Of course you can only have praise for a man who, after losing his wife in the terror attacks in Brussels, March 2016, is strong enough to resist feelings of revenge and to call for love and tolerance as the most effective weapons against the hatred of the terror. This small, poetic book is first and foremost a very personal, touching ode to his deceased wife, and an expression of uncertainty and despair now she is taken from him. But it is so much more.
The most remarkable is the openness and curiosity with which this Brussels metro driver, despite everything, is looking into the world. He does so as the son of Moroccan migrants, in a country where he has gotten opportunities to build up his life in freedom, but also a country in which racist statements are hurled at him, and in which he apparently failed to get an educational degree. He also does so as a Muslim who sees how his religion is hijacked by criminals to stir up hatred, and therefore he draws attention to the message of tolerance, honesty and fraternity that is inherent to islam; but he also stands up for the right to express his religion in this society, against the fundamentalism of the secular state-adepts. So there are not only sweet-voiced words in this booklet, but also a clear message to other Muslims and non-Muslims.
PS. I saw an English edition of this book lying in a bookshop in Edinburgh, Scotland, where I went for a holiday. Remarkable and hopeful that something quite unconventional can reach an international audience.