Shaukat Ajmeri

Reviews

  • Reflections on Keepers of the Faith

    By Sumaiya Hamdani/

    Sumaiya Hamdani, an Associate Professor of History at George Mason University, comes from a long line of Islamic scholars and academics from the Hamdani family. From their origins in Yemen they have over the generations made important contributions to Ismaili thought and literature. Sumaiya’s father, the late Abbas Hamdani, was a scholar of Ismaili history and in particular of a volume of the philosophical work the Rasa'il-e-Ikhwan al-Safa (Epistles of Brethren of Purity). The Hamdani family had been in possession of rare and unique books and manuscripts, amassed and copied over multiple generations, which Prof Abbas Hamdani generously donated to the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London. Read more →

  • Powerful tale of love fraught with societal distress

    By Razia Sanwari/

    When religious dogmas and rituals pervade a man’s personal life and go on to completely suppress it, love and emotions get pushed into submission leading to heartbreak and unhappiness. Shaukat Ajmeri’s debut novel <em>Keepers of the Faith</em> is a story of such suppression and suffocation which can have only one consequence - emotional trauma that threatens to destroy lives! Based in Udaipur of the 1970s, the story revolves around the story of two teenagers Akbar and Rukhsana who belong to a Shia Muslim community and are madly in love with each other. Read more →

  • A novel with an almost immediate relevance

    By Farhat Ahsan/

    Shaukat Ajmeri’s novel, The Keepers of Faith is a sensitive and a heart-wrenching portrayal of the tribulations of a shi’ite religious community in Rajasthan in India. Even as the novel is about the Momin community, the point it makes is equally relevant to all religions and sects in contemporary South Asia; and that point is that it is always a formidable challenge to speak for religious reforms, and stand for a rational evaluation of religious beliefs and practice. Read more →