Mohammad Raheem is also the name of a character in Khal's award-winning book She Throws Sparks, a composer who romances and mentors a prostitute in Jeddah. The real Raheem, who has composed music for several Arabic stars, has told Egyptian media that he requests the banning of Khal's book, the arrest of Khal, and the clearing of his name in the eyes of his family and associates.
Khal has insisted that the similarity of names and professions is coincidental and intended no harm. The name is, indeed, quite common.
The International Prize for Arabic Fiction, which is supported by the UK Booker Prize Foundation and funded by the Emirates Foundation of the UAE, carries with it a cash prize of $60,000. This year, its third, the prize committee attracted 113 nominations from seventeen countries. Winning the award promises not only financial security but also increased international recognition and accolades and future publication and translation deals.
According to The Tanjara:
The Administrator of the Prize, Joumana Haddad, commented: “The importance of the IPAF lies not only in its financial value, but in the social and cultural influence it has, the most important aspect of which is supporting high quality Arabic fiction and encouraging both writers and readers to consider writing and reading as vital acts."
Khal's book, whose full title is Spewing Sparks as Big as Castles (an allusion to a Quranic verse about Hell), should--as a result of the award--be published into English soon. A bitingly satirical look at the destructive power of wealth on life and the environment, the novel is unavailable in Khal's home country, where the criticisms allegedly strike too closely at the ruling elites.
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