How Would I Read 'Habibi'?

Of course this is a graphic novel I'd pick up- Craig Thompson's 'habibi'. (Wikipedia says habibi in Arabic means 'my beloved' for a male object of affection.) It's a controversial book that has been criticized for its treatment of sexuality, women, slave traders, Arab culture and depiction of Arabs, it has only spurred me on to flip through in order to form my opinions. Harems, eunuchs, slavery and ill treatment of the poor don't just exist in the Arab world. These exist in the Chinese kingdoms, the Wild West, and well, basically wherever human civilization has sprung up.

Well, the issue of Western authors writing/drawing about Islam and religious territory has always been tense, to say the least, is it not? It's even more intriguing since the author has been raised as a conservative Christian. Craig Thompson spent seven years on research for this book. While he doesn't tread the touchy facets of Islamic law, he exhibits a deep appreciation of Islamic art and writing. In a very odd way, the Qur'an is central to this book while the religion of Islam takes a backseat. (Read reviews here, here, here, here and here.)

If this has been a book of prose, I might have skipped it. But the illustrations are going to be awesome. In short, it's a fairytale about two escaped child slaves Dodola and the 8-years-younger Zam who aren't of the same ethnicity, and eventually grow up into new bodies and personalities, from a relationship as a sister and brother, through trials and tribulation, ultimately reunited in love as wife and husband. There's a clash between the old world and the new. There're stories drawn from the Qur'an, but it never specifically pinpoints it to any country or even the Middle East. There're vague references to the protagonists as Muslims. There're certain clichés, yes, of harems and whatnots. But read it like 'One Thousand and One Nights'. The Ottoman Turks had slaves, along with the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and most of Mediterranean culture; Sumerian, Babylonian, Hittites and all of Mesopotamia. Use the imagination, and the Wanatolia city in 'habibi' can be Anatolia in the 14th century BC.

What do I think about it? I love the ending. It's an expected resolution, yet heart-warming. A tale of redemption? Not so much. A tale of the triumph of human sins and the human spirit, of love and compromise. Craig Thompson shows no particular inclination of disrespecting any race or culture. He has been, in fact, inspired by its art. I focused on the concepts of society, race and social boundaries. These aren't unfamiliar to the average reader. You can identify it the background in whichever way you wish, but there isn't a need to peg it to any religion or society in a given geographical area. Read it like it's a mythical land in another time or dimension. Read it as a social critique on all of human race. Have humans become so sensitive that we can no longer read a book as it is? A good, well-researched, and well thought-out work.