Ali Eteraz book “Children of Dust: A Memoir of Pakistan” is an exciting and involving book that creates a lot of non-satisfaction at the end. Ali Eteraz work is a story of a teenager who grew up in Pakistan and later moved to the United States. The book employs instead some techniques in bringing out its subjects and themes as well as in a very engaging and humorous manner. It makes one reading the book feel the sense of living the life that Eteraz had, that is, an experience that Eteraz had to cope up with and grow through various stages including growth in sexual life and on the other hand trying to balance and observe the Muslim laws. It is an insight of Eteraz life all the way to his leadership as the Muslim student council in the college as well as the activities he took part in and organized including the anti-Israel rally. In a real sense, it is a portrayal of a life that some Americans cannot imagine, that is, the Madrassa schooling in Pakistan to the American including finding a pious Islamic wife. The story starts in the low level depicting the rural Islam of the Pakistani society around the unstable eighties. The life in America involved a lot of struggles especially for a young person tied strict Muslim laws. His return to Pakistan in 1999 brought him back to the middle of Taliban ideologies, that is, group of strong teenage and youthful generation with strong militant beliefs as well as the danger facing his extended family. In the middle of these, he becomes a target where the militants believe that he was an investigative agent from CIA, but finally, he had been given a military escort to make his escape. The book has five subdivisions which exhibit his life of trying to cope up with Pakistani life, Religion, American life and generally his position in each case.
Book One:
This section of the book titled “The Promised-Abir ul Islam” meaning the perfume of Islam when taken bring about the hopes of his parents, that life that they wanted their son to live. They had hopes of Eteraz living a pious life following the covenant of his Eteraz father and God referred to as “mannat” before his birth. His father had made a promise to God that they would become good servants and leaders of the Islamic religion. Eteraz mother took him to Hajj while he was still a baby and rubbed Eteraz chest against the wall in Mecca to appease Allah and as a sign of Allah’s blessings (Eteraz, 2014, p. 5) . The covenant worked as the guiding factor for over thirty years of Eteraz’ life. Being a young boy with the Pakistani surroundings, he enjoys his early stage as a young man living with his parents, Ammi and Pops taking in the strictness that Islam required as much as being surrounded by his extended family. The description of the rural background life exhibits Ammi as a wonderful mother who involves herself in weaving lessos. His father, on the other hand, Pops, practices medicine. Life changes when his father receives a visa that grants him a work opportunity in America and they are forced to move to one every immigrant dream city, Alabama cutting short the cruel madrassa education in Pakistan.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Book Two:
This section has the title “The American-Amir.” The section describes the family’s involvement in trying to find an opportunity and finally their settlement in the Bible Belt. Eteraz joins high school in Alabama and makes a decision to change his name, therefore being called Amir. This action is due to his decision to try and create a gap between him and his parents increased fundamentalism amid his lack of confidence (147). Generally, although this section is concise, it shows the tension that was already building up between him, his family and the loins.
Book Three:
This part of the book is called “The Fundamentalist – Abu Bakr Ramaq.” The section begins by explaining Eteraz college life. From the start, he again changes his name to Abu Bakr after discovering that he was a descendant of Abu Bakr Siddiq, known better as the truth-teller as well as the prophet companion. It creates different fundamentalism in him in the way he presents the way he loved his religion, that is, as the new name suggests- “spark of light.” At some instance, there are some fascinating moments concerning his exploration of religion and his faith in Islam and on the other hand experiencing two opposing forces coming from the secular world, more so, the one characterizing the American society, and those of extremism, that is, strict Muslim laws that give no room for secularism. In the case, he does not agree with Osama Bin Laden’ actions and terms him as an opportunist and a pretender. He even goes to the extent of linking it with his reading on Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie who brings out that being secular is against Islam and also takes a step to explain to Rushdie that the war was more of Islam as well as other religions against the voice of reason. That is, the outcome of ‘reason’ is a curse despite the sense of freedom that it offers that alienates the now and what after now as well as the development of creator.
Moreover, he undergoes some changes in life as well as growing physically and what follows is a series of humorous adventures with the female gender. Generally, the book depicts the Muslim law which does not allow even one to look at a woman. He finally decides to move back to his rural home in Pakistan with the accompaniment of his mother and younger brother with the aim of finding a pious wife as well as follow up with his lineage. To his surprise, he discovers that he was not related in any way to Abu Bakr and to make it even worse; his descent was that of converted Hindu who had named himself Siddique from what was formerly his name, Savekhi. Life back there was not smooth since he received threats from Taliban goons claiming that he was American.
Book Four:
This section is entitled “The Postmodern – Amir ul Islam” which means “The Prince of Islam.” From this name, it is clear that he makes a combination of his original name and the assumed one creating a suggestion that he wanted to reclaim Islam and make it easy to manage. His disappointment is evident following his inability to be successful in Pakistan and the lack of recognition as a pious Muslim the way he believed he was. He calls it backwardness and lack of mindfulness which even makes him transfer to a Christian university located in Atlanta (247). There, he focuses on studying Philosophy and more so regarding the postmodernism. He reaches an acceptance state and discovers his failures are binding to the ego he had as well as his concentration on emphasizing impressing others, therefore, making him conclude that Islam and Pakistan were the factors of his failure and thus the best way to revenge on it was through postmodernism and sex. With the fact that he knows that he still bears the ancient covenant made by his father before his birth, the best way to make this revenge successful was to struggle to be the leader of the Muslim Student Association (MSA). His participation in the leadership of prayers on Friday as well as offering lectures as the role of an Imam. He puts a lot of effort in convincing himself that he was a true Islam which shows his effort in attaining the Islamic reflection also seeking approval from fellow Muslims which in the real sense, it should have been a sacred responsibility binding him and Allah. He finally graduates and seems so tired and a sense of satisfaction to some point. He, therefore, relocates to Washington DC following his acquisition of a fellowship with aspiring lawyers. This opportunity with the Department of Justice in the United States led to his experience of the 9/11 tragedy where a plane hit the Twin Towers.
Book Five:
This last section, “The Reformer – Ali Eteraz” presents his settlement on his final name which signifies “Noble Protest.” After the 9/11 attack, he resorted to abandoning his legal job and embarked on writing, research and creating networks with friends over the internet with the goal of achieving a peaceful and sane Islam from people who he believed they were “idiots” (266). While surging for that, he becomes jobless, loses his residence, finances and the family. He rejects Islam and relocates to Las Vegas, otherwise the Sin City, a perfect opposite of Islam society. After settling for a short period, he reenergizes and reforms. He makes a trip to Kuwait to persuade the Arabs to be part of the group to reform Islam. While being at his friend’s place, Ziad, he focuses on building a team of straight-forward Muslims to combat extremism and bring back the Islamic religion that advocates for peace and just society (328).
Conclusion
To conclude, Ali Eteraz’s memoirs of his growth in Pakistan and after that USA takes one to be torn between the hope of at one point wishing that Eteraz succeeded in being a servant of Islam and at the same time the challenges he underwent in the secular world, the world of flesh - dust. It depicts a life that is full of struggles with trying to reconcile with destiny and failure leading to on resorting for revenge. As in this case, revenge could not work out entirely as it led to more troubles and the sight of Islam being misused through extremism instead as a peaceful religion.
Reference
Eteraz, A. (2014). Children of Dust . New York: HarperCollins e-Books.
