Minaret by Leila Aboulela

Leila Aboulela is a prolific Sudanese writer that writes in English. She was born in 1964 in Cairo, to an Egyptian mother and a Sudanese father. She moved to Sudan and grew up in Khartoum until 1987. She attended the Khartoum American School where she learnt English. Later, she studied at the Sister’s School, a private catholic high school. She graduated with a degree in 1985 with a degree economics from the University of Khartoum, majoring in statistics. She then travelled to Britain where she was awarded a M. Sc. and an MPhil in Statistics from the London School of Economics. In 1990 Leila moved to Scotland with her husband and children. Then she started writing in 1992 while working as a lecturer in Aberdeen College and later as a Research Assistant in Aberdeen University. Since 2000, Leila and her family have lived in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha. She is the author of three novels: The Translator (1999), Minaret (2005) and Lyrics Alley (2010).
Minaret (2005) tells the story of Najwa, an aristocratic Sudanese woman who was forced to escape her country and went into exile in Britain. She was in her turning point in her life where her life just went from luxuries to hardship. She was struck by misfortune events that destroy her family. However later in her life, she found something that can protect her life from crumbling. She then found Islam. She turned to the true Islamic teachings and became a devout and pious woman and started to change completely, physically and mentally.
Aboulela focused on the story of Najwa who was migrated to Britain. Minaret (2005) tells the power of transformation. In this story, the transformation of a woman becomes the central idea. In page 1, Najwa says “I’ve come down in the world. I’ve slid to a place where the ceiling is low and there isn’t much room to move.” At that point, Najwa’s life has drastically changed, as terrible events