My research into hate speech and acts of violence against Muslims and Muslim communities indicated that a marked increase in hate speech and hate crimes could not be satisfactorily explained by happenstance. In the United States and Canada and in many European countries, fear, suspicion, and hate are cultivated and promoted through effective and well-funded channels: far-right news media, online commentary (particularly in online subcultures), political actors and lobbyists, and popular demagogic personalities, all of whom are able to capitalize on terror attacks that occur against Western targets to assign collective guilt to a perceived “Islamic threat” at home. This perceived threat includes vulnerable and innocent targets such as the members of the congregation who were murdered at the mosque in Sainte-Foy. The victims of the Sainte-Foy attack were notably Canadian Muslims of West African or North African descent, similar to the characters in this book.
I wrote this book because I have long studied the incipient and incremental nature of hate and the fatal places hate often takes us. I wrote it to illuminate the connections between rhetoric, polemics, and action. To suggest that the nature of our speech should be as thoughtful, as peaceable, and as well-informed as our actions. The things that we choose to turn a blind eye to because we assess their impact as negligible on our lives—especially when we are not members of any vulnerable group—have the power to harm us all more deeply than we know.
RECOMMENDED READING
For general reading on the subject of what constitutes Islamophobia and how it achieves traction in public and private life, I recommend: Fear, Inc. 2.0: The Islamophobia Network’s Efforts to Manufacture Hate in America, by Matthew Duss, et al.; American Islamophobia: Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear, by Khaled A. Beydoun; The Islamophobia Industry: How the Right Manufactures Hatred of Muslims, by Nathan Lean; and Islamophobia: The Challenge of Pluralism in the 21st Century, by John L. Esposito and Ibrahim Kalin.
To have a deeper sense of where the trends in Canada and the United States may be heading, I recommend reading the European Islamophobia Report 2017, available here: http://www.islamophobiaeurope.com. And compare the rise of hate speech in Canada: https://www.macleans.ca/politics/online-hate-speech-in-canada-is-up-600-percent-what-can-be-done.
For more information on the rise of white nationalism, please visit the website of the SPLC, or Southern Poverty Law Center: www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/white-nationalist. For further reading on the FBI’s monitoring of white supremacist organizations, see https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/08/14/fbi-and-dhs-warned-of-growing-threat-from-white-supremacists-months-ago, and on the infiltration of law enforcement by white supremacist elements, see PBS NewsHour at www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/fbi-white-supremacists-in-law-enforcement.
And finally, on Alexandre Bissonnette and the Québec mosque shooting, see general reporting in the Washington Post and the Montreal Gazette, including Andy Riga’s profile on Bissonnette at https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/alexandre-bissonnette-inside-the-life-of-a-mass-murderer.
Acknowledgments
Another step on Esa and Rachel’s journey and I have so many people to thank. Everyone at Minotaur who shepherded this book into becoming what it is, and the wondrous people in my life who shared their insights to help me tell this story I wanted to tell for so long.
I have a trio of guardian angels—Elizabeth, Danielle, and Catherine, who took on Esa’s story and helped him make it to the page. Elizabeth, after me, Esa belongs to you. Thank you for bringing him to life. Danielle, I can’t find the words—I’m just so grateful to have you on this journey. Catherine, thank you especially for this book and for your brilliance in taking on Esa’s mantle and making his story shine. And to my UK family at No Exit Press/Oldcastle Books, thank you for your unstinting support, especially dear Katherine and Clare.
As always, I am deeply grateful to my amazing family and friends and to my community of writers and readers for caring so much about my books. This work is work we’re doing together and every one of you inspires me. Uzmi and Sajidah—this was our book, born of our pain. Thank you, my sisters—both of the pen and of the heart.
I’d especially like to thank two people I’ve been speaking to this past year in some depth about the impact of the new laicité controversies in Québec and France. Émilie Gascon-Léger, your personal story and your love of Québec helped me find the heart of this book. Thank you for showing me such generosity and kindness—any mistakes are mine. Rim-Sarah Alouane, your courage in speaking out and your brilliant, dedicated scholarship helped me to appreciate what’s truly at stake in debates about identity and belonging. Thank you for educating me.
Thank you to the amazing journalist Tabassum Siddiqui for your thorough tutorial on campus and talk radio. Nothing was more helpful than seeing those rooms through your eyes.
My deepest gratitude to the National Council of Canadian Muslims for your unparalleled leadership on civil liberties and for taking on hate on behalf of our communities. Ihsaan and Amira, I don’t have a lot of heroes, but you two are certainly among them. God keep you and grant you strength—may our days be brighter ahead.
For Nader, who gives me everything in this life, and who I claim in the Hereafter, my always and only love: thank you, light of my eyes.
And for my brothers and sisters who think their pain and loss is unseen, know that I remember, and hold you in my heart.
ALSO BY AUSMA ZEHANAT KHAN
ESA KHATTAK AND RACHEL GETTY MYSTERIES
A Dangerous Crossing
Among the Ruins
A Death in Sarajevo (a novella)
The Language of Secrets
The Unquiet Dead
THE KHORASAN ARCHIVES FANTASY NOVELS
The Black Khan
The Bloodprint
About the Author
AUSMA ZEHANAT KHAN holds a Ph.D. in international human rights law and is a former adjunct law professor. She was editor-in-chief of Muslim Girl magazine, the first magazine targeted to young Muslim women. A British-born Canadian, Khan now lives in Colorado with her husband. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Epigraphs
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
&n
bsp; Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
Also by Ausma Zehanat Khan
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
A DEADLY DIVIDE. Copyright © 2019 by Ausma Zehanat Khan. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Cover design by David Baldeosingh Rotstein
Cover photographs: background and woman © Mark Owen / Trevillion Images; alley © Bruno Passigatti / Shutterstock.com
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-29828-7 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-29830-0 (ebook)
eISBN 9781250298300
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at [email protected].
First Edition: February 2019
A Deadly Divide Page 35
