Note that the DOI was not working when I created this entry. I was also unable to save the full article pdf via the Internet Archive.
Here's the abstract:
This paper examines Norhafsah Hamid’s “Will You Stay? and Will You Love Me?” as Anglophone Malaysian romance novels that reframe love and desire within an Islamic ethical framework. Though often categorized as ‘chick lit’ and dismissed for their stylistic flaws and commercial appeal, these novels offer a valuable literary intervention by centering Muslim women’s emotional and spiritual journeys. Drawing on Layla Abdullah-Poulos’ concept of the Stable Muslim Love Triangle (SMLT), this paper argues that Norhafsah’s narratives portray romance as a spiritual undertaking, where God occupies the apex of the love triangle and serves as the moral reference point for navigating romantic emotions. The analysis highlights how romantic love, when guided by Islamic principles, is not opposed to faith but serves to deepen it. Instead, the novels portray the possibility of romantic love as growing in tandem with faith and spirituality. This reading also expands the scope of SMLT beyond its original context in African American Muslim fiction, demonstrating a shared theological and ethical sensibility across distinct Muslim societies. The primary conflict in these novels lies not in external pressures but in the protagonists’ internal negotiations to reconcile emotion with spiritual commitment. Ultimately, this paper shows that love in Norhafsah’s work is both a divine test and a reward – integral to the heroines’ journey toward spiritual maturity.
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While Malay popular fiction in Bahasa Malaysia responded to the sociocultural climate by producing Islamic-themed romance narratives that reinforce socially sanctioned ideals of piety and femininity, the landscape has been more complex for Malay Muslim writers working in English. Writing in English often places these authors at the margins of the national literary canon due to longstanding postcolonial anxieties. (320)
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Norhafsah Hamid’s Will You Stay? (2024a), henceforth WYS, first published in 2021, and Will You Love Me? (2024b), henceforth WYLM, first published in 2023, are part of a series that began with Letters to God (2018). However, WYS and WYLM are more closely linked, as they follow the same characters and explore similar thematic concerns. WYLM takes place several years after the events of WYS, continuing the narrative arc of the minor characters in WYS. Both novels center on Malay Muslim women who are devout in their Islamic faith. In WYS, Amy is pursuing surgical training, while Nieza is specializing in cardiology, both based in Liverpool, England. By the time of WYLM, they have completed their medical training and are working in Malaysia, contributing to their communities. Across both novels, Amy and Nieza experience romantic developments and navigate their emotions while remaining committed to their faith. (321)
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in Norhafsah’s WYS and WYLM, romance is not only permissible but spiritually fulfilling when aligned with Islamic values. Amy’s and Nieza’s stories embody this model by presenting emotionally resonant relationships that evolve within the boundaries of religious propriety, affirming that love and desire can coexist with religious commitment. While the novels may be dismissed for their structural weaknesses or commercial genre, they contribute meaningfully to the growing corpus of fiction that centres Islam not as a site of conflict, but as a stable moral compass that shapes and deepens romantic experiences – thus advancing Abdullah-Poulos’ argument within the context of Anglophone Malaysian literature. (322)
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By placing Allah at the centre of the romantic triangle, SMLT frames love not merely as personal desire but as a sacred trust, one that must align with divine will to be complete and enduring. Romantic love becomes a spiritual journey, where both individuals must align their desires with Islamic principles. Thus, in Norhafsah’s Malay Muslim romance narratives, love is both a test and a mercy – one that demands submission, self-restraint, and spiritual growth, elevating the relationship from emotional attachment to a sacred bond rooted in worship and accountability to God. This contrasts with Western conceptions of romantic love, which often foreground emotion and intimacy. These ideals are also evident in many other Malay Muslim romance fictions that, while mindful of cultural sensitivities in their portrayal of love, do not place Islamic principles at the heart of their narratives. (323)
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This paper finds that applying the Stable Muslim Love Triangle (SMLT) framework to Norhafsah Hamid’s novels yields two key insights. First, the novels extend the interpretive reach of SMLT beyond its original cultural context by emphasizing that the foundation of Islamic love lies not only in the permissibility of romantic relationships but in the continuity of moral and spiritual striving. The protagonists’ challenges, therefore, do not emerge from pressures against their beliefs, but instead, from internal negotiations to align religious values against emotional responses to different life challenges, including romantic feelings. They also demonstrate that emotional fulfilment and marital harmony are not automatically secured through legal union (marriage); rather, they require a sustained commitment to aligning the self with divine expectations. [...]
Secondly, the novels shift the focus away from premarital anxieties. Instead, they explore challenges such as emotional disconnection, spiritual growth, and the ethical labour required to uphold Islamic principles not only in search of a halal relationship, but also while within one. (324-325)
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these women do experience desire. However, they are both adamant to contain them within a framework of self-restraint, religious discipline, and intentionality. This aligns with SMLT where the vertical relationship between the love interests is governed by “the immediate superior status of the deity in the love triangle” (Abdullah-Poulus, 2018, p. 8), reinforcing Islamic doctrines in facing romantic desire. (326)
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When love does enter their lives, it does so in a manner consistent with their faith: both Rasyid and Harris pursue the protagonists with the clear intention of marriage. This progression frames marriage not as the final goal of romance, but as its rightful beginning – a space where emotional and physical intimacy can be fully realized within the ethical boundaries of Islam.
Amy’s and Nieza’s perspectives on marriage echoes the broader Islamic ethos which uphold marriage as a relationship of dignity and mutual support between men and women. (326)
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I would like to draw attention to the resolutions offered to both characters in WYS and WYLM. Amy’s husband survives his illness, and they are later blessed with four children. Nieza finds love again with a man who shares a similar grief [Harris, mentioned briefly above, dies before he and Nieza can marry], forming a relationship based on mutual understanding and emotional healing. These happy endings function not merely as romantic rewards but as narrative affirmations of faith. (329)
Note that the DOI was not working when I created this entry. I was also unable to save the full article pdf via the Internet Archive.
Here's the abstract:
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