“‘One step at a time, one breath, one life ... one destiny.’ These were my mother’s famous words. She called them the steps of life.” Zohra grows up believing that her destiny is written in the stars, that Maktoub will guide her step by step towards her own true love. When she meets the handsome Fahmi and falls in love, Zohra believes her faith is stronger than life itself. But the clash of tradition, cultural mores, personalities and unfulfilled dreams will lead their love astray, and Zohra will come to question the very basics of what her mother has taught her. Can Maktoub weather the storms of life and bring her a happy ending? Will it give their love a second chance? Set in the exotic city of Casablanca, Maktoub is a story about faith and destiny, desire and tangled love, and what it means to become masters of our own destiny.
Maktoub describes the events and political upheavals that changed the Middle East from the demise of the Ottoman Empire to the eventual death of Colonel Nasser. These events are seen through the eyes of Peter Angelakis, an Ottoman Greek who left Constantinople for a more secure existence in British controlled Egypt. In Alexandria, Peter marries into a Lebanese family and the history of that period with all its upheavals unfolds through the lives of his four children. The second world War provided Peters eldest daughter who is married to a British Officer, offers a peek into English reactions to Egyptian Nationalism. It also acted as a catalyst to the free Officers movement resulted in King Farouks abdication. Peters second daughter Alexandra, marries a Greek businessman who escaped from communist Romania, and throws light into the socialist nationalisations that eventually wrecked the Egyptian economy. Peters two sons with his father-in-law are immersed in the Egyptian interior and provides a picture of life at the time that included acquiring business contacts; the reasons and results of the burning of Cairo; the Suez attack and the disastrous six day war of 1967 until the death of Nasser in 1970. All the events, once they had occurred, the muslim population stoically accepted them. To them it was MAKTOUB (it is written).
Multicultural issues are part of the agenda for researchers, academics, and politicians. The new technologies have brought multiculturality into our professional and personal lives, opening new possibilities for social interactions among people from different countries, cultures, ages, and gender. Being able to deal with diversity, including other cultures, is a must in the 21st century. This book is an opportunity to read narratives about social interactions in multicultural settings, and to discuss the role they play in the construction of school and social achievement. It is not only a book on multiculturality. It is also a multicultural book, including an introduction and 13 chapters from authors representing 11 countries, and many more cultures. It is a journey that brings you through different settings, situations and scenarios, describing them vividly, so that the reader can have an authentic taste of them. This is a book that researchers, academics, teachers, policy makers, and politicians should read. It illuminates many of the problems related to multiculturality. But it also reports on educational experiences and forms of interacting that help solving these problems. It also illustrates the barriers that still exist and that keep many persons apart from equity. Moreover, due to its narrative mood - the descriptions of what happens in different educational systems, and episodes that could happen to us all, including our kids - this is a book for parents, youngsters, and all the ones interested in knowing other cultures. After all, education is an issue that is related to each human being. We are all cultural individuals, who need to interact with each other. Thus, this is a book to learn how social interactions, in such a demanding multicultural world, can help us live in peace and understand each other.
