Novels contesting Islamophobia can still recruit the observant-versus-secular binary that sustains it.

Evidence

The real politics of the book lie in the distinction between believers—such as Najwa, Tamer, and the women at the mosque—and unbelievers—such as Omar, Anwar, and Lamya. The former are honest, open, spiritually questing, and religiously observant. The latter are feckless, insensitive, materialistic, and selfish. … Although the sacred and profane are always proximate, prone to bleed into one another if vigilance is not maintained, Najwa’s transformation is achieved through a humility that, when rerouted via religious faith, finally results in acceptance and peace. It is not the product of self-assertion or personal ambition. — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 486

Categorization

• DEFINE: Models the distinction between secular, autonomous self-realization and religious submission to authority as rival teloi for the protagonist.
• XREF: Directly relevant to the hinge: Naqvi’s and Hamid’s novels each stage an observant-versus-secular axis among Muslim characters.
• QUESTION: Did Morey elsewhere read secular-rational texts as equally capable of liberal moral heroism — or is the binary always operative?