Another Islamic Love Story

Book Title : Ketika Cinta Bertasbih (When love is blessed by God)

Author : Habiburahman El Shirazy.

Habiburahman is one of the most well-known writers in Indonesia. He is the author who wrote a best seller novel Ayat Ayat Cinta (Verses of love). This time once again he writes a love story in an Islamic setting. The setting is in Egypt and Indonesia. The difference with western world is there is no dating among devout Muslim. When a boy falls in love to a girl he must decide to propose her to avoid adultery.

The main character is Abdullah Khairul Azzam, an Indonesian student who studies in Al Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt. He comes from an ordinary simple family so he does not have much money. To overcome his financial problem he runs a small business. He produces Indonesian food called tempeh (read my hub: Introducing Tempeh, quality food from Indonesia) and bakso (meat ball). But his business takes a lot of his time and energy so he needs nine years to finish his under graduate study.

Another character is Eliana, the daughter of Indonesian ambassador to Egypt. She is a graduate of EHESS, France. Eliana is a bright and beautiful girl. But as a western educated girl, she is a contrast to Azzam who comes from a small town. Beautiful and smart Eliana is always the center of attention of Indonesian students in Egypt. Then there is Furqan, a friend of Azzam at Al Azhar University. He is a smart student. When Azzam has not finished his under graduate, he has studied in post graduate level. Then there is Anna Althafunnisa, a smart girl from a small town in Central Java.

Azzam fell in love with Anna and wanted to marry her. So one day he asks his senior for help. He told Saiful Mujab, his senior that he loves Anna and wanted to marry her. Mujab is Anna’s cousin. So he thinks it will be easier for him if he approaches Mujab first. But Azzam had to accept a bitter reality since someone had proposed her a month earlier. Furqan his close friend had proposed Anna. Furthermore Mujab hurt him by telling him that Anna is far above him.

Meanwhile Furqan had finished his post graduate study. He looked as a perfect match for Anna. He was preparing to leave Egypt for Indonesia. But then something happened. One morning he got up and found himself without wearing any dress and he woke up at eight. This is very unusual for him. He missed the dawn prayer. When he looked at his laptop he was even more surprised. He found his photographs with a woman in illegal positions for Muslim. This is very embarrassing and a serious violation of Islamic law. Then he found an email which threatened him. He had to pay US $ 200,000 or his photos will be spread among his friends. It was blackmail.

Furqan was upset and panic. He did not know what to do. But then he decided to report to police. He told Colonel Fuad about his problem. Fuad promised to help him but he asked for something in return. Furqan promised to give him his car. One week later Fuad contacted him and told him that the police had arrested the villain. A woman was arrested for the blackmail.

As Furqan prepared to leave for Indonesia, a policeman asked him to come to their office for interrogation. He had to undergo a blood test. And the test proved that he had HIV virus. The woman must have made him suffer from this disease. Fuad asked him to swear that he will not spread the disease and not to make others suffer. And he did. Furqan was very confused because he had proposed Anna althafunnisa. Not long after the test he received news that Anna received his proposal. She was ready to be his wife!

Finally Azzam could finish his study. He passed his final exam. He decided to come home to Indonesia after nine long years in Egypt. He missed his mother and sisters so much since he never came home during his study in Egypt. He left for Indonesia together with the beautiful and smart Eliana.

This is just part one of the novel.  Actually this part is only an introduction to the setting and characters and situation.  There will be part two with another setting. 

The weakness of this novel is there are too many pages. This book is just the first part which consist of 477 pages and it contains actually only the introduction of the conflict. Another weakness is the author describes the characters' emotion in third person which means he plays god. The strength lies in the language. It is easy and lively. The description about muslim love and life is also clear. Any non muslim wanting to know more about muslim love life should read this novel. Hopefully it will be translated into English.