READING PREVIEW

Moisture trickled from under the black scarf around Shaheedah’s head. The orange ball of the sun lay low in the west signalling sunset. Only when it disappeared would she find some relief from the oppressive heat that usually reached 120 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade.

She would not shed a tear. Why should she when she knew her young uncle was happy now? He had often spoken of death. Shaheedah watched as his unshrouded blood-stained body was put into the warm earth.

Amir had been her favourite, always there to listen to her and answer her unending questions. He made her feel grown-up. Even though he was a devout Muslim, he never pressured her. She would miss him.

Her father had found Amir’s corpse outside the crumbling white wall surrounding her house. Someone, certainly the police, had thrown it there before sunrise. Both his legs had been broken at the knees and his face had been severely beaten.

It was no surprise. Since Amir had turned twelve, he had valiantly participated in the Islamic struggle to rid their country of the rulers who were suffocating the freedom of the Muslims. Only this time, Amir had been picked up, carted off and returned in such a state as if to say, “This is your fate if you insist on rebellion. Be warned!” He had not failed in Shaheedah’s mind, although she never really understood the politics behind the struggle. But she knew deep in her heart, he was right.

So begins Chapter One of the story that has touched hearts around the world. Since publication in 1992 by the Islamic Propagation Organization – International Relation Department - in the Islamic Republic of Iran, The Sandhills of Arabia has been sold throughout the world, including in Africa, Britain, Canada and the US. It, in a double novel combination with its sequel, The Diamond in the Sand, was translated into Indonesian by Elka Ferani, renamed The Sandhills of Arabia: Fate Robbed and published by Zahra Novel in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2005.