A Marriage Proposal by Samira Hingoro
I purchased this book at ISNA and read it on my plane ride back home. The book is a little less than 100 pages long. I read it in one shot (even though I was super tired from the ISNA Convention/Azmath’s wedding/YM Shura Meeting.
I thought it was well written although there were some typos. If I can catch on to typos then you know that’s bad. It doesn’t seem like an editor proof read this before publishing it. The publisher is a new kid on the block and is clearly trying to put out some good quality works so I will give them support for that. http://www.faithpublications.org/ is their website.
Back to the book. This book is from a sisters view who gets a Marriage proposal. Hands down the best part of the book was the exchange between the sister who was being proposed to and her mother. The sister was not happy with the fact that the person proposing was not practicing Islam yet her parents liked him. The mother threw a fit accusing her of thinking that she knows all about Islam while she knows nothing. And she went on and on to say that she had single handedly ruined her dreams and aspirations (because she wasn’t interested in this guy). This was the best part because it captured the real life drama which takes place in homes when the issue of marriage comes out. It showed that the sister was appalled that her parents who are active in the community could even entertain a proposal from someone who doesn’t have slightest care in the world about the akhira and his relationship with his lord.
The weird part of the book was how the daughters were all goody two shoes. It almost gave the impression that Islam is supposed to turn your family relations into that of the Brady Bunch. Even the fights between siblings were sappy. The daughters were all into helping the mother cook and do chores. My sister said “this book is so patriarchal” that seems to be her favorite word at the moment.
Finally, what was up with the missing happy ending? It was clear that the other brother was an ideal candidate for the main character but we get left hanging at the end. And what if the father never witnessed the bridegroom to be purchasing liquor? In real life that coincidence would probably not have occurred and realistically speaking her life would have been ruined if she ended up with that guy. Also his mother was made out to be totally evil. I don’t think those kinds of villainous characters really exist except for maybe in Disney movies.
I know this was a work of fiction but in reality issues like marriage have real life consequences. This point wasn’t driven home that well. Although the author did a great job of highlighting the expectations of a practicing Muslim sister going into marriage or the marriage process. I think this book would be a good read for parents who don’t have a clue, brothers who want to marry a religious sister but aren’t practicing, and everyone who is obsessed with marriage (because they aren’t married yet) 
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