Islam In The Alchemist

Beliefs about God, humanity, and the Universe are very important to the Muslims.This idea is clearly demonstrated in Paulo Coelho's novel, The Alchemist. In the story, Santiago, the main character, from a Christian upbringing, encounters Islam on his journey from Spain to Africa in pursuit of his personal legend. He must change his ways among this other culture to refrain from offending them. Although Biblical allusions play a role in the story, Islam has a greater impact on the book.

One reason why Coelho may have included maktub in The Alchemist is to show everyone's life is predetermined. First, according to the book Religion of the World Focus on Islam by Johan Carstens, Muslims believe in prophecies. A prophecy is a prediction or foretelling of the future. Muslims believe false prophets are makings of the devil and truthful prophets are makings of God (Carstens). A prophecy shows what is to come in someone's lifetime. Likewise, in The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, maktub is understood to mean the things to come have already been planned and written. Santiago first encounters maktub when he is speaking with his friend the Crystal Merchant and he introduces the definition of the word to him (61, Coelho). Even though Religion of the World Focus on Islam states they believe in prophecies and The Alchemist portrays maktub the two words are similar in many ways. The words themselves are different but their meanings are equivalent.

For starters, as stated in "Women's Rights in Islamic Marriage" on the Homepage of Maria Keet, married women must wear veils that cover their face and also they must wear black so men will know the woman is taken. It is also believed in Muslim culture veils also show men have higher control over the women (Keet). Veils and black clothing are simply to keep women faithful