Saints and Misfits
Summary:
Janna Yusuf is a Muslim high school student who has lots of friends, both Muslim and non-Muslim, and though her parents are divorced, she has good relationships with both parents, and even her dad’s new partner. Janna’s biggest dislike is the people who appear to be ‘saints’, but whom she thinks of as monsters in disguise, particularly an older boy Farouq, who constructs himself as a pious figure and is well-respected, but who assaulted her at a birthday party. As well as dealing with Farouq continually appearing in her life, Janna is also navigating the complexities of liking a non-Muslim boy and finding out that he likes her back, though this is a relationship that could never happen because of Janna’s adherence to her faith.
Edited by: Dublin City University
Comment:
Janna is unapologetic about her adherence to and respect for her Muslim faith: she chose from a young age to wear the hijab, like her mother, and chooses to wear a burkini, much to her liberal father’s dismay. Yet she recognises the complexities and contradictions that come with religious faith: she struggles with liking a non-Muslim boy and with him liking her back, and the perfection expected from girls and women, the standard seeming to be particularly high for Muslim girls like her, embodied by her brother’s love interest whom she has nicknamed “Saint Sarah”. However, what Janna most struggles with is the deceitful facades of others, particularly Farouq, her friend Fizz’s cousin, who sexually assaulted her at Fizz’s party and who now is making a name for himself as a respected member of the local mosque. When Janna eventually tells her family and friends, she is met mostly with unwavering support, and seeks to exact a form of revenge that is important to her, drawing on the strength of Muslim womanhood.