The Savage and Other Short Islamic Stories

Reviewed by: Abdullah Drury, University of Waikato, New Zealand

Published by: Claritas Books, Swanse, 2018, 175pp. ISBN: 9781905837113.

This is a good read. The Savage and Other Short Islamic Stories is an effort by British-New Zealand scholar and author Joel Hayward to contribute to Muslim fiction through tales predicted upon Islamic themes and tropes. There are stories here revolving around the Sahabah and contemporary issues alike, with personal experiences and the Muslim community clearly at the foreground.

Literature is not simply a dull bullet-point list of dates and facts, names and events. Usually it is a vivid and lucid competition between different characters and their emotions, between contrasting narratives and interpretations of the past, and rigorous debates about what particular issues should be more pronounced in contemporary society. Historical fiction is a complex discipline that absorbs multiple understandings and emphasis of the past, partly because myth has always been a potent force within religious history (whatever theological precepts that faith may hold). In one sense, fiction is often truer than ‘the truth’ of a mundane description of events: good fiction serves to distil inner truths and insights into the human condition, and present it in a concentrated form. This is one of the reasons why novels are so attractive.