ABDUR RAZAK SULEIMAN DISCUSSES FIRE IN THE BELLY

BOOK DISCUSSION ONE

The play “Fire in the Belly” touches on the plethora of problems that our communities are marred with. Intriguing is the idea of the author raising most of these issues in one piece of writing as this.

The focus of the play is how people consume the properties of orphans without regard to explicitly stated divine injunctions. This attitude is expressed in characters such as Jamal who has taken all that belongs to his friend’s wife, Hajia Nura, and her children leaving them with nothing without them knowing where the next meal might come from. Abdul Laah, an orphan, is also a victim of such maltreatment. Abdul Laah – a brilliant student faces problems of continuing with his education because his uncle, Baaba Iddrisu, refuses to take care of him from the properties he has inherited from his parents. As if that is not enough, he was finally thrown out of his parent’s home by his uncle.

The extent to which people can go to make money is also demonstrated in the play. Mallam Ibrahim and Ustaz Hussein make their money through fictitious photographing of school children and community members, presenting them, to philanthropists as orphans who need support. When the support finally comes, they misappropriate it by spending it on their families; ‘pimping’ their wives (Mallam Ibrahim) and when the money is spent on an outsider it is done for self-glorification (Ustaz Hussein).

Other identifiable societal problems the play raises include: not responding to greetings, lack of contentment, wishing for things without knowing their source, arrogance, encouraging others to do bad deeds and utter negligence to religious obligations.

The angst in all the issues raised is that the knowledgeable in society who are supposed to serve as guardians and reminders of Allah’s injunctions are the same people violating them. The legitimate question is, what will the ignorant do?

Amidst all these, there is still a glow of hope for the society because we still have honest and kind people like Mallam Mohammed who do not fear to speak the truth; Sheikh Nuruddeen who prays to Allah for wealth to help the poor and needy in society; Jamal who acknowledges his sins and turns to his victims for forgiveness; Hajia Nura who after everything done to her gladly forgives without  any misgivings and Maame Sakina who is willing to give up everything she has after having discovered the source of income of her husband.

In view of all these, the writer has taken a step towards highlighting some of the pressing issues that need the immediate attention of every good meaning member of the society. I thus conclude by saying that the writer has achieved some success in that regard.  Only Allah Knows better! I pray that Allah grant us the wisdom to live by his laws. Ameen!! But wait a minute there is always a but...

Abdul Razak Suleiman

Assistant Lecturer

Linguistics Department

University of Ghana