Customer Reviews

The Qadi and the Fortune Teller

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This is a fantastic book about the challenges of modernity and westernization in traditional culture. The main character is a judge of Islamic law in modern-day Lebanon, who becomes fascinated by the red shoes of his foreign benefactor's wife. They share a kind of marriage that the judge finds both fascinating and outrageous--she feels free to greet him in private when her husband is not home, an act that no self-respecting Muslim woman would do, and she seems almost the equal of her husband. This makes the judge suddenly disappointed in his own long, very proper marriage.

And this happens against the backdrop of social and political turmoil in Lebanon. Young people become more mobile, marry without consent, and reject traditional ways; the entire culture seems doomed. Eventually the judge resigns himself to the uncertain modern world, but he must give up something very precious in order to do so.

The torment of the Muslim soul, facing the challenges of modernity with its attendant liberalism and materialism, is a subject rarely treated in the English language.

Read this for a class on Ottoman history. Enlightening as to how citizens lived and dealt with issues surrounding modernization and Western influence in the nineteenth century, plus just an engaging story. At 147 pages, this little book is definitely a worthwhile read.

The author knows Islamic law, as he is a scholar. But this novella is not scholarly so much as it is a gripping story about Lebanon in the middle of the nineteenth century. Told through the lens of a Hanafi Judge (Qadi) who has to deal with a variety of changes that Lebanon is undergoing, this book gives the reader a sense of how Islamic law can work, and of the ways that modernity have radically reshaped Lebanon (and the region as a whole, of course). But it is told in an engaging, fun to read style that carries along the reader, even one who is not especially interested in the region or topics related to law, etc.

The book is out of print, and may remain so indefinitely. If it is available, I highly recommend it.

Lebanon has always been a beehive of different religions and their many different sects. Times haven't changed the people much since 1840 when this book was written. I would recommend it for a variety of reasons: 1) to understand that life is the same there, socially and religiously; 2) to understand how society in Lebanon still functions after all this time - no change; 3)to ghet a glimpse of how people deal psychologically with loss, defamation and themselves in such a society.
It is a good read anyway, as a story, and along the way you'll learn some history as well.

No I have not reads this book yet