What would you say are your main concerns as a writer?
I just tell the stories. I do not pretend to have mastered the art of writing. But in the end, it is all about the story and the message. People want to read a good story. They don't care how many times you split infinitives or how many big words you use. They want a story that means something to them. My goal is to deliver that story to them in a nicely bound easy-to-read package.
I want my message to be clear. Writing for me is a way of reaching people who otherwise would not hear my message. I do not write simply to entertain. Every book, every fable, and even every line on a page has some deeper meaning. It can be a moral message, a spiritual message, or a social commentary. When conveying it, I do not want to make it too obvious, but I also do not want to obscure the meaning. It is a thin line to walk, but, hopefully, I traverse it well.
When people tell me that my writing has positively affected them, that motivates me to continue the journey.
How have your personal experiences influenced the direction of your writing?
As a Muslim, who converted to Islam ten years ago, my life has taken a decidedly different direction than it could have. Any time someone has a life-altering experience, it affects everything and everyone around him. Each choice has a ripple effect in the pond of life, and those ripples spread out in all directions and touch all people.
My book is not about Islam, which is drastically different from many modern Muslim authors. I have taken a classical approach to writing. In the height or golden age of Islamic civilization, the authors transcended writing about mundane issues and created some of the most celebrated written works in history, including science, mathematics, sociology, and even fiction.
So, rather than boring my audiences with a book about regulatory issues of Islamic law or family moral values, I have woven a tale, one that begins with flawed people, and the story follows those people as they progress and grow. It is truly character-driven; my story is about people, rather than events.
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