Love from Mecca to Medina by S.K. Ali, sequel to the hugely popular Love from A to Z, returns us to the lives of Adam and Zayneb, now married but living apart as they try to build their professional and educational careers while maintaining their relationship. As S.K. Ali makes very clear from the start, this story is one to challenge all those romantic tales that end with the wedding; she wants to show us – in all its messy ups and downs – what comes next! For reasons I will explain, I am dividing my thoughts on this book into two parts: emotional and academic.

I think the aspect of this book that I emotionally connected with most were the reflections on how chronic illness affects relationships, in this case Adam’s multiple sclerosis and how it influences his relationship with Zayneb. Although she was aware of his illness when she married him, Adam lives with constant guilt that he will hold her back if he appears too dependent on her. Meanwhile, Zayneb finds herself focusing excessively on his illness to the point that it affects her worship. [mild spoilers – to avoid, skip to *] I deeply felt the heartbreak of the moment when they have completed Umrah and Zayneb suddenly realises that she didn’t make any personal du’as because she was worrying too much about Adam! It was clear that S. K. Ali had really taken her time to understand this topic and consider how most accurately to portray this experience. She mentions in her acknowledgements that she was advised on this topic, but not everyone would be able to convert someone else’s experience into such touching prose. I also found myself sharing Zayneb’s frustration with Adam and a certain unwelcome lady and her guilt at feeling that way when she was trying to elevate herself spiritually in Makkah. I was quite surprised by my greater empathy with Zayneb since I definitely felt more in tune with Adam than Zayneb in Love from A to Z. In that book, I found Zayneb a bit preachy and lacking in self-awareness, but it seemed like the roles were reversed a little in this one, with Adam being the oblivious one. I appreciated that eventually they both took the time to reflect on their own mistakes and be vulnerable and humble in the face of those realisations.

*I have found myself a little weary of Young Adult fiction in recent months – to be fair, I’m hardly in the YA age bracket! – so while I didn’t really find myself emotionally affected by the following points, I was able to consider them from an academic perspective. Most obviously, perhaps, this book portrays a loving, passionate, sometimes cheesy, sometimes happily-ever-aftery halal romantic relationship and, perhaps more than ever, this is very important for young Muslims dealing with the wilderness of modern Western romantic relationships that otherwise bombards them. S.K. Ali takes this further by setting this romance in Makkah, challenging the misconception some may have that romance is in any way inappropriate for Muslims in an Islamically-significant context. She emphasises the esteem that Islam gives such relationships when carried out in a halal framework and mentions in her afterword how important showing this was to her. One aspect I questioned was if the amount of free mixing between unrelated men and women in this book – and indeed a number of “halal romance” books in recent years – was excessive considering it sets something of an example for how young Muslims interact appropriately with the opposite gender. Although I understand this social interaction is a normal reality for many Muslims and I wasn’t too bothered by it as an adult reader who knows her own beliefs and limits, when I consider it from the perspective of a book targeted at potentially impressionable young Muslim women, it does raise some alarm bells for me. Funnily enough, it also plays an unexplored – if arguably minor – role in one of the dominant conflicts of the book. Having said that, I certainly wouldn’t want to suggest that it is the responsibility of one book to raise Muslims who understand gender relation norms in Islam. And of course S.K. Ali does so much more right in terms of portraying characters whose lives are built upon solid foundations of their Islamic faith, which they believe in and live fully and for themselves, not as an unwanted cultural inheritance or a meaningless identity marker.

Something I didn’t realise until a couple of days after finishing this book was how clearly I had been visualising and experiencing being present in Makkah and Madinah and performing Umrah as I read it. What a wonderful achievement for a book in the YA romance genre! Not only did I appreciate this as a Muslim, but knowing that S.K. Ali has her share of non-Muslim readers, this will be a unique opportunity to show them what being there means and its special qualities.

Overall, I think the greatest strength of this book was its emotional accuracy. Whether it’s illness, death or intimate relationships, S.K. Ali navigates them with respect and profound empathy. While there may have been some quick solutions to material difficulties, she really took the necessary time to allow the emotional struggles – both in their relationships and their self-perception – to stew, develop and reach their resolutions in an authentic way. Regardless of the subject matter, S.K. Ali’s writing always conveys her sincerity and love for Islam, her characters and her readers and judging from the popularity of her books, this clearly comes across to all who read them.