Published in Sanctum!
A story I wrote as a senior at LUMS for a class on Islamic Spirituality was just published in the Fall 2010 issue of Columbia University’s bi-annual Journal of Religion, Sanctum. The story, titled “The Scholar, The Philosopher & The Soldier“, is set in the Golden Age of Islamic civilization, sometime during the Abbasid Caliphate (between the 9th and 12th centuries), and is a parable for three different approaches to Allah, The Divine Being, in classical Islamic tradition.
It is a simple story; but it illustrates a large part of what I took away from that class (taught by Columbia alumnus Shaykh Kamaluddin Ahmed). Click here to read the story, and here to read the “sequel”, titled “Salar & The Sufi“.
Windswept Words 
January 7, 2011 at 6:27 am
You write so beautiful! Both the pieces were brilliant. I thought I was reading Paulo Coelho. That’s a compliment in my books! :-)
January 6, 2011 at 4:48 pm
this is going to be my evening read. congratulations, Manal. xo shayma
January 6, 2011 at 1:47 pm
Really amazing story of finding ourselves…specially the second part of the story…but i just wanna have your feedback regarding the character selection in second part…..means y not the philosopher or scholar? Because i believe if u r an intellectual person chances for disguising your own sins are much more.