Muslim Diasporic Narrative of a Pakistani American Identity: A Study of Ayad Akhtar’s American Dervish

Abstract

Aim: Muslim people of Islamic heritage form a developing part of the world’s contemporary migrant and diasporic population. Muslims have made significant development in gaining multiple forms of public recognition and accommodation in various public spheres and institutions in the United States of America, right up to a representation in the South Asian Diaspora. This research paper aims to cover the issue of a Pakistani diasporic identity in America from the Islamic heritage presented by Ayad Akhtar in his novel American Dervish (2012) through the character of Hayat Shah, the protagonist. 

Methodology and Approach: This novel is all about Hayat’s transformation from following up a few practices of Islam to his negation and rejection of his own religion of what he considers to be its irrational and rigid aspects. On being a second-generation immigrant, he starts to try and further struggles to find his identity between his homeland’s religion and the culture of cosmopolitanism. Moreover, many other characters in the story also try to transform his mindset towards his Islamic identity, such as his mentor Mina Ali, and his parents, Naveed and Muneer.

Outcome: This research paper shows that the development, constitution, and recognizability of a substantial Muslim Diaspora are identified among the effects of depiction as the familiar tropes of orientation and multiculturalism in the novel American Dervish.

Conclusion: It shows the point of view of the novelist who explores the idea of a Muslim diasporic person encountering so many teething problems, in the west in general and America in particular, till he adopts the ways of the lifestyle of the host land in his life.