Isolated Incident

by Mariam Pirbhai

When a rock, a threatening letter, and a burning Quran are thrown into a mosque on the outskirts of Toronto, religious leaders and the police shrug it off as an isolated incident. But many see it as a hate crime. Among them is Kashif Siddiqui, the son of Pakistani immigrants. Kashif joins a group of volunteers at an Islamic Cultural Centre on a security watch during the festive Eid night, a potential target of another attack. When an attack materializes, Eid night becomes a test of friendship, family, and faith for the community; it also ends in near-tragedy and a declaration of love and reconciliation.



“Absorbing, earnest and beautifully written, Isolated Incident is a loving portrayal of Canadians besieged by hate-crimes. Through fluid and insightful storytelling Mariam Pirbhai shows how each must rise above grief, rage, and despair to face the price and dangers of belonging.”
–Shauna Singh Baldwin, author of The Tiger Claw, What the Body Remembers and English Lessons

“Mariam Pirbhai’s Isolated Incident offers an intimate glimpse into the lives of Muslims in the diaspora. We meet Kashif and Arubah, both young second-generation Canadians in search of purpose and a sense of belonging during intensifying Islamophobia. When a mosque is attacked, not everybody in the beleaguered community agrees on how to keep safe in the face of constant misrepresentation and marginalization. The incident triggers an unlikely alliance between Kashif and a white retired cop named Frank while tensions threaten Arubah’s friendship with her queer mixed-race best friend, Marisol. Mariam Pirbhai is a consummate storyteller, deftly navigating the complexities of identity, family and faith during dangerous times. Isolated Incident is an important novel portraying the often-neglected stories of a community under siege but rarely given voice.”
–Carrianne Leung, author of That Time I Loved You

“In Isolated Incident , Mariam Pirbhai gives voice to a Canada confronted by an Islamophobia that has become as entrenched as its multiculturality. Centred on the lives and loves of South Asian, Arab- and Muslim-Canadians, brought to lively and sometimes humorous relief through sensory details of past origins, shared familial meals, university exchanges and cultural centres, eponymous to Canadian life, Mariam Pirbhai reveals the complex negotiations her characters undertake as they collide with a landscape that has continued to define itself as a Franco-British settler-colony. Isolated Incident will make all readers rethink what it means to be Canadian today and what it might mean tomorrow were we to awaken to the realities lived by the marginalized within Canadian borders. A must-read, urgent and topical.”
–Myriam J A Chancy, author of What Storm, What Thunder

“Mariam Pirbhai’s debut novel, Isolated Incident , is a thoughtful and intelligent examination of faith and intolerance centred around a vicious attack on a Toronto mosque. Through the perspectives of a rich cast of characters who are forced to navigate a landscape riddled with more and more hate crimes against Canadian Muslims, Pirbhai gives us a glimpse into the complex reality of a community rarely depicted in the popular media.

Genres: Fiction, Canada

222 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 16, 2022

Reviews

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-written, timely, and with some pointed messages. But I'm afraid I have to leave it at 3 stars for two reasons. The first is that, as it is constructed as a series of intertwined short stories, I gravitate towards some characters more than others. In particular, I liked the evolving relationship between Kashif and retired cop Frank...I could have enjoyed an entire novel about them and them alone. Moving back to other plots and characters left me a little deflated. The second reason I can't raise this above 3 stars is that, being a life-long resident of vibrant, ever-changing, ambitious and lovely Kitchener...whatever is being characterized in this novel is not my hometown. All I can say to it is: flapdoodle!

[cryingrnsendhlp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mariam Pirbhai’s novel, Isolated Incident is a powerful testimony of the everyday struggles of Canadian Muslims living in the West as they navigate identity, belonging, and Islamophobia. Pirbhai delivers a satirical message about Islamophobia through the contrast between the novel’s title versus the novel’s contents. While the book is titled Isolated Incident, the story reveals that Islamophobia is not an isolated incident but a structure through which several incidents occur simultaneously and persistently.

Despite being a fiction novel, Isolated Incident provides important insight into the debates surrounding the language of Islamophobia: is it racism or is it simply religious intolerance? While Pirbhai’s novel never uses the term Islamophobia to describe the phenomenon, its impact, or debates surrounding the word, Isolated Incident highlights the nuances of the term and the lived experiences of Canadian Muslims. The title Isolated Incident also addresses the problematic way that Islamophobic acts are treated, where they are perceived as emerging out of the attacker’s personal issues rather than a product of the Islamophobia industry. These incidents cannot be divorced from the context and influence that they emerge from, nor can the individuals who commit Islamophobic attacks.

Through the characters of Arubah Anwar and her interactions with other characters, Pirbhai delivers an interesting analysis of belonging in Canadian society. To Arubah, her identity is not something confusing, yet in the novel, we see how she struggles to rationalize how her identities are perceived by others as unCanadian. We are made and unmade by others’ opinions of ourselves.

Mariam Pirbhai’s Isolated Incident powerfully dismantles the myth that Islamophobia is a series of rare or disconnected events. Instead, the novel positions Islamophobia as a deeply rooted structure embedded in Canadian society, impacting Muslims in both overt and subtle ways. Isolated Incident invites readers to challenge simplistic narratives, recognize the ongoing nature of anti-Muslim racism, and learn about the impact of Islamophobia through an accessible medium.

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging introduction to second-generation Muslim immigrant life in Toronto. It's set against the backdrop of hate crimes against minorities and the ambivalent responses of immigrant communities. It's an important perspective.

I did find the constantly changing voices distracting, especially since many of them seemed to be variations.