Hussam Mehboob

It is a strange phenomenon, our tendency to seek validation of Islam from non-Muslims specifically an agnostic in this case. This book is a display of incomprehension of the author on a complex subject diminishing the struggle of Ahl-e-Bayt of Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) to petty worldly power politics. Just as the book starts, Hazelton makes a strange assertion that "it was as though nobody considered the possibility that he might die. Not even Muhammad (SAW) himself" and then contradicts it herself by saying in the next few pages "it is clear Muhammad (SAW) knew he would die". How can any author get away with publishing such balderdash? The belittling of Hazrat Ali's (R.A) morality as naivety is abhorrent. The contradictory statements and self-injection of ideas make it sound like a figment of the author's imagination and less an authentic history.

Animal Farm is an allegorical reference to the Russian Revolution and how it strayed off course. It starts with Old Major, who is a wise old boar, narrating his vision of freedom for the animals who are the working class. The old Major then dies without witnessing the realization of his dream. The pigs pick up the mantle and formalize the teachings into a system, called Animalism, which is based on seven commandments. The commandments spur the animals into rebellion leading to the overthrow of humans. George Orwell constructs a vivid picture of how the social order readjusts its balance after the Revolution takes place. In society, there is always one class, the elites represented by pigs, who carve their way to power while the masses or the sheep bray and follow their mantra. There is also Boxer, the horse, who represents the labour. He works hard until one day his utility runs out and he is retired to the knackers. We come across Benjamin the donkey, who is apathetic and unconcerned. Orwell makes brilliant use of satire to expose the dichotomy of a totalitarian regime posing as a welfare state. For example, the initial commandment "All animals are equal" is revised to "All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others." Similarly, a pig aptly named Squealer is used to spread propaganda and seed doubt in the minds of animals regarding initial resolutions passed. This is one of my favourite books and in my opinion, more impressionable than 1984 by the same author. Fans of political satire would love this book.

The Time Machine is an interesting extrapolation of societal degeneration. The protagonist is a Victorian age gentleman known simply as the Time Traveller who builds a machine to traverse time. The explanation given by the author of time as an extension of 3D space is quite lucid. The Time Traveller travels to the future where he finds out that society has fragmented into two distinct classes namely Eloi and Murlocks. The Eloi are delicate creatures who indulge in merrymaking, playful laughter and are frugivores whereas Murlocks are nocturnal, subterranean and carnivorous. The Eloi are the natural descendants of the ultra rich who weaken over time due to the lack of struggle in their lives. The Murlocks are the inheritors of labour class who after generations of slavery and living underground are now asserting themselves. H.G Wells employs vivid imagery to capture a futuristic London which is overrun with vegetation and ruinous palaces. I really loved the transformation of symbiotic relationship between Eloi and Murlocks from peaceful co-existence into a state of conflict.

The First Muslim starts with a promising premise, that it will be an objective historical account but the reader quickly discovers it to be a misleading claim. For example, she describes the event of the spiritual purification of Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) in his childhood as "an open heart surgery" but she skilfully skirts around the question as to why two men would perform said surgery on a 5-year-old orphan right smack in the middle of the desert in 6th century Arabia. Her style is highly speculative and she constantly projects her ideas for example when she talks about Abu Talib happening on his son Ali (R.A) and a group of others praying, she ends with "this is how both Ibn-Ishaq and Al-Tabari tell the story and yet one wonders .." This constant imagination of 6th and 7th century Arabic mind is so frustrating and any sense of objectivity is lost. Ibn Ubay was a known hypocrite in Medina who conspired to thwart the Muslims at every step and yet Hazelton portrays him as a leader who voiced his disagreement against decisions of the Prohet Muhammad (SAW). This book should be read only to be critically deconstructed for its preposterousness. The fact that its ending chapters have been self-plagiarized from the author's book "After the Prophet" does not help its credentials.

You can take all the criticism on Gladwell's work and then toss it right out of the window. That is because at the end of the day his book popularized the phrase "The Tipping Point" and brought it into the mainstream out of the obscurity of academic circles.

The Call of the Wild is Darwinism played out in nature. Survival of the fittest. Natural selection charting its course. You either adapt or get eliminated. We witness the transformation of Buck from a naive, trusting household dog to assuming leadership of sled dogs to a lean killing machine fighting for its survival in the wild. This book is about the dormant, primaeval instinct in all of us which makes us yearn to return to the roots.

Robert Louis Stevenson explores the constant battle that rages inside everyone; the tussle between yin and yang, good and evil. Mr Jekyll discovers the liberating sensation that evil inspires is a delusion. This book resonates with me because I have always feared the dark abyss inside me and what would happen if I allowed it to consume me. Love the dark intensity of this timeless classic.