''Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree'' is a historical novel by

British Pakistani British Pakistanis (; also known as Pakistani British people or Pakistani Britons) are Britons or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan. This includes people born in the UK who are of Pakistani descent, Pakis ...

writer

Tariq Ali Tariq Ali (;; born 21 October 1943) is a Pakistani-British political activist, writer, journalist, historian, filmmaker, and public intellectual. He is a member of the editorial committee of the ''New Left Review'' and ''Sin Permiso'', and co ...

, first published in 1992. The first of Ali's Islam quintet, a series of historical novels about the confrontations between Islamic and Christian cultures, this novel is set shortly after the

reconquista The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...

Kingdom of Granada The Emirate of Granada, also known as the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, was an Islamic polity in the southern Iberian Peninsula during the Late Middle Ages, ruled by the Nasrid dynasty. It was the last independent Muslim state in Western Europe. ...

Muslim Iberia Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

by the army of

Ferdinand and Isabella The Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile () and King Ferdinand II of Aragon (), whose marriage and joint rule marked the '' de facto'' unification of Spain. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, ...

in the late fifteenth century.

Plot

Beginning with the bonfire of over one hundred thousand books taken from all of the Muslim libraries in

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

, a seat of great learning in

Al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

, the story focuses on one family, the Banu Hudayl, who have lived in a small village near Granada for hundreds of years. As rumours begin to circulate of humiliations and possible banishments of Muslims by the conquering Christians, and even forced conversions to Christianity the Banu Hudayl and their fellow villagers, Muslim, Christian and Jew, can only wait in anguish for the approaching disaster.

Themes

Loss of culture and identity

After witnessing a 'wall of fire,' in which books and records of Al-Andalus had been burned and lost forever, Muslims in Iberia are in a constant state of distress, not only from their Christian opposers, but also in question as to what will become of their future. The seizure of lands and communities cultivated by Muslims for over 600 years, who were natives of Iberia, causes an internal strife among Andalusians as to whether they should resist or lose not only their religion, but also their way of life. This would include the cessation of

Islamic prayer ''Salah'' (, also spelled ''salat'') is the practice of formal worship in Islam, consisting of a series of ritual prayers performed at prescribed times daily. These prayers, which consist of units known as ''rak'ah'', include a specific se ...

purification Purification is the process of rendering something pure, i.e. clean of foreign elements and/or pollution, and may refer to: Religion * Ritual purification, the religious activity to remove uncleanliness * Purification after death * Purification ...

, and even speaking

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

Tolerance versus extremism

Throughout the novel, the residents of the final stronghold of Granada are trapped by oncoming attacks by Christians who would not accept them due to their religious and cultural affiliations. Efforts are made by Umar and Zuhayr, who seek to protect their final holdings of southern Iberia, but find themselves unable to reach a solution with their Christian rivals due to Ximenes' extremist view toward Christianity. Ubaydallah makes a final plea to the Christians to prevent further violence, and in exchange, he offered to convince the entire village to accept Christianity. This plea was ultimately rejected and was met with raids on Banu Hudayl, highlighting that the conflict between Al-Andalus and the Christians was never about religious differences, but rather of culture, in which remains of Al-Andalus was essentially erased.

Historical accuracy

Towards the end of Chapter 12, Yazid ate a salad of "radishes, onions, and

tomatoes The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originated from and was d ...

". However, the tomato originated in western South America and Central America It would not have been available in the Granada area at the time of the story. :es:A la sombra del granado

References

1992 British novels Novels by Tariq Ali Novels set in Spain Reconquista in fiction Chatto & Windus books British historical novels Novels set in the 15th century {{1990s-hist-novel-stub