American Dervish

Naveed drives a silent Nathan and Hayat away from the Islamic Center, dismayed and disappointed in Souhef’s words. Nathan asks if his friend would still have walked out if he did not have a Jewish friend with him. Naveed says Nathan was his only reason for attending that day, since he abhors Souhef’s judgmental teaching. Nathan asks if Naveed knew Souhef would speak damnation over Jews, and Naveed says he is familiar with such rhetoric. Nathan says people should denounce hateful speech. Naveed says he warned Nathan about Souhef, but Nathan says that warning was insufficient. Hayat, not wanting to hear their conversation, puts his fingers in his ears. 

At home, Hayat greets an excited Mina and tells her the day went well. Hayat studies the Al-Baqara in the Quran to discover the context of the anti-Semitic passage Souhef quoted. The text describes Jewish unwillingness to convert to Islam through Muhammad’s teaching as the reason for their punishment by God. 

Hayat hears Mina and Nathan talking on the front porch and goes downstairs to watch them through the window. Nathan sobs and holds Mina. Hayat is confused at his grief, considering how Nathan now knows the way to escape damnation. He concludes that Jews are as ungrateful and intransigent as Souhef claimed.

Mina declines to eat dinner, and Muneer speaks with her in private. Muneer later asks Hayat about the events at the Islamic Center. Hayat tries to retell her Souhef’s message. Muneer says Nathan now questions his conversion but wants to keep Mina in his life. She asks why this happened, and Hayat says, “It was Allah’s will” (212). 

Hayat finds Imran watching the television show CHiPs with Naveed, whom Imran calls Dad for the first time in Hayat’s hearing. Hayat plans to build a castle keep and compels Imran to join. Upstairs, Hayat hears his mother arguing on Nathan’s behalf with Mina. 

Imran joins Hayat in his castle keep. Hayat tells the boy Naveed is his father, not Imran’s. Imran protests that Naveed could marry Mina and become Imran’s father as well. Hayat says polygamy is only practiced in Utah, a reference Imran misunderstands. Hayat tells Imran that Nathan will be his father, which fails to appease the boy. 

Hayat says Nathan is a Jew—“the kind of person Allah hates the most in the world” (216). He says the Jews have always been selfish and unfaithful to God and will go to hell on the Day of Judgment. Hayat assures Imran that God will save him and urges the boy to pray. 

In the morning, Hayat goes to the kitchen to find his mother in a dark mood. She tells him that Naveed spent the night away from the house, lambasting Naveed for his affairs with white women and for yelling at her when she calls him at the hospital. Mina descends the stairs and strikes Hayat in the face while screaming at him. 

Muneer intervenes, and, in the scuffle, Hayat falls down the stairs to the family room. His mother runs to him and yells at Mina to stay away from her son. Mina apologizes, explaining, “He was saying things to Imran… horrible things…” (221). Muneer repeatedly strikes Mina across the face. Hayat notices an odd angle in his wrist and resets his hand, which erupts in searing pain. Hayat remembers Souhef’s words about the assumed injustice of physical pain and falls unconscious.

Hayat must have surgery on his wrist that day and experiences intense pain beforehand. He continues meditating on Souhef’s words about pain: “Who are you to think you deserve anything better?” (223). He wakes after surgery in a hospital and wearing a cast. His mother embraces him, and he tries to fall asleep. 

Hayat next awakes to find his mother, father, and surgeon Dr. Gold standing in his hospital room. Dr. Gold and Hayat discuss his condition. When Dr. Gold leaves, Naveed tells Hayat the doctor is Jewish, and warns him not to speak ill of Jewish people again and to stop studying “that book” (227). After Hayat’s parents leave the room, he gazes at his surroundings and the ethereal haze of light radiating from each object. He concludes this is God’s light and remembers a verse Mina taught him in the Quran. 

Hayat dreams of a woman chasing him and the Prophet Muhammad taking him to a mosque filled with statues that transform into living men. The Prophet asks Hayat to lead their prayer. The prayer continues rhythmically, and Hayat leaves the mosque. He sees a cast on his arm, bearing the name Yitzhak. 

Hayat wakes, disturbed at his dream. After a time, a nurse enters his room, followed by Naveed, who departs soon after. Hayat feigns waking up, and the nurse introduces herself as Julie. She tells Hayat Naveed loves him, kisses Hayat, and asks him not to tell his father about this conversation. 

Hayat’s parents deliver him to an overjoyed Imran and apologetic Mina. She says she made Hayat’s favorite dish, parathas, and Hayat whispers to her that he dreamed of the Prophet. Naveed ushers the family inside for lunch, during which Nathan calls. Mina refuses to take the call. Naveed is frustrated by Mina’s stonewalling, but Mina insists she has no more to say to Nathan. Hayat is surprised and pleased to learn about the breakup.

Mina says the separation involves more than Nathan’s Jewish identity but declines to explain further, despite Naveed’s frustration. Naveed urges Mina to explain herself to Nathan. Mina says his Jewish faith is not an impediment for her but that others in her life would object to their marriage. She says she should move out of the house, but Naveed insists that he and his family want her to stay. 

That night, Mina asks to hear Hayat’s dream of the Prophet, says Hayat will be a leader of Islam, and apologizes again for assaulting him. She says Hayat erred in his words to Imran about Jewish people and that he had no right to speak derisively about Nathan. Hayat feels conflicted and remains silent, since he disagrees. 

Hayat sees Mina on the phone with Nathan after declaring she would not speak to him again. Hayat, provoked, throws away Nathan’s gift, Call of the Wild. Hayat finds Mina’s book labeled with her ex-husband’s address in Pakistan, copies the address, and decides to send him a telegram. 

On the way to the Western Union, Hayat deliberates over which ten words to include in the telegram. He decides to refer to Nathan as a kafr, or “Unbeliever” (239), rather than a Jew, and sends: “MINA MARRYING A KAFR STOP HIS NAME IS NATHAN” (240). He copies the address from Mina’s book, but for return address, he uses Sonny Buledi’s name and the location of a local Chevrolet dealership. 

When Hayat hands the telegram over and pays, the clerk asks the meaning of kafr. Hayat tells him, and the clerk mirthfully predicts judgment on unbelievers. 

The following morning, Muneer tells Hayat that Mina’s ex-husband Hamed and her parents found out about Nathan. Hamed threatens to take away Imran. Her father threatens abuse if Mina marries a non-Muslim. Naveed has taken Mina to meet with a lawyer for her son’s protection. Hayat feels guilt and dread over his actions. He pushes his breakfast around his plate and returns to his room to pray that no harm will come to Mina or Imran. 

Mina appears dejected and businesslike later that day. Hayat ruminates over the telegram, even dreaming about it, but says nothing. He commits to spending more time with Imran out of appreciation for his adopted younger brother. Mina and Muneer attend a dinner at the Chathas’ home that Naveed skips, suspecting someone from that community sent the telegram.

That evening, Naveed finds Hayat praying before his open Quran. He reminds Hayat about his command not to read the holy book and strikes his son, wresting the book from his grasp. Naveed rips many pages from the Quran and, cursing, warns Hayat never to read it again. Hayat cries as Naveed wraps the torn pages in a bed sheet. He compels his son to follow him to the dark backyard, where he sets the sheet on fire. 

Still crying, Hayat tells his father he will go to hell, and Naveed says, “Good” (249). They watch the pile burn as Naveed warns Hayat not to tell his mother. Hayat looks away grief-stricken.