The Haj - Leon Uris

Leon Uris’s previous novel, Trinity, was an outstanding international success. His earlier, equally famous, Exodus, became a profound influence on the world’s thoughts and feelings about the State of Israel. Now in The Haj, his greatest achievement yet, Uris returns to the land of Exodus and once again portrays a tormented nation through its living people.

Haj Ibrahim—known as the Haj—is undoubtedly this fine author’s most memorable creation. The supporting cast is a vivid one: Gideon Asch, a Palestine-born Jew who has an intimate understanding of the Arabs; Hagar, first wife to the Haj, whose indomitable personality enables her to retain her position even after the Haj has taken a second, younger wife; the Haj’s daughter, Nada, the first woman in his family to reach out to the larger world, creating a dangerous situation for herself by defying tradition; and Ishmael, his youngest son. Clever, shrewd, self-educated, resourceful, he outwits his brothers to become the Haj’s apparent successor.

But central to them all, and dominating this marvellous story, is the Haj himself, the courageous leader of a small but strategic village, who is betrayed and trapped by events. His closest friend becomes Gideon Asch, who is also his mortal enemy. In a truly remarkable feat of insight, Leon Uris has penetrated the Arab mind.

The Haj and his men are seen at first in all their false courage and manic ambition. Theirs is a world of oaths, blood, death, vengeance, madness.

In Trinity, Uris explored the blood-hatred between the Irish and the English, the Irish and the Irish. In The Haj, he explores the conflict between the emergent State of Israel and the frightening, mysterious world of Islam with its insatiable drives.