Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood

Hudud is an Arabic word meaning “sacred frontier” (1), and as Fatima states in the opening pages of the autobiography, “to be a Muslim was to respect the hudud” (3). As a young child, Fatima learns that breaking hudud not only goes against Islamic tradition, but “leads only to sorrow and unhappiness” (1)—yet she, and all the women in her world, are fascinated with the idea of trespassing, of breaching the limiting boundaries in her world. In fact, Fatima is so consumed by the idea of hudud, or boundaries and borders, that in one sense her autobiography becomes an exploration of different borders, the purposes they serve and the damage they can cause.

From the very first chapter of Dreams of Trespass, the author demonstrates that hudud can apply to many different situations, both literal and figurative, and permeates all aspects of Fatima’s world. A hudud can be an actual physical boundary, like the border between the Muslim city where Fatima lives, and the Christian city the French invaders have established, or the gate that separates Fatima’s harem from the outside world. Hudud can also be a set of rules, like those at Fatima’s school, or a traditional belief, like the idea that women should be veiled in public.