Finally, religion, not fundamentalism, could provide immigrants with belonging, security and stability. It also emphasizes that Aboulela's heroines are not trusted because they are weak, self-involved, and interested in details rather than actions. Eastern women are not oppressed or truncated as the West stresses they are also human being in their own right, being free to wear hijab or not. This paper concludes that both Muslims/Africans and the West are to blame for these fragmented stereotypes. Islamic feminists are attacked for being selective, non-specialists, non-Arabs, and funded by the West. These issues are studied through Aboulela's Minaret with reference to her other works. It also illustrates how Aboulela agrees with Islamic feminists, especially the concept of hijab and its connotations. They call for a rereading of history by revaluing the social conditions in which it was written in order to construct their cultural identity without being limited to a certain period of time. This study emphasizes that Islamic feminists have revolted against some patriarchal interpretations of the Holy Qur'an and the prophet's Sayings, which have approved the specific and turned it into received rules.

In Minaret, Aboulela endeavors to correct some misconceptions about, and misrepresentation of, Muslims and Africans such as: hijab (Veiling), harem, and the role of masjid in destroying the old binaries. She always stresses how patriarchy and colonization misinterpret religion and the Mashriq (East) respectively.

Leila Aboulela is a Sudanese writer whose novels reflect the spirit of Islam.

Minaret by leila aboulela