Aesthetics of religious coexistence and tolerance in the Shafak’s Turkish novel

This paper explores the novel “Forty Rules of Love” by Elif Shafak, which evokes the historical personality of the great scholar Jalal al-Din al-Rumi, dubbed by the West “the Shakespeare of the Islamic world”. He was known for his moderation and tolerance, for his call to coexistence and frate...

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Main Author: Adel, Mohammed Abou
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2023
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/23123/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/23123/1/IJIT_24_9.pdf
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author Adel, Mohammed Abou
author_facet Adel, Mohammed Abou
author_sort Adel, Mohammed Abou
building UKM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description This paper explores the novel “Forty Rules of Love” by Elif Shafak, which evokes the historical personality of the great scholar Jalal al-Din al-Rumi, dubbed by the West “the Shakespeare of the Islamic world”. He was known for his moderation and tolerance, for his call to coexistence and fraternity between the members of different religions, and his condemnation of violence and extremism of all kinds. So, the novel strives to change the misconceptions of the West regarding the Asian countries of the East and to challenge the negative attitude towards Islam, known nowadays as Islamophobia. The paper aims to address the evil of fanaticism and violence and introduce the Western reader to the sublime spiritual aesthetics of the East, which starkly contrast to the savage image of Islam as presented by the media. By studying the novel, which has been translated into more than fifty languages, the paper also seeks to emphasise the role of literature, in general, in spreading cultural awareness among fellow human beings so that people can live in peace and safety.
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spelling oai:generic.eprints.org:231232024-03-05T01:35:50Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/23123/ Aesthetics of religious coexistence and tolerance in the Shafak’s Turkish novel Adel, Mohammed Abou This paper explores the novel “Forty Rules of Love” by Elif Shafak, which evokes the historical personality of the great scholar Jalal al-Din al-Rumi, dubbed by the West “the Shakespeare of the Islamic world”. He was known for his moderation and tolerance, for his call to coexistence and fraternity between the members of different religions, and his condemnation of violence and extremism of all kinds. So, the novel strives to change the misconceptions of the West regarding the Asian countries of the East and to challenge the negative attitude towards Islam, known nowadays as Islamophobia. The paper aims to address the evil of fanaticism and violence and introduce the Western reader to the sublime spiritual aesthetics of the East, which starkly contrast to the savage image of Islam as presented by the media. By studying the novel, which has been translated into more than fifty languages, the paper also seeks to emphasise the role of literature, in general, in spreading cultural awareness among fellow human beings so that people can live in peace and safety. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2023-12 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/23123/1/IJIT_24_9.pdf Adel, Mohammed Abou (2023) Aesthetics of religious coexistence and tolerance in the Shafak’s Turkish novel. International Journal of Islamic Thought ( IJIT ), 24 . pp. 108-118. ISSN 2232-1314 http://www.ukm.my/ijit/
spellingShingle Adel, Mohammed Abou
Aesthetics of religious coexistence and tolerance in the Shafak’s Turkish novel
title Aesthetics of religious coexistence and tolerance in the Shafak’s Turkish novel
title_full Aesthetics of religious coexistence and tolerance in the Shafak’s Turkish novel
title_fullStr Aesthetics of religious coexistence and tolerance in the Shafak’s Turkish novel
title_full_unstemmed Aesthetics of religious coexistence and tolerance in the Shafak’s Turkish novel
title_short Aesthetics of religious coexistence and tolerance in the Shafak’s Turkish novel
title_sort aesthetics of religious coexistence and tolerance in the shafak’s turkish novel
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/23123/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/23123/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/23123/1/IJIT_24_9.pdf