JKP had a lot of irrelevant things. No?

I would say, No. Because I wrote the novel and I can claim to be the one person on Earth who knows about this novel more than anyone else, I would say, No it didn’t have even a bit of stuff that was irrelevant to the main/sub plots or theme or characterization or character development or storyline or climax or ending. Every bit had its place in the jigsaw puzzle, it just needed its time to fit in. Even the gingerbread house was not irrelevant. It was a symbol of broken things that are of less value than broken hearts and broken souls. Haya learnt that after a long time and so she never mourned the collapse of the second gingerbread-house. It was “character development” and was essential. JKP was one those novels that are written for a second read. Unless you read it more than once, you may not grasp a lot of things you might have ignored in the first time.
However, JKP was ‘long’ and ‘detailed’. I would still say, I had to write it the way I wrote it, with every tiny detail and fraction, because I write for my love of writing. I write for my own self. I wanted to write this novel, the way I WANTED to. So I did BUT, yes, it was too detailed. And that’s my style. Don’t read me if you don’t like my details, but if you have to read me, you have to read me the way I want to be read. My pen is my choice, my pleasure, my tool. If I change my writing style, I’ll do so for my ownself and not for any critic suggestion

Satisfied with the message delivery or you think message suffered under the façade of suspense and thrill and readers bypassed the ‘message based paragraphs’ to jump to the part where they get some mystery solving clue?

I am perfectly satisfied Alhumdolilah. The message of JKP was ‘known’ by everyone who read till the last word. They understood it or not, they admitted it or not, they would act upon it or not is not the issue (or shall I say headache?) of a writer/preacher. Our job is to ‘spread the message’. Its Allah Who sets this message in hearts. My limit was just till delivering it in the most understanding language they knew: Story Telling. Story-telling, for centuries, has been the most effective mode of teaching. I think my message was clear, and it didn’t bury under suspense and spice. It couldn’t. Delivering a message doesn’t mean that readers have to memorize those ‘quotation-like-excerpts-that-are-shared-on-facebook-and-get-thousands-of-likes-and-shares’. It means , by the end of the novel, every reader knows that what the writer wants to say is that hijaab is a mode of life, not a piece of cloth. If you wear it, carry it with confidence. If you do not wear it, learn to respect those who wear it, because even if you don’t show respect to a Hijabi girl, Time will insult and humiliate you like no one else had ever done and hijabi girl will always have the last laugh. And no one can ever humiliate a girl who leaves her wrong track, comes to the right one, and has faith in Allah That was the whole message of JKP. You got it na? So no issues
What was so precious in Jihan’s mobile that he never let Haya see it?
Professionalism. The very same that says, ‘business is business’. Amaanat. If no one had to see his secret official stuff, it should have been seen by no one. In a profession like his, it is dangerous to even let the most trustworthy person peek into your secrets. Not that they’ll betray you, but anyone can arrest/abduct them and torture them to make them talk. If they could endure those tortures, they would have been in your place doing this job. And if they are not in your job, means they are not supposed to know. ‘The less you know, the better’ is a phrase almost every thriller repeats. But its worth it. Totally!

Which novel of yours is your own favourite?

Like I previously said on this page, a writer always sees mistakes in their work. I can never read them without thinking about the flaws, the loopholes, the mistakes. But there is one novel that is my most precious, most beloved novel. It does have some magic in it I must say. It even mesmerizes the writer herself. Though I like JKP a lot and it is on the second number in my list, my most favourite of all the times that never bores or tires me no matter how many times I go through it is “Beli Rajputaan ki Malikah”. I truly love this novel. It had something about it. It sure DID.

Haya ka bina kisi mehram kay travel karnay ki koi wazahat nahi di gai ?
Its a controversial issue but the main thing is, travelling with Mehram is only for that journey which extends over 24 hours and these days flights do not take more than that (Not to turkey atleast) so Ulema do allow girls to travel alone or in groups. Of course it is not recommended but travelling alone is not completely strictly prohibited. A hadith says, that there will come a time when a woman will all alone travel from (i think iraq or some other country) to Makkah (again i think it was makkah) aur wo zewar se ladi ho gi aur usko Allah k siwa ksi ka khof nae hoga" This hadith means that a woman CAN travel all alone , matlab aik aurat jis ko Allah ka khof ha wo aeli safar kre gi itna lamba, phr b Aap (saww) ne ye nae farmaya aagy k "is trh ki aurton ko kehna ke mat safar kren tanha" No, He said, usko Allah k siwa ks ka khof nae hoga. SO if the journey ensures safe return, you can travel alone. Again in novels, we show what is happening, and thousands of burqa clad religious girls travel alone via airplanes and they are safe and sound. Allah keep us all safe. Amen

Whats your own favourite theme of JKP? Hijaab or the Spy/treasure Hunt theme?

I don’t know. Perhaps both. Like the fingers of your hands, you may tell which one is bigger and smaller, which one is more powerful than the other, but you just cant tell which one you like better. Both, I guess.

Tell about your upcoming project?

I never tell That’s the right answer. It is a sin to me to tell the theme, storyline, character names in advance. It spoils the taste for me. Even the name of my new novel I will break one month before its first episode is out. Yes it will be episodic, and yes its number of episodes is decided, and no I am not telling you how many they are. I’ll just say that this new novel is very precious to me. It centres around one of our most complicated problems these days. It is written in a style I have never written before. Besides its genre is something I have never ever written before: suspence. I have never written a suspense novel before, and before you jump, let me explain that JKP/BRKM/Paaras were not suspense novels, they were mystery novels. Difference between a suspense and a mystery novel is, in a mystery novel, a character is hiding some secret that the reader does not know and some of the characters don’t know either and reader and the characters find it out together. Like Jihaan’s secret or Maya or Rizwan’s secret. In a suspense novel, reader knows the main secret of the novel from the very start, but the main characters don’t know. I am done writing mysteries. And this time I am trying something different. Remember in dua’a. I don’t know when it will start. It will be published hope-so in Khawateen Digest, but it will take a few months. In sha’Allah. Cant tell for sure, though.

Besides, my readers should be prepared for non-hijabi characters as I hope you must understand that 97 percent of Pakistani women do not wear shariah based niqaab so I can only write 3 percent characters on niqaab, and if I write every story on hijabi girls, it’ll bring monotony in my writing style, no character will differ from the other and people will relate less to it. What about those 97 percent of women who don’t wear hijaab? How will they relate to my stories? Who will write their stories then? So humain sab ko sath le ker chalna hota hai.

But of course, my next novel is exploration of another riddle of Qur’an. If Allah gives me a life and stamina long enough, I wish to write on every riddle I can find in Qur’an. They are too many to count. Like Allah says, if all the oceans become ink and the all the trees become pens, and they are doubles, and you start writing, end will the oceans and end will the ink, end will he trees and end will the pens, but Allah’s talks will never end.

Remember me in dua’a. That’s all you can do for me

Peace be upon you all.

Nemrah Ahmed