Main Themes
The House of the Mosque primarily explores how the Iranian people coped with second half 20th century American influence over Iran. Additionally, the book portrays struggles between the leaders of the bazaar and the religious rule of the imams -- and between parents and their children who are caught up in revolutionary ideas and do not follow the old rules of the house.
Kader Abdolah presents ideas in a manner that can be easily understood by European people. Islamic principles are explained, and references to the Qur'an illustrate that it is not just a religious masterpiece but also provides a model for thinking and living in society. The novel depicts the prophet Muhammad as a "a Mohammed that Europe needs" (to change common European perceptions of Islam)
One of the characters in The House of the Mosque, Shahbal, resembles the author, who participated in underground political movements in the time of the Shah and later under Khomeini, and is also now living far away from Iran, in the Netherlands.
Read more about this topic: The House Of The Mosque
Famous quotes containing the words main and/or themes:
“One of the main tasks of adolescence is to achieve an identity—not necessarily a knowledge of who we are, but a clarification of the range of what we might become, a set of self-references by which we can make sense of our responses, and justify our decisions and goals.”
—Terri Apter (20th century)
“In economics, we borrowed from the Bourbons; in foreign policy, we drew on themes fashioned by the nomad warriors of the Eurasian steppes. In spiritual matters, we emulated the braying intolerance of our archenemies, the Shi’ite fundamentalists.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)