides to help them make a bomb. When she further offers to deliver the bomb, she approaches a crossroad in her existence and beliefs.

Nadia is a Syrian and devote Muslim. She is troubled by her family's seeming desertion of their faith, disgusted by her cousins' obsessions with boys and clothes and American values. Except for one slightly older male cousin. He still seems to be devote in his faith. In fact, he is so devote, that he is arrested for being a terrorist. This leads Nadia to track down another man who knew her cousin and add her support to their fanatic causes. This is a great look into the mind of a fanatic, you really sympathize with Nadia and her desire to see her family live justly.

Everyday we can observe it in the news and everyone knows Syria is a conflicted place. The life there is hard; no one is sure who to trust, who might be working for the government, or who might come to arrest you with no notice and seemingly no reason. Living in middle of Damascus the capital city of Syria, the seventeen-year-old teenager girl Nadia truly struggles with the whole circumstances. She is troubled by her family's seeming drifting away of their faith and totally disgusted by her cousins' approach to American values. The only thing where she can hold on is her devotion to Islam. Supported in her belief she becomes by her cousin Fowzi who seems to be the only one who understands her way of thinking. She truly believes in a show more modern education and wants to go on to university to study medicine rather than marry young and raise a family immediately. But she also follows the strict dress code of the Koran by wearing the hijab and acting modestly, as she thinks a proper Muslim woman should.

All around her, however, people who share her ideas on Islam are being arrested, thrown in prison and tortured, including her cousin Fowzi for whom she secretly has feelings of admiring. To her it seems as if her whole family doesn’t really care about it and that they are too much distracted with their own thoughts. Nadia knows she wants revenge for her cousin and Nadia’s opportunity comes soon in the form of a young man named Walid, who is sympathetic to Nadia’s more fundamentalist Muslim beliefs.

Soon she is captured by his thinking and quickly falls for Walid’s ideas. The main idea is simple; free the Islamic from every western influence. But how far will Nadia go and will anyone be able to stop her or will she maintain to get caught in the claws of this radical group?

I loved this book because it asks engaging questions about the system of the Islam and its disunity. The role of women is also a much discussed topic and to me it seems to be a very important one. It paints a great picture about the middle-east and its culture and is a great written book which is really interesting to read. show less

This was a truly amazing book- I'd wanted to read it the first time I laid eyes on it. I've always been facinated by the middle-east and Muslim culture, especially the woman's role. And I've learned about that from this book. I'd call it an almost tradgedy. This next part will be opinionated but it is my true opinion. Also, from the book, I finally was able to tell how Islam is truly different from Christianity. In the Qur'an- as quoted from the book- it says "Those who believe fight in the cause of God. And those who reject Faith fight in the cause of Evil: So fight against the friends of Satan: feeble indeed is the cunning of Satan." (Pg. 194-195) Whereas the Qur'an says to fight against the people who follow Satan, the Bible says to show more fight Satan. After all, whether we choose to be Muslim or Christian, we are born sinners. So, essensially, we are born 'friends of Satan'. Now, in the history of Christianity, we have gone on holy crusades and fought and killed people in the name of God so Christians are not perfect. But the Bible does not tell us to have holy crusades whereas the Qur'an does. Now if I'm wrong and it doesn't say to do that, please do correct me. I've never actually read the Qur'an. I've heard what it says from other people, some of them Muslim themselves. But my point is the difference between Islam and Christianity is this: one says to convert nonbelievers by force. If they do not want to believe, kill them. The other says, if they do not want to convert, do not pressure them. God will lead them if they are meant to be one if his chosen. I believe the second choice. show less