Islamophobia in English Novels.

Presently I am reading a novel by Wilbur Smith called, “Those in Peril”.

I have read several of his novels before and enjoyed them because of their tightly knit themes, racy story telling and the fact that many of them were based in Africa.

In this novel, Smith has gone hammer and tongs at the Muslims and Islam, misrepresenting our religion, its culture and its people in such an amateurish, flag waving way that I was quite astounded. As a matter of fact, he reminded me of another bigot, Tom Clancy.

It is a simplistic story about the heroine who is the owner of an Oil Company. The hero is a security man and the first victim is the heroine’s daughter who is kidnapped and held for ransom, tortured and raped. And all this is done by “Muslim” pirates for some kind of obscure vendetta against the hero and heroine.

At every opportunity and every turn, Smith has tried to represent Islam as the cause of what happens in the novel. The White Caucasians are pure and principled. The Black Muslims are impure and impious in the extreme. There is no need for subliminal messages in this book. It is full of one long diatribe against Islam.

Read the following ridiculous passage on page 23 where the “Muslim villain” is “praying” in the following words:

‘In the sight of Allah the Merciful and of his prophet I declare that I am Adam Abdul Tippoo Tip and that from the day of my birth I have embraced Islam and I am now and have always been a true believer. I confess my sins in that I have cohabited with the infidel and have taken unto myself the infidel name of Rogier Marcel Moreau. I pray your pardon for these deeds; which I have committed only in the service of Islam and of Allah the most Merciful and not by my own wishes or desires.’

Not a single Muslim in the world would recognize this as some kind of Muslim prayer or dua’. May Allah guide all the Wilbur Smiths of this world to the truth and justice. In the meantime, this rotten book is definitely not recommended.

Wa salamu ‘alaykum.