Amina: The Silent One
Written by Fiza Pathan
Reviewed by Author Roy Murry
A beautiful girl is brought into the world. What more could a loving couple want? In many cultures, including India, they would want a boy first and foremost.
Amina is the third child of Jaffar and his wife, as she is referred to throughout most of the story. Not only is Amina the third, but she is the third girl of an Indian Muslim family.
The matriarch of the family is outraged and begs Allah to forgive the family for their sins. Why else would Allah curse them with not three but five girls and no boy to carry on their name?
To the matriarch and many in their society, a girl is to be used for domestic chores, childbearing, and for the pleasure of her husband. She has no rights or to progress in the new world order.
In Amina, Ms. Pathan paints a vivid and disturbing picture of how women are USED (For no other appropriate word) by the ignorant religious male controllers of some societies. Unfortunately, this persists in some parts world today.
This is a story of an Indian family that has a disaster, setbacks, and jubilation. Amina, though, is the center of it, where she receives the brunt of her country’s brutal underbelly of illegal use of women. It is her innate natural ability to play music, listen intently, and not speak, that helps her overcome the ignorance around her.
Ms. Pathan writes with a knowledgeable pen. Her colorful ink I will enjoy reading again, soon.
This sounds like an excellent read!
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