Representation of Muslim Women in Tariq Ali’sShadows of the Pomegranate Tree

This paper discusses the representation of Muslim women by Tariq Aliin Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree (2006). Shadows of thePomegranate Tree is Ali’s first novel of Islam Quintet, a series of fivehistorical novels about Muslims and their interaction/clash with theChristians. The novel is set in Spain after the fall of Granada -- one ofthe greatest Islamic Empire -- reclaimed by the Spanish Catholicarmies of Isabella and Ferdinand of Castile from the Muslims in 1492.As Ali is a harsh critic of both the Western Oriental discourse aboutthe Muslim women and the restrictions (in Ali’s view) that Islamimposed on the Muslim women, the study explores how Ali’s portrayalof Muslim women is different from Orientalist depiction of Muslimwomen as exotic, veiled and oppressed. It discusses whether theMuslim women in the novel have been portrayed as active social andpolitical agents who played an important role in Andalusia’s rich anddynamic culture of learning and innovation or they have been depictedin traditional stereotyped gendered roles as passive, submissive agentswho were confined to the domestic life. The related theoreticalconcepts of feminist Orientalism and post-colonial feminism have alsobeen discussed that provide a theoretical background to the study. Thetext has been analysed in detail for the author’s treatment andportrayal of the female characters in the novel.