Jannat Kay Pattay As I see it.. by Nemrah Ahmed

Jannat Kay Pattay - As I See It !

I owe you all a deep apology for being this late in posting this article. After the completion of Jannat Kay Pattay, I got extremely busy in my upcoming project and since then I couldn’t get a pint of time to write anything but my new novel. Meanwhile you folks read a murder mystery (Paaras) in Pakeeza. It was almost a 6 years old novel of mine that I started back then, (after saann sakin thi) and abandoned. Then after KKTM, I re-wrote that manuscript with a few changes (especially the change of era) and made it a period novel (Beli Raajputaan Ki Malikah). Paaras and BRKM were two sides of the same coin. Just painted same colours with different brushes. So after JKP, I had to complete Paaras because I had promised Pakeeza administration for an episodic serial, and I really enjoyed working with them. Change always brings Khair.

And now, after so long,
I am here with you all, ready to answer the most frequently asked questions about Jannat Kay Pattay. I have picked only those questions which made some sense to every reader around and left those which were either answered already in the novel or were not-so-sensible ones. More so, I skipped all such questions which dealt with my personal efforts for the research of this novel because whosoever I interviewed and got help from, their names were mentioned in the acknowledgements of JKP Book. Going in the detail will not be fruitful for any of us (:

Why did I choose Hijaab as the theme of a fiction novel?

In the recent years, when we are seeing much religion-related stuff in print and electronic media, whenever a protagonist is portrayed with strokes of Deen, writer is most of the times (not always) hung between story and religion, and as a result, one or more aspects of religious sanctions are ignored. Forget the others, even my previous heroines were not the perfect Islamic girls, and no one can be perfect. We are portraying humans, not angels, and we are portraying Pakistani girls and if they are not perfect, we have to write about imperfect ones. Or else people cannot relate to them. But there are some girls, (some because they are very few in millions), who at least try to adopt Hijaab completely. Not in parts. Not in bits and pieces. But as a whole. They will wear it with every non-mehram, even try their best on their wedding, and other functions to cover themselves up. And then these girls have their stories. Happy stories. And painful stories. If a girl does not wear the Shariah Niqaab, she has no idea, ABSOLUTELY no idea, what a Niqaabi girl goes through. The pain, the suffering, the endurance of hers is above the level of understanding of a ‘’normal’’ girl. Just like a non-doctor cannot understand the troubles of a medical student, non-hijaabis can never understand those of hijaabi girls. For once, I wanted to write a completely Niqaabi girl’s story. Something every hijaabi girl can relate with. And JKP  was not about Haya only. It was about Ayeshe too (A non-niqaabi, only-hijaabi girl), about DJ too (a non-hijaabi, non-niqaabi girl) and the message I tried to convey is that its about time Hijaabi girls should stop taking non-hijaabi ones as Kaafir, idiots and bad girls, and non-hijaabi girls should start showing some respect for the hijaab. It’s all about mutual understanding. If being a Hijaabi, you don’t ‘understand’ a non-Hjaabi, then how can you expect her to understand your life? This mutual tolerance can only help us become a better Muslim and a better human being. A message I always give: do  not judge people, you have not lived their life!

And then, I wanted to sketch Hijaab as a very beautiful thing to adopt in life. I know how writers are blessed with the ability to make people fall in love with the profession they portray. If readers can wish to become climbers after reading a mountaineering novel, why not give them a better direction? Something more sacred and precious. Like Qur’an and Islamic values. Hmm…why not?

What I have seen in hijabi girls mostly is their lack of confidence in their dress code. If people can be so confident when they are wrong, why cant we, the hijaabi girls, be proud and confident of our face-covering? Wo ghalat ho ker confident hain tou ap sahi ho kr confident kyun nhi ho skte? And I am sure that some of you have boosted their confidence level to a higher degree after reading this novel. You are welcome (((:

Oh and how can we forget the other storyline of JKP? Jihaan SIkander! (Did I hear someone taking a deep breath?;) )

Jannat Kay Pattay is every that thing you use to cover yourself up in the time of embarrassment, to use as a mode or tool to gain respect again. So in figurative meanings, Jihaan’s uniform was also a waraq’al’Jannah. Rest is history (:

When I started this novel years ago (even don’t remember how many years ago..well...

I started it in July 2011..) I wrote first draft (and remember that first draft is never for anyone to read, it always lies in the closet of the writer), and in first draft there were two extra characters that I later cut. One was Jihaan’s neighbor girl, and other was Jihaan’s younger brother. Yes, he had a younger brother throughout the novel in the first draft, but in the second one, I cut them both and replaced the younger brother with Bihare Gul (she was not in the first draft) and didn’t replace the neighbour girl with anyone (I left her and him for my next novel because those characters were interesting). And so on  and so forth (:

I think I wanted readers to love Jihaan so his character was knitted from the very start to be likeable. I know some of you hated him initially and loved Major Ahmed, but then, you still loved Jihaan, right? So he was liked from the start. As for Haya, I didn’t intend anyone to like her. But with time I myself fell so much in love with Haya that she became the prime focus of the novel. She was not the perfect, over sweet, nice, and sabr shukr wali girl. She had her shortcomings, and if you noticed, she didn’t change much after hijaab. She never changed her attitude, she never became sweet, she was even in the end the prompt-reactor. And that’s the whole idea. Islam doesn’t mean you have to go against your nature. It wants you to stay in the parameters of your real self and then obey Allah. The reason we pray Namaz in Jama’at in Mosques is to make us understand how we have to bow before Allah WHILE we stay in the middle of the human crowd. You get the idea?

As for Ayeshe, she was a different kind. She was not the reverted person. She never was a sinner so she never changed herself. She was always a pious person, so she remained. That’s how many girls are like. And then there are likes of DJs too. I am so sorry for killing off that character but it was necessary for the character-development of Haya and plot development. She was meant to die. And this is what the character told me.

Characters do talk to the writers. Sometimes they just refuse the writer’s order and write their own selves. They shape themselves, they mould themselves. Like in the second last scene of the novel, when that Waleed-video fiasco was over, Haya tells Jihaan how much she loves him, I intended to write how Jihaan replies the same, that he loves her, BUT when I tried to write it, it just didn’t work. It was like Jihaan, my character, actually looked up at me with a frown on forehead and said, “No writer, I am not like this so don’t make me do things I will never do..huh!!” And then, it was like he himself said, “Natasha is right…” , shuddered and went away. That’s what Jihaan was like, wasn’t he? So sorry to those who were expecting him to say something else, I really tried hard but you tell me, is it easy to convince Jihaan to do what he doesn’t wanna do? (;

Why did you show so much Fashion in the story and then brought the story to the ‘other side’?

The other side? You mean the non-fashion side, or the Islamic side? Because in my beliefs, Islamic side is not a synonym for non—fashion side. Or Anti-fashion. That was the whole point. Islam is not against fashion or nail polish (yes, in the name of Lord, I do mean N-A-I-L P-O-L-I-S-H), or jewelry, or trendy outfits or hairstyles or shoes. Haya wore everything nice and trendy when she didn’t do pardah. She wore everything nice and trendy after she did parah. I have often seen in novels that when you have to portray a religious girl, you show her to be simple and (I am sorry to say) Maasi type. It might serve the purpose but it makes religion look highly difficult for a normal girl to adopt. We don’t have to show a girl wearing a big beige-colur shawl, a dheeli choti, highly sanjeeda expressions on face to make her look religious. There is a difference in being simple and in being lazy. Yes, if I see a girl dressed in rough clothes, with simply tied hair and a not-so-matching shawl, I will call her a lazy girl who doesn’t spend time on herself. Simple hona aur bat hai, safai na rkhna aur bat. And when religious girls like make-up and jewelry, people look at them as they are involved in a big taboo. Its not like that. Wearing nailpolish does not make you a kaafir. It just doesn’t make your wudhu acceptable so you have to take it off before doing wudhu (and there are porous nail paints these days so wudhu issue is long gone), nail paint se namaz ho jati hai wudhu nahi hota. The only problem is, when girls wear nail paint, they feel too lazy to remove it before the next prayer. This is a girl’s fault, not the nail-paint’s fault. (Oh and did I hear someone saying, if you wear nail pain and die, the nails will go hard and it is impossible to remove the pain because..…!! OMG honestly this is the most ridiculous thing I have ever come across so please don’t repeat it. Just to keep people from wearing nail-paint, you don’t have to come up with such silly arguments.)

Normally, in tv dramas, and in novels, and in islamic institutes, and in the minds of elderly ladies, there is a concept that religion means simplicity. I have no objection. Fine. Islam is another name of simplicity. BUT simplicity is not another name of careless-ness and being reckless from your own personality. Simplicity does not mean wearing patched dress when you can afford a better one. Jab paisa ho tu nazar ana chaheay. But in tv dramas, novels, Islamic institute, (and elderly ladies’ minds) the concept nourishes till we get this image: if we have to show a modern girl reverting islam, we will first show her to be high-fi modern, and then, shawl clad, tied haired, dull, weak, serious, frowned, cold, colourless (wearing colours that suit elder people) and silent. The image of a religious girl is that of a nun. (No offense to my Christian readers, I am just portraying an idea). Or a darvesh who is ‘cut off’ from the whole world and worldly things in his own dedh eent ki masjid. Now, think of your personal Islamic knowledge. MashaAllah you all are blessed with a lot of it. Think and tell, does Islam mean, Rahbaniyat? Being cut off from world? When we offer prayer in masjid with Jama’at, what are the obligations? That the Namazi will join his feet with the namazis on his sides, join to the extent that the feets touch (so that satan does not walk through the gaps). Yahi hukm hai na ba’jamat namaz ka? And then where do we bow and do rukoo’wa’sujood? Towards Qibla. Towards the House of Allah. What does this mean?

It means, ‘logon k darmyan reh kr Allah k samnay jhukna’. Community ke sath rehty huay Allah ki frman’brdari krna. That’s the whole idea. Islam does not mean rehbaniyat. It doesn’t forbid us from looking good. Tell me, does simplicity mean to look like a ‘bhoot’? (Sorry!) Or does it mean to stay clean, and fresh and beautiful? Allah is beautiful and He likes beauty. He has no objection with wearing nice clothes and looking nice. He only forbids from doing israaf – crossing your limits. Wear gold but pay its zakat. Keep a latest model car but do drive it to mosque five times a day. My idea of writing JKP was to show the balanced Muslimah. The general concept (a girl wearing lots of jewelry and makeup is not a good muslimah) is totally wrong. Islam does not forbid from make up or jewelry. Don’t feel guilty if you like them. Which girl doesn’t? Islam just wants you to cover your ‘zeenat’ before you go out or before non-mehrams. (Means zeenat is not haram, uncovering it before other men is!) So why feel guilty for doing make up and wearing stylish clothes? I know a lot of women who are burqa clad when they go out but in ladies functions, or in their homes, they look very stylish, ready, all made up. Secondly, even doing burqa doesn’t mean you become ‘bhoot’

I hope I have well described my stance over this make-up-is-not-haram issue so lets move forward.

Is there going to be a drama on JKP?

No, if Allah wills, I have no intentions of dramatizing JKP or any of my previous or upcoming project. I am neither a dramatist nor I have any interest in TV. I am a novelist and this is what I like to be.

Did you write all the treasure hunt riddles in JKP yourself?

Yes, all the riddles were original and I wrote them myself. Treasure hunt theme is an old theme. It has been used for centuries. Shaukat Thanvi had written a treasure hunt novel in mid twentieth century about a group of people looking for a buried treasure, and their bread-crumbs were verses of Ghaalib. Each sher led to a place where another sher was written and so forth. I have not read this novel, neither know its name, but I stated the example just to clarify that there were examples of treasure hunt novels even before Uncle Dan Brown was born. His are terrific thrillers no doubt. Some reader had once said here that my puzzle box idea was like DaVinci Code’s cryptex. Let me clarify something. Puzzle boxes are around for centuries. There was no puzzlebox used in DaVinci Code. It was a cryptex that is different than a puzzlebox. Every treasure hunt uses riddles, let it be Nathional Treasure, Harry Potter riddles, The Hobbit, or even Emma had a riddle in it. This is called genre-writing, and when you are writing a specific genre, you have to write according to that genre rules. Like every romance needs a happy ending (otherwise it’ll fall into some other genre) or every legal thriller needs an investigation, a private eye, or a lawyer advocating a case in court, every treasure hunt is full of riddles.  JKP would be translated (rather adapted) in English too insha’Allah and I hope this last thing I said answers many things. (:

Two unanswered questions in JKP.  Jahan’s cocktail vanishing trick and with whom was he seen being dropped home by Suleman Sahib?

These questions were deliberately put in the story and deliberately left unanswered. Jehan answered every query arising in reader’s minds, or Haya’s, but there were a few things he never told.  Some readers did ask that Jihan’s specific  reason for going to Cappadocia was not mentioned. Well, it was metioned (his reason for being in Cappadocia) in the first draft of JKP, but in second and third drafts, (you have read the third (final) draft), I had encrypted the reason.  If a smart soul who is maniac about JKP reads it over and over they might get a clue. It IS written somewhere but was not explained just because it might become controversial for some readers. (But it IS written. Just go through the last bit of Jihaan’s story again).

However,  about the above mentioned two riddles,  they were left unanswered just to make the reader ‘’imagine’’ the future life of Haya and Jehan that “Jehan will never always tell her everything. He has his secrets and he will keep them”. Just like this, he told readers about Feriha and Kiramat Bay issue but he did not tell Haya about it. So there are things he will keep from Haya and some even from the readers (:

Research work and manuscript writing took how long?

A total of 2 years.

Haya always felt while praying post DJ’s death that a part of her had died with DJ. What was that part?

Her faith in dua’a that it might never be accepted again.

Jehan mentioned one sign of liars. What are the other nine?

Google them. If I knew, I might have written them as well.  ((:

Child marriage and its Standing in Islam?

This issue has been so oft-repeated in stories that it led me to (naturally) believe that everyone out there knows about it, thus it was not explained in the novel. My mistake.  Anyways, child marriage IS a valid marriage in Islam. Just like in adult marriage (especially of a girl) Wali (Guardian/father of the bride) HAS to permit the nikkah otherwise Nikkah is not a valid one, similarly in a child marriage, nikkah is carried out by permission of Wali of girl, and if the boy is young too, then that of boy as well. Children are not adults so they are not asked. When they grow up, it is their right to keep the nikkah or not. If they want to break it, they’ll do so like every adult marriage is broken. And if they want to keep it, they will not need a new nikkah. You can confirm it from a scholar too by the way. Oh and Hazrat Aysha (RA) was also married in the age of 6. So that makes things clearer. So it is not illegal, rather completely legal.

Issue of Cupping and Saying your Namaz in shoes?

The Hadiths and references about these issue have been given on JKP Page many, many a time. They were mentioned in the story in a general way, where giving a reference spoils the story sequence. Everyone has internet, or books, or a masjid nearby where a scholar can be consulted, or everyone has a religiously knowledgeable person in their families and I guess we all have brains. So those who want to clear something, they do get it done.  As for me, I’ll try to add a page in the coming editions of JKP Books with reference of each and every hadith/verse mentioned in the novel. It was not possible for this edition due to shortage of time.

You cannot perform Abulultion while wearing make-up. So how did Haya do so?

And who says you cannot perform Wudhu in make-up? ((: Those girls who are regular of prayers know how to do wudhu with makeup on. If your make up is not water proof, then you can surely do wudhu in it without damaging even the line of eye liner. Practice makes a man perfect and a woman VERY perfect! (;

Why Haya lost DJ’s glasses and why every time her Gingerbread house would break?

Every ‘’thing’’ in JKP that Haya or any other character ever cherished, was lost, broken or left. Haya’s gingerbread house, red heels, DJ’s glasses, Haya’s mobile, golden clutch, jehan’s mobile (that he was not shown carrying in the end, meaning he gave it back ) , Bihare’s necklace, Ayeshe’s pearls. Everything was one way or the other lost. Cheezain waqti hoti hain, toot jati hain, bikher jati hain. Rawaiye daaimi hoty hain. They last for centuries and this was the lesson of JKP that people are more precious than things. So cling on to people, and remorse for the loss of people, not things.

OK we can do Ghoonghat on Barat, what about Walima then?

Do the same. Ghoonghat is not conventional on Barat and if you are brave enough to endure the awkwardness and people’s tongues on Barat, then you must be brave enough to do so on walima. (: Simple!

I do pardah, but is it necessary that I do Sharai Pardah?

Ask Allah what you should do and He’ll guide you. As for me, I am author of this novel Jannat Kay Pattay that neither forces nor compels anyone to do anything. It just tells story of a girl who takes Hijab and then fights for it. (:

Is Sister’s husband a mehram? Or if no then why such a thing was written in JKP?

Firstly, I never wrote a behnui is a mehram. I neither wrote he is a non mehram. Let me clarify what was written in JKP first.

One scholar says that just because Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) said to Asma (His wife’s sister) that when a girl reaches adolescence, she should be covered except for her this and this (pointing to face and hands), it means that face does not fall under face veil (or that the woman in those days did not cover their faces). The other scholar argues with her that she cannot deny this hadith because it is a Bukhari / Sahih hadith and no muslim in his right state of mind can ever ever refute a Sahih Hadith, but her point was that Rasul Allah said so to Asma Binte Abi Bakar because she was His sister in law. He was her behnui and the Raajih opinion in Islam (and among Muslim scholars of today) is that behnui is neem-mehram. No, he is not a mehram, but because as long as your sister is in his nikkah you cant marry him, so he is neither your non mehram. It makes him your semi mehram. Face covering with behnui, in reference to this hadith (that because Asma didn’t cover her face with Rasul Allah (sm),) is not necessary with your behnui. However all other measures of Pardah will be carried out. You can confirm it from scholars too. Some prefer face-covering with behnui, some don’t. Hope its clear now (:

Jail Torture part’s bits were missing in digest draft!?

Yes, composers drive you crazy at times. But no problem as it has been published in the book form (:

Jihan has seen to be drinking water in standing position mostly in the novel. Why?

I’m sorry but the specific reader who questioned this was the one to make me aware of it. I just didn’t see it from this angle. It was unintentional. But it should not have been so. A hero promotes habits in loyal readers. Such habits should not be as bad as drinking water in a standing position. Writers should be careful. I’m sorry for that!

Why should Haya be afraid of a dance video while she was the one who performed it once before the whole family? Why the sudden fear?

There are some things in this world that are ‘’logical’’. Others are ‘’illogical’’ or Norms. Logic says, if x = y and y = z then x must be equal to z. But that is not necessary. If x loves y, and y loves z, does that ever mean that x loves z? Never. This is called “society norms”. Logic says, if a girl wears hijab to cover herself from men, then she would wear it from all the men in the world. Norms tell us, however, that most of the hijaabi girls who wear hijaab from men in streets and offices and universities do NOT wear hijaab from the same men in a wedding function. That is illogical but it is exactly in accordance with society norms.

Logic says, if a girl dances on a mehndi fuction where some men are also present, she can dance before every men in the world. Norms tell us that this is not the real life scenario. The girls who dance on mehndis normally tolerate/ignore the presence of waiter/DJs and a few men thereby, but by no means they can dance before the whole world. This may sound illogical but this is exactly what happens in Pakistan. Girls dance on mehndis. But they usually forbid video making because they don’t want the video to reach the whole family, and to their fathers and brothers because if their fathers and brothers were present, they would have never danced.

Then if a video does get leaked, will a girl of Haya and Irum’s state of mind not be afraid of her father and brothers seeing it? Allowing your daughters to dance on mehndis is one thing, seeing their dance alongwith the whole world is another, and seeing their video and knowing that a boy like Waleed has brought it to them is a very very very ‘’another’’ thing. I might not have been logical in this scenario but I am pretty confident that I was 100 percent realistic here. Haya was in the beginning just scared and cautious, but after she reverts to her Deen, she was scared to death. Because a video like that one, brought in the family by Waleed, seen before everyone like her dad, brother, cousins, uncles was humiliating enough to make people doubt her pardah throughout her life. When she did that on the mehndi fuction, she was not a hijabi girl, but once became hijabi, people’s perspective changed. So did hers. (:

Can a girl be this genius like Haya?

She had been stupid at some times, smart at the others. A mixture of that is referred to as being genius. Yes, a girl can be so of course (:

Why did Ayeshe, when explaining Surah Al Ahzab to Haya, did repeatedly talk about difficulties one can face in journey of Hijaab?

Because she knew that Haya will soon come across harder times (:

Jihan did not have beard. If he had one, they could have been a perfect Islamic couple.

Correct. But my characters are never perfect. They can be anything, immature, stupid, smart, cunning, beautiful but perfect. What I showed, again, was ‘’norms’’. Most men who want their wives to wear Hijaab do not wear a beard themselves. Beard and Hijaab are a further level of Deen. Salat and honesty come before them. Jihaan , perhaps, was not on such an advancd level of Deen. Besides, he was a spy and he could not restrict himself to one dress code / hair style / beard.

Are you planning another army based novel?

Not yet (: Can’t say about future (:

Your favourite character in JKP?

Haya of course. She always lost the JKP-Page Elections but still I would vote for her (((:

Was JKP’s end pre-decided or changed according to reader’s wishes?

Readers’ wishes are never as important to the writer as their own novel is to them. Moreover, in this case, readers were divided in two categories. One wanted Jihan to live. Other wanted him dead to make the character more memorable (though I believe that a character must have more in him to become a legend other than his sad death). I did what I had in mind before I penned down the first word of the novel. I wanted it to end on hope. Why should every army guy be martyred in the end? Why do not we give an impression that there are countless soldiers of ours still working somewhere in the world for our better tomorrow? JKP’s ending gave exactly the same message (:

If JKP had another title name, what would it be?

When I started it back in 2011, it had another title. I changed it very later in the first draft. That was “Tabarraj ul Jahilyaah”(Jahiliyat ka tabarruj). The reason I didn’t name it so was these brackets in which you have to tell the meaning. Names’ appearance should atleast be common to all common readers, even if the meaning is difficult. Secondly, Tabbarj ul Jahiliyah was a ‘’negative’’ (that means, it is something we should NOT do), while Jannat Kay Pattay is something “positive” (that means, we SHOULD do it), so I wanted it to be positive because Amr bi Al Maaroof always comes BEFORE nahi An al munkir. (:

Do you intend to write about more solved riddles of Qur’an in any other novel?

Of course (: In sha’Allah

When Dolly gave Haya an orange doppatta while hers slipped in Waleed’s car, why did no one notice her different coloured dopatta?

Yeah right, I wonder the same. (:

(Weird fashion trends might have saved her, No ??!! )

The last scene of JKP showed 4 years later thoughts of Haya only, why not Jihan’s were shown?

The novel started from Haya’s perspective, and ended on hers. Jihan’s part came in the middle. Its narration was very different from Haya’s. It was to the point, did not go in minute details and ended once and for all. Just because Jihan will not spend whole his life justifying and explaining what he does, his part never came again. We had to imagine ourselves how he got into Haya’s room in Asiyana Cave house Cappadocia, how he swapped the videos etc. Because Jihan’s story gave us the intro to the kind of man he was. Once reader understands that, he can imagine the rest himself (:

What was the purpose of Jihan’s promise to Bahare if he was not to die in the end?

Prolongation of suspense and picturing what a spy feels about his death (especially due to the effect of the burial he had seen of pak spy in his childhood)

Jihan intended to revenge the Indian double agent who got him in the custody but never was shown avenging him?

Like every spy feels about those who double crossed them, Jihan felt about that guy, but it is impossible to find such people later in life whose name or identity you do not know.

In the end, when Haya mentioned Ayeshe, Jihan boht ulajh kr bola Kaun Ayeshe? Usko Anjan prentend krna chahea tha, ulajh kr kyun bola?

The reason was, he was not pretending. He was acting. And he was a very good actor. I had very deliberately showed it like this. Because if I had shown him to have said, “Kaun Ayeshe?” with a calm or surprising tone while his eyes warning Haya, it would have signaled “We cannot talk about her in public like this” but he said with a very genuine surprise “Kaun Ayeshe?” which meant I do not even remember who she was so never ever mention her before me. Not in public, not in private.

(I’m glad that my reader picked the point (: )

Purpose of DJ’s death?

Her departure portrayed ‘’death’’ and the burn-scene portrayed ‘’fire penalty after death” which was important for someone like Haya to think about life after life.

How can I find and solve riddles of Quran?

If you have a niyyat, you will find someone or some place from whom/where you can learn how to do this. Just have a pure niyyat and Allah will make a way for you.

Not even a single part of this novel was reality based?

I will not comment on this question. Just remain assured that Haya and Jihan’s story was fictional but that doesn’t mean that such and such thing never happened to any human being. Even as I write it might be happening with someone somewhere (:

Were Haya and Jihaan real characters?

No. They were created by me! You are welcome ((:

In which language did Haya and Jihan talk?

Was mentioned in the novel. English in the start and in the ending part, in Urdu.

Why Suleman Sahib did not tell Haya that Jihan’s an army man?

He was reluctant and confused himself. He told his son but not to his daughter because he did not want her to be perplexed. Besides, if he had told Haya in the start, tou phir JKP ki 12/13 iqsaat tu bekar jateen na (:

If you co-relate Ghazwa Ehzaab with Pardah, then Haya did not spend days in starvation as people did in Khandaq??

Starving symbolizes economic de-stability. And that exactly was shown when Haya’s source of ‘’food’’ family business was in crisis. They did not have enough money to continue some projects so she cut some funds etc. Remember that part? It was a symbolic representation of starving. While “winters’’ of Ahzaab Battle was symbolized as “coldness in relatives’ behavior”.

What became of Waleed and Irum?

Waleed must have never dared contacting a person of Irum’s family because Jehan did threaten him of exposing him before his future in-laws. Irum thought that Waleed has deliberately showed everyone their intimate pictures (she never knew that it was Jehan who swapped the videos) so she must have given up on Waleed. She was already engaged so it was evident that she’ll get married to her fiancé as decided. But of course with a lesser degree of honour.

Ayeshe and Bahare…What happened with them?

It was summarized in last lines. “Ayeshe was still the same while Bahare turned into a beautiful girl of fourteen or fifteen which showed she did not adopt her sister’s Hijaab, and she was like what was Haya like in the start. And that they both lived in Egypt.” If I ever write a JKP part two, it would focus on Bahare’s story (means I would refrain myself from writing it :/ ) Yes, there is no part two coming. But if, I ever, IF I write it, it will portray Bihare as a beautiful, non-islamic teen-ager and her life(but honestly, I don’t want to. I wont say for sure because you never know how life turns out, but I am busy with my upcoming project so….forget part two. Lets move one!)

Jihan was a liar. Did it never occur to him that lying is a sin?

Above has been an oft-repeated question for past whole year. Jihan did lie and cheated and betrayed people whenever he wanted, but his lying was not a sin. In Islam, lying is considered a sin unless in three conditions (we usually misuse and misquote this hadith though). One is for Sulah, and second is during battle/war. (For third , you can search it on the web. It is about a spouse who tells their spouse that they are beautiful. Sorry to wives and husbands (; ). Lying during a battle, cheating people, lagain bujhai kerna, idher ki udher lagana, ye sab kam wesey haram mgr jang me halal hoty hain because a Muslim only fights for Allah’s Deen. A spy is fighting even in peace so his lies are legal. Remember the hadith where Aap (saww) sent a newly reverted Muslim to trick the non muslims into something so that un me photo parr jae? Ye normally prohibited hai, chughli kerney waly ko qabar ka azab hota hai, magar as a battle strategy, it is allowed. And as spies say, “We lie for a living”. So Jehan’s lies were pretty much truthful (((:

How come Jehan never knew that Haya and Ayeshe are still in contact?

Did I say he didn’t? How can you even expect from Jihan not to know such a thing? Perhaps Haya think herself to be smart enough to keep the contact hidden but my readers are smarter than her, I know ((:

I find Bihare’s character strange. Why so?

For me, no she wasn’t strange. Neither was she an extra-ordinary intelligent girl. She was as smart as a European child can be at the age of 9. I was a little taken aback by a number of readers popping in to express their bewilderment about Bihare’s ‘smarter-than-her-age’ talks. Have you ever looked around yourself for 9 year old girls? Even in our country, 9 year olds , even 6 and 7 years old are way smarter than Bihare. I will not throw any justification for her character as it doesn’t need any. Just take a closer look at a nine year old the next time you see one and you’ll realize that when we grow up, we forget how we were in this age ;)

Her love for Jihan was , not logical, not traditional, but ‘humane’ love. Bihare was a human character and a human at the age of 9 if sees a man for a lot of hours everyday, talks to him, watches him do little and big things for him/her, likes his habits, even more likes his over-all personality, then he/she does start feeling for that person. This feeling is called “attachment” that transforms into “love”. After they fall apart, it depends upon the intensity of this feeling about how much time she’ll take to forget him. Bihare loved him a great deal to forget him so early though. As for her dream desire of getting married, it was a human emotion at this age. Marriage seems like a fantasy to young kids, like the only thing that can keep an adult attached to them for the rest of their lives. Bihare’s thought for getting married with Jihaan was not of an unethical nature, but was due to her dire desire of living with him forever. She did not want to marry him; she wanted to keep him near her all her life. When you write a character, you have to get in their shoes and think and react like they would have done, so this was the most natural behavior, not of a 9 year old perhaps (if you argue) but of the 9 year old girl called Bahare Gul. (:

Almost every Turkish character in the novel was very fluent in English. Is that so in reality as well?

They are as good in speaking English as Pakistanis are, if not better than us. As for the children, a girl of Bihare’s background might not be as fluent as shown in novel, but because she lived with ARP, he made them learn English because deep down he knew that one day they’ll have to leave the country and live under some cover identity somewhere else, so he wanted them to learn English and Arabic so that they can take advantage of it in related countries. I did mention so in the first draft I think, but later edited such details in the final draft. Had to edit a lot. Thought my readers will not notice (;

(But they did!)

JKP had a lot of irrelevant things. No?

I would say, No. Because I wrote the novel and I can claim to be the one person on Earth who knows about this novel more than anyone else, I would say, No it didn’t have even a bit of stuff that was irrelevant to the main/sub plots or theme or characterization or character development or storyline or climax or ending. Every bit had its place in the jigsaw puzzle, it just needed its time to fit in. Even the gingerbread house was not irrelevant. It was a symbol of broken things that are of less value than broken hearts and broken souls. Haya learnt that after a long time and so she never mourned the collapse of the second gingerbread-house. It was “character development” and was essential. JKP was one those novels that are written for a second read. Unless you read it more than once, you may not grasp a lot of things you might have ignored in the first time.

However, JKP was ‘long’ and ‘detailed’. I would still say, I had to write it the way I wrote it, with every tiny detail and fraction, because I write for my love of writing. I write for my own self. I wanted to write this novel, the way I WANTED to. So I did (: BUT, yes, it was too detailed. And that’s my style. Don’t read me if you don’t like my details, but if you have to read me, you have to read me the way I want to be read. (: My pen is my choice, my pleasure, my tool. If I change my writing style, I’ll do so for my ownself and not for any critic suggestion (:

Satisfied with the message delivery or you think message suffered under the façade of suspense and thrill and readers bypassed the ‘message based paragraphs’ to jump to the part where they get some mystery solving clue?

I am perfectly satisfied Alhumdolilah. The message of JKP was ‘known’ by everyone who read till the last word. They understood it or not, they admitted it or not, they would act upon it or not is not the issue (or shall I say headache?) of a writer/preacher. Our job is to ‘spread the message’.  Its Allah Who sets this message in hearts. My limit was just till delivering it in the most understanding language they knew: Story Telling. Story-telling, for centuries, has been the most effective mode of teaching. I think my message was clear, and it didn’t bury under suspense and spice. It couldn’t. Delivering a message doesn’t mean that readers have to memorize those ‘quotation-like-excerpts-that-are-shared-on-facebook-and-get-thousands-of-likes-and-shares’. It means , by the end of the novel, every reader knows that what the writer wants to say is that hijaab is a mode of life, not a piece of cloth. If you wear it, carry it with confidence. If you do not wear it, learn to respect those who wear it, because even if you don’t show respect to a Hijabi girl, Time will insult and humiliate you like no one else had ever done and hijabi girl will always have the last laugh. And no one can ever humiliate a girl who leaves her wrong track, comes to the right one, and has faith in Allah (: That was the whole message of JKP. You got it na? So no issues (:

What was so precious in Jihan’s mobile that he never let Haya see it?

Professionalism. The very same that says, ‘business is business’. Amaanat. If no one had to see his secret official stuff, it should have been seen by no one. In a profession like his, it is dangerous to even let the most trustworthy person peek into your secrets. Not that they’ll betray you, but anyone can arrest/abduct them and torture them to make them talk. If they could endure those tortures, they would have been in your place doing this job. And if they are not in your job, means they are not supposed to know. ‘The less you know, the better’ is a phrase almost every thriller repeats. But its worth it. Totally!

Which novel of yours is your own favourite?

Like I previously said on this page, a writer always sees mistakes in their work. I can never read them without thinking about the flaws, the loopholes, the mistakes. But there is one novel that is my most precious, most beloved novel. It does have some magic in it I must say. It even mesmerizes the writer herself. Though I like JKP a lot and it is on the second number in my list, my most favourite of all the times that never bores or tires me no matter how many times I go through it is “Beli Rajputaan ki Malikah”. I truly love this novel. It had something about it. It sure DID. (:

Whats your own favourite theme of JKP? Hijaab or the Spy/treasure Hunt theme?

I don’t know. Perhaps both. Like the fingers of your hands, you may tell which one is bigger and smaller, which one is more powerful than the other, but you just cant tell which one you like better. Both, I guess.

Tell about your upcoming project?

I never tell (: That’s the right answer. It is a sin to me to tell the theme, storyline,  character names in advance. It spoils the taste for me. Even the name of my new novel I will break one month before its first episode is out. Yes it will be episodic,  and yes its number of episodes is decided, and no I am not telling you how many they are. I’ll just say that this new novel is very precious to me. It centres around one of our most complicated problems these days. It is written in a style I have never written before. Besides its genre is something I have never ever written before: suspence. I have never written a suspense novel before, and before you jump, let me explain that JKP/BRKM/Paaras were not suspense novels, they were mystery novels. Difference between a suspense and a mystery novel is, in a mystery novel, a character is hiding some secret that the reader does not know and some of the characters don’t know either and reader and the characters find it out together. Like Jihaan’s secret or Maya or Rizwan’s secret.  In a suspense novel, reader knows the main secret of the novel from the very start, but the main characters don’t know. I am done writing mysteries. And this time I am trying something different. Remember in dua’a. I don’t know when it will start. It will be published hope-so in Khawateen Digest, but it will take a few months. In sha’Allah. Cant tell for sure, though.

Besides, my readers should be prepared for non-hijabi characters as I hope you must understand that 97 percent of Pakistani women do not wear shariah based niqaab so I can only write 3 percent characters on niqaab, and if I write every story on hijabi girls, it’ll bring monotony in my writing style, no character will differ from the other and people will relate less to it. What about those 97 percent of women who don’t wear hijaab? How will they relate to my stories? Who will write their stories then? So humain sab ko sath le ker chalna hota hai.

But of course, my next novel is exploration of another riddle of Qur’an. If Allah gives me a life and stamina long enough, I wish to write on every riddle I can find in Qur’an. They are too many to count. Like Allah says, if all the oceans become ink and all the trees become pens, and they are doubled, and you start writing, end will the oceans and end will the ink, end will the trees and end will the pens, but Allah’s talks will never end.

Remember me in dua’a. That’s all you can do for me (:

Peace be upon you all.

Nemrah Ahmed