N. S. Nuseibeh is a Palestinian author whose latest work, The Namesake, has captivated readers with its profound storytelling. Nuseibeh’s book delves into themes of identity, displacement, and belonging through a richly woven narrative set against the backdrop of contemporary Palestine. With keen insight and lyrical prose, Nuseibeh offers a compelling exploration of personal and collective history. Join us as we dive into a conversation about the inspiration behind The Namesake, the challenges of writing from a place of such historical and emotional weight, and the broader significance of the story in today’s world.
What initially drew you to the story of Nusayba bint Ka’ab al Khazrajia, and what motivated you to write about her story?
Nusaybah bint Ka’ab—who was this 7th century warrior woman from Arabia who fought alongside the Prophet Mohamed—has always been in the background for me, because she’s our family namesake and, supposedly, our ancestor. So I’ve been familiar with her story since childhood, and had been toying with the idea of doing something around her for a while. I didn’t know quite what, but I felt like it was surprising (and a shame!) that such an interesting figure hadn’t made it into the Western cultural consciousness yet, so I knew I wanted to bring her to life somehow, and in the end, writing the essays made the most sense to me.
How did you go about researching Nusayba’s life and the historical context in which she lived?
Good question. Because I started writing the essays at the very start of the pandemic, the circumstances for research weren’t ideal. I had hoped to be able to use my university’s extensive libraries, and to be able to spend time at home in Jerusalem looking through old family files. Unfortunately, that largely wasn’t possible, so I did what I could. I read hadiths about other companions, and about the Prophet. I read biographies of the Prophet’s life. I read research papers and history books that looked at what life more generally was like at that time, and from all these different sources I tried to triangulate an idea of her. To some extent the project of this essay collection was to create a narrative of her by writing near her, alongside her, imagining her and bringing her to life from a variety of these different angles.
What were some of the most surprising or enlightening discoveries you made during your research on Nusayba?
In one of the essays, I explore a story about Nusayba in which she fasts, inexplicably, outside of Ramadan, and prepares a meal for the prophet Muhammad. I was fascinated by this because it seemed so incongruous, somehow, this story about the warrior woman making a meal and fasting, such a domestic portrait of an otherwise battle-scarred fighter. And that sense of incongruity led to an exploration of how complex food – cooking, eating, feeding, fasting – can be; the fact that, despite being crucial to preserving culture and family, the narratives that exist around food mean that cooking and feeding have been, generally speaking, part of the domestic (and therefore feminine) sphere, while eating and appetite have, generally speaking, been eyed with suspicion, and particularly so for women. So, for me, for instance, making Palestinian food is incredibly important, because it’s part of preserving a culture that is under attack, but somehow underneath it there’s this layer of normative femininity that makes me uncomfortable.
How did you approach the task of connecting Nusayba’s story to contemporary issues faced today?
That part was pretty straightforward for me, because as I researched, aspects of Nusayba’s character or story either resonated or jarred with contemporary values and ideas. For instance, the fact that she is said to have gone into battle with her sons, that she encouraged them to fight. That brought up a lot of questions about motherhood for me, about what good motherhood looks like, about what good motherhood in times of conflict or while under oppression looks like. Which I think is both specific to me and also, maybe, hopefully, a more general question that might resonate with others thinking about parenthood today. Or another example would be the fact that she was, as I said earlier, a warrior, someone famous for being a type of soldier, or for using violence. I always felt a bit uneasy about this, I still feel uneasy about it, especially in the context of today’s glamorisation of warriorhood, and particularly pop feminism’s glamorisation of female warriorhood. So that meant teasing out what it is we are drawn to when we’re drawn to female warriors, what values this attraction reveals.
Can you share any specific challenges you encountered while writing “Namesake?”
Well, this isn’t particular to the subject matter of the book, but the wider context of the world made the writing process quite challenging— I started writing just before the pandemic broke out, and so just as I began, I suddenly had no access to any of my university libraries, I was isolated and in a state of extreme anxiety not being able to get home to Jerusalem. And then I got very, very ill, completely incapacitated. I had to write half the essays in little bursts of dictation onto my phone because I wasn’t even strong enough to type. So it was an incredibly, incredibly difficult process for me, getting the book finished. I still can’t believe I actually managed!
How do you balance historical accuracy with the need to create a compelling narrative?
Luckily the hadith (reports about the Prophet Muhammed and his companions) are already incredibly compelling! So I could really just retell those pretty accurately.
What aspects of Nusayba’s life do you find most inspiring, and how do you think her legacy should be remembered?
I find her courage, and her refusal to be bounded by the traditional role ascribed to her gender, incredibly inspiring. But at the same time, rather than just creating a pat icon out of her, I think it’s interesting to interrogate what we’re drawn to in her and why. I think it’s always worth investigating why we find someone admirable, and what that tells us about our own values and ideals.
How does Nusayba’s story challenge common perceptions of women’s roles in early Islamic history?
I think the common stereotype of Muslim women generally is that we are subdued, oppressed, demure, non-agentic, powerless. I think a woman who was physically powerful, unapologetically ferocious, and who personally protected the Prophet with her battle skills, very much challenges this idea.
How do you see the themes of vulnerability and courage playing out in Nusayba’s life, and how do they resonate with your own experiences?
Well, I think she was undoubtedly incredibly courageous, literally risking life and limb for a cause and a person she believed in. In terms of my own experience…well, I’m a bit of a wimp, to be honest! So her bravery didn’t so much resonate with me as bring up a lot of questions about it, about what courage entails, about how it might look different now, in the 21st century, than it did in the 7th. I enjoyed delving into that aspect of her story, and thinking about what her courage (and her fear) might have felt like to her, and how fear and courage might feel today.
What impact do you hope your essays of Nusayba will have on readers, particularly those who may not be familiar with her story?
I hope that my essays on Nusayba might be a way into a culture that may otherwise feel alien or intimidating or shameful or distant, and they thereby might make ancient and contemporary Islam seem a bit intriguing. Essentially, what I wanted from writing Namesake was to weave this story of a woman warrior in 7th century Arabia into the larger story of being a woman—a person—today, to connect and open up this history, this culture, to as many people as possible.