A Place of Refuge

Reviewed by: Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander, Srinagar, Kashmir

Published by: Toronto, Canada: Ruqaya’s Bookshelf, 2020, 173pp. ISBN: 978-1989079133.

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The Qurʾān informs us that all people are subjected to trials in their short existence on this earth (Qurʾān 21:35). They all have to be tested, in order to be rewarded or punished in the hereafter, based on how they react to those tests. Moreover, people try to find meanings in the tests that befall them. Death, though, is one of the greatest trials. Islam emphasis that we all need to prepare for a different kind of life after death. Death is not the end of life, but only the initiation of a new immortal life. However, not all deaths are viewed through the same lenses or judged by the same scale, as is also the case with all trials of life. Each death is different, some deaths provide a sense of closure, while others create new problems for those left behind, resulting in new trials for them.

In the work under review, Asmaa Hussein engages the reader with these questions of death, trials, resilience and overcoming trauma. Her husband, Amr, who was killed during the 2013 protests in Egypt. These mass protests were staged against the coup of the Egyptian army that overthrew the legitimately elected government of Mohamed Morsi. Amr was shot by a sniper while taking part in these protests. At the age of just 27, Asmaa found herself a widow with a child, baby Ruqaya, who was just nine months old. All this happened a mere three years after their marriage.