Post- 9/11 Resurgence of Muslim Identity through the Eyes of Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist

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Muhammad Arslan
Saima Yasin

Abstract

9/11 marked a shift in world history leading to tumultuous changes in the socio-political makeup of the world. National and individual identity underwent an extreme shift and are gauged on the basis of ethnicity and religion. In this regard this paper aims to study the development of various identities mainly Ethnic, Religious and National in the personal, professional and public life of central character Changez in Mohsin Hamid’s novel ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalists’. The Identities of Changez are subjected to constant change and are majorly transformed after the incident of 9/11. The negation and acceptance of religious identity will be studied thoroughly in this paper by using a model presented by L. A. Peek in Becoming Muslim: The development of a religious identity (2005). In depth textual, qualitative analysis has been performed to find out the answers regarding identity shift in the background of 9/11 and shift in American acceptance of Muslims. It is concluded that Muslims immigrants faced lots of discrimination and prejudice because of their religious associations and were highly stereotyped in west. While some of the immigrants shunned away their religious identities, few like Changez embraced their religious Muslim identity in full totality.

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How to Cite
Muhammad Arslan, & Saima Yasin. (2022). Post- 9/11 Resurgence of Muslim Identity through the Eyes of Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Pakistan Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 2(1), 137-152. Retrieved from http://pjmr.org/pjmr/article/view/84
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