- ʿAlī Aḥmad Bākthīr’s (1910 – 1969, Egypt) play Hārūt wa Mārūt (‘Harut and Marut’, 1962) refers to the Koranic story of the two angels who descended onto earth to become judges in the palace of the king of Babel, where they wreak havoc.
- ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-Ḥabībī (1950-, Morocco) – Taghrībah al-ʿAbdī al-Mashhūr bi-Walad al-Ḥamriyyah (‘The expatriation of Al-Abdi, known as the son of Al-Hamriya’, 2013). When the young Moroccan ʿAbīd finds an old manuscript at a local market, he tries to find a supervisor who is willing to research it with him (reference). His search fails however, and he decides to perform the Ḥajj pilgrimage instead, embarking on a 35 years long trip, starting from the Moroccan city of Āsfī, full of adventures which are described using styles familiar to the Arabic literary heritage. Furthermore, the novel uses elements of the taghrībah of the Banī Hilāl, stories that describe the tribe’s life and adventures and refer to the Quran and the Ḥadīth of the prophet (also in L: Cultural and Literaty Heritage: Classical Arabic Literature: Riḥlāt Stories).
- Mūsā Walid Ibindū (1956-, Mauritania) – Ḥajj 2053, Riḥlat Munīr Uwyū (‘Hajj 2053, the travel of Munir Uqyu’, 2021) describes the pilgrimage in the year 2053, in which an American agency offers package service for pilgrims including far advanced technology, such eye implants that feed on the sun and a program to download the Qur’an, the biography of the Prophet, the rituals of Hajj, and the most important Arabic language books to the pilgrims’ brain (reference) (also in Speculative Fiction: Science Fiction: On Earth).
- Ibrāhīm ʿĪssā (1965- , Egypt) – Mawlānā (2012, English trans. The Televangelist, 2016) centers Ḥātim, an Azhar-trained shaykh who becomes a popular TV preacher in Egypt. Through its protagonist the novel refers to citations and interpretations of the Quran and different fatwas. It furthermore shows the world of Egypt’s elite in politics, film, business, the military, and religion, as the plot is set around the youngest brother-in-law of the ‘president’s son’, who the shaykh is to make return to Islam after his decision to convert to Christianity (reference).
- Maḥmūd al-Masʿadī (1911 – 2004, Tunisia) – Ḥaddatha Abū Hurayrah Qāl (‘Thus spoke Abu Huraira’. 1973). Written before 1940, but published only in 1973, this novel uses its main character Abū Hurayah, to explore deep existential and philosophical questions using references to the Quran and different Islamic thinkers. Abū Hurayah lives a religiously devoted life in Mecca, until a friend invites him to step out of his rigid lifestyle. The novel employs Islamic heritage and mythology, and stylistically reforms the narrative form of Ḥadīth (also in H: Historical novels: Jāhilīyyah (before 610 CE)).
Refrences:
In order of appearance
- al-Kabīr al-Dādīsī. 2018. Masārāt al-riwāyah al-ʿarabiyyah al-muʿāṣirah, Muʾassah al-raḥāb al-ḥadīthah: Bayrūt, p. 166
- Alakhbar. 2021. “‘Ḥajj 2053’ Riwāyah Jadīdah lil-Kātib al-Kabīr Mūsā Anbū.” www.alakhbar.info, 31 July 2021 https://alakhbar.info/?q=node/34534 (last accessed 23 November 2021)
- Marcia Lynx Qualey. 2016. “Book review: The Televangelist by Ibrahim Essa – a glimpse behind Egypt’s curtains of power.” www.thenational.ae, 4 April 2016, https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/book-review-the-televangelist-by-ibrahim-essa-a-glimpse-behind-egypt-s-curtains-of-power-1.147772 (last accessed 12 February 2019)