Shehr-e-Zaat (City of Self) _ A Tale of Obsession and Pride

 

Shehr-e-Zaat, a religious insight into life, is full of the self-realization process. The women's protagonist of the novel discovers the difference in twenty-six years of her life between the 'Wajood' (physical existence) and 'Zaat,' which helps her to contemplate the existence of man as regards the existence of God. Islamic feminist perspectives have helped reveal through the process of self-realization the identity of the narrator, Falak. It demonstrates that women in Pakistan's patriarchal institution can 'cultivate themselves' by accepting religious practices focused on Islamic virtues and which help to build a pious self by transforming their daily life and their relationship with Allah. Women in our social environment have to concentrate on reaching the inner 'Zaat' that helps them attain the purity of their souls. Falak, from a typical masculine woman who, because of her masculine involvement in her life, considered her external beauty as a weapon to attract her husband, was forgotten and became a righteous person desire to be intimately beautiful which paves the way to the discovery of her Creator. The novel 'Shehr-e-Zaat' shows a woman's journey, who discovers the path to knowledge about the existence of Allah through the process of self-realization and self-exploration. She finds that the purity of the soul leads her to her true identity.