Introduction and Background:
God in Pink by Hasan Namir is an intricate novel written in alternating perspectives between queer student Ramy and Ammar, a sheikh who finds himself in a place of conflict between his faith and his desire to offer consultation and guidance. Namir’s novel, published first in 2015, is set in Iraq in 2003, during the very beginning of the Iraq War.
Namir writes about the conflict between Islamic faith and queerness, the politics of queer love and desire, and examines the institutions of masculinity as well as the performativity thereof.
Content Warnings: Graphic descriptions of both physical violence and sexual assault; homophobia
Plot Overview:
God in Pink opens with Ramy writing anonymously to Ammar, the leader of his mosque, asking for help, he gives the sheikh background on his life and writes about the struggles he is facing between his faith, his family, and his homosexuality. Ramy’s parents are both deceased. He was instead raised by his older brother, Mohammed, as well as his sister-in-law Noor. Mohammed is determined to see Ramy get married and have children, reasoning that since he and Noor are unable to have children it must fall on Ramy to do so.
Ramy meanwhile has become close with one of his classmates, a young man named Ali. They begin to spend more and more time together, going to clubs and parties, when Noor catches the two men kissing through a window as Ali is dropping Ramy off at home. Noor and Ramy share a brief, tense conversation in which she encourages him to speak with her if something is going on. He declines, grateful she didn’t seem to mention his kiss with Ali.
Ali becomes agitated following the shut down of the underground club by the police. He tells Ramy that he can’t stand to live in Iraq anymore and that he is leaving for Turkey, inviting Ramy to accompany him so that they can stay together. Ramy agrees, writing a letter for Mohammed and Noor before leaving in the dead of night with Ali, who is driving. Not long into their drive, Ramy tells Ali to stop the car, explaining that he can’t go through with this. Ali replies, saying that he didn’t think Ramy would be brave enough. Ali then pulls out a gun and kills himself, a shell shocked Ramy leaves the car and flees back home.
Ramy ends the letter he is writing to Ammar by pleading with him to condemn homosexuality in his next service, asking for help from the sheikh because he does not want to meet the same unhappy ending as Ali. Ramy asks that if Ammar is willing to help guide him through his crisis of sexuality and faith, he should mention the word ‘pink’ in his next service and Ramy will know to seek him out for counseling.
The perspective of the novel shifts each chapter, alternating between Ramy and Ammar. In the first chapter from Ammar’s perspective, the reader is introduced to his internal conflict between wanting to help Ramy - a member of his community in crisis - and his faith which condemns homosexuality.
As Ammar is losing sleep, torn over whether or not to destroy the letter, a pink creature appears and introduces itself as the Angel Gabriel. Gabriel taunts Ammar, pretending to make the man’s beard disappear before laughing off the joke and returning it. It is then that Ammar realizes he must be in some sort of dream. Gabriel then grows serious, telling Ammar that he must help the author of the letter. When Ammar protests, asking how he can help a homosexual man, Gabriel repeats that he must assist this anonymous man. Gabriel vanishes then, leaving behind a pink blossom in his place.
Throughout the remainder of the novel, Ammar finds himself plagued by dreams that challenge his ideas of faith, masculinity, and his own sexuality - many of his dreams revolving around homoeroticism. In his waking hours Ammar continues to struggle with these ideas and how they apply to his own family and life, particularly in the context of his position within his faith. Ammar finds that retiring and abandoning his faith is the only option for him anymore. For Ammar, the novel ends with he and his wife tearfully holding each other as she discovers Ammar wearing pink lipstick after locking himself in their bedroom.
Ramy continues to wrestle with wanting to live freely as a homosexual man and wanting to maintain his relationship with Mohammed and Noor. As they begin to press marriage onto him more and more, Ramy drifts further away into his new relationship with Sammy, another student at his university. Sammy and Ramy plan to run away together, as they are driving their car is stopped and the two men are detained at a checkpoint by two officers. Both Ramy and Sammy are detained, cuffed and blindfolded. The two are beaten and called lotees, Sammy is assaulted and then killed while Ramy is let go.
The novel ends with Ramy resigning himself to his arranged marriage, deciding to name his unborn son Sammy.
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