Then He Sent Prophets

The political and religious struggles of 14th century Morocco and Granada are brought to life in Mohamed Seif El Nasr’s new novel Then He Sent Prophets. Set in the tumultuous year of 1359, it follows the fortunes of a young and upcoming Islamic scholar named Zakaria Ibn Ahmad, a man caught between two worlds. On the one hand, he feels Muslims during his time lack a moral code and seem to say one thing and do another, yet his desire to correct the ways of his fellow believers is tempered by the fact that he has a sickly daughter. Fes, the city where Zakaria lives, is under the rule of an oppressive sultan, who Zakaria does not particularly like. Indeed, the novel opens with Zakaria attending a mosque in Fes, where the Sultan is present, and the imam is preaching ‘It is only Allah to judge sultans’ and ‘listen to your rulers and obey them, even if they smite your backs and take your wealth.’ To Zakaria, it is clear that these remarks have been carefully prepared and are designed to please the Sultan who is in attendance. The subject under discussion is the disposition of the ruler of Granada, who was deposed in a palace coup and sought refuge in Morocco. Zakaria clearly does not think much of the speech and, indeed, found the preacher’s speech somewhat amusing. The arguments being put forward by the imam are strikingly familiar to us today and, throughout the novel, the contemporaneous nature of the story is felt.

BOOK REVIEW: Iran under the Mongols: Ilkhanid Administrators and Persian Notables in Fars

Zakaria finds himself in desperate need of stable employment and so he is forced to bite his tongue and finds work at the Chancellery of the Sultan. He interacts with the intellectual heavyweights of his age while there, including with Ibn Khaldun, but the corruption around him makes Zakaria more and more anxious. We start seeing him become more obsessed with creating thicker boundaries and stricter moral codes. Zakaria pens ‘It is painful to see people of dubious character declare without hesitation that they are devout Muslims. It is depressing that the followers of the Prophet [PBUH], who stated that he was sent only to perfect morality, can utter such statements while leading immoral lives.’ Being forced by circumstance to lead such a life and seeing bad morality all around him contributes to his sense of unease about the direction everything is going in. Zakaria is also a young scholar and so still has something of an idealistic spark inside of him and it does not take much to set that spark ablaze. Fate will intervene and a new opportunity presents itself. The Sultan of Fes concludes a peace treaty with the Christian king of Castile, Pedro. As part of his condition for signing the treaty, the Spanish monarch demands the return of the exiled Andalusian ruler, Muhammad Ibn Yusuf.

This entangles Zakaria in the Grenadian affair, which provides him with a new cause. Zakaria accompanies Ibn Yusuf back to Spain and, while there, is giddy at the prospect of being involved with retaking Grenada and he ‘vowed he would do everything in his power so that Ibn Yusuf could reclaim his throne. Everything to turn the overthrown king into his own idea of how a true Muslim should be.’ In Grenada, Zakaria hopes to create a place where pure Islam that is uncorrupted and simple can thrive. His inner idealist is going into overdrive at the prospect. However, Zakaria’s own morality is challenged here, too, especially after his love affair with the exiled king’s enchanting sister, Aisha.

Then He Sent Prophets cuts across many issues that would be all too familiar to us today, but it also illuminates the past. Zakaria’s ideals and ambitions are both naive and relatable, wanting to remake the world and being weighed down by family and social obligations could be the tale of much university or college graduates the world over. The concerns that religiosity is lax, declining and those charged with educating people of their religious obligations are corrupt and distort the true message, is certainly a message that will resonate with many religious believers today. In some ways, it reminds us that our concerns are not new and are, in fact, as old as religion itself, these are the key themes that make the novel feel contemporaneous. Those seeking a book that speaks to present concerns will certainly find this novel to be just that, but it is also rooted in the past and so there are many elements that are so very different from our times. What made this novel fascinating to read was the blend of the two, while being firmly set in the past. Then He Sent Prophets is a fun, enjoyable, relatable and intriguing read and excellent work of historical fiction.

BOOK REVIEW: Elastic Empire: Refashioning War through Aid in Palestine