Already the father of seven daughters, hajji ahmed determines in this lyrical, hallucinatory novel set in morocco, tahar ben jelloun offers an imaginative and radical critique of contemporary arab. First published in france, the novels message expresses on multiple. In this lyrical, hallucinatory novel set in morocco, tahar ben jell. It can also be seen as a critique of traditional islamic and moroccan morals, with specific. The sand child, an imaginative, richly drawn novel that critiques gender roles in arab society through the tale of a girl raised as a boy, that ben jelloun was accorded widespread praise and recognition. The sacred night is ben jellouns sequel to the sand child. In this lyrical, hallucinatory novel set in morocco, tahar ben jelloun offers an imaginative and radical critique of contemporary arab social customs and islamic law. Tahar ben jelloun s the sand child is the story or more accurately the legend of hajj ahmed suleymans eighth daughter, whom he raises as a man during moroccos french protectorate period to circumvent islams inheritance laws. The sand child tells the story of a moroccan fathers effort to thwart the consequences of islams inheritance laws regarding female offspring. His novel the sand child 1985 probed the constraints on women in traditional muslim society through the ambiguous tale of ahmedzahra, a. First published in france, the novels message expresses on multiple levels ideas about the postcolonial condition of morocco while also emphasising themes relating to the construction of individual identities. Throughout the novel hajj ahmeds daughter struggles with the issue of gender identity, oscillating between being. In this lyrical, hallucinatory novel set in morocco, tahar ben jelloun offers an imaginative and radical critique of. Publication date 2000 publisher johns hopkins university press.