The launching ceremony was hosted by Fnac, the leading French retailer in Qatar. The gathering was attended by academics, media and clients who were happy to have the book signed by the author.
The event was in line with a partnership between Fnac and the Ministry of Culture and Sports, under which Fnac hosts events for local and international authors in order to revive the culture of reading and highlighting the contemporary and creative movement of writing in Qatar.
Speaking on the occasion, Amal said: “I am pleased to hold the launching ceremony of my new book here at Fnac, the leading destination for spreading knowledge and promoting the culture of reading and dialogue among the local community. This book represents my own experience and views, which I would like to share with readers in hopes that together we can build relationships based on mutual respect and acceptance of the others’ opinion.
Hatha Rayi Esh Rayak which translates into “this is my opinion, what is yours?” discusses an important topic in the society today, which is accepting others’ opinions and convictions. The book also states the author’s own views which are built on respecting other’s different perspectives. The book is available at Fnac in Lagoona Mall and Doha Festival City.
The author interacted with the gathering and shared her idea of writing the book and about her interest that led to writing the book.
Talking to Community, Amal said: “My book consists of two parts. The first part has 20 articles about social and ethical issues and subjects that we face in our daily life.
“The other part of the book only has the titles of my articles. I hope that the readers will write their opinions about what I said. Whether they agree or disagree with my quotes. They can comment on my opinion.”
The author has tried to interact with the readers. “I thought it is better if it is interactive rather than I imposing my opinions on the readers.”
Amal has touched upon different aspects of life in her short book. “The book contains many topics like superstitions and how people perceive black cats, for example. I also speak about what people think about marriages in different cultures. Another topic is how we see relations between men and women – whether they complete each other or compete with each other. I think they should not be competing each other as they are actually completing each other. Women can cover certain aspects of life that men may not. Nature has built each of them to complete each other. I think we should not take our opinions to one certain extreme. Moderation should be the key.”
When asked about what inspired her to become a writer, Amal said: “I graduated from UK where I studied radio therapy and oncology. I have been working in different hospitals. I have worked in UK and France. I have been treating cancer patients. I have learnt about many patients wishes and desires that they want to do in their lives. The experience has always made me think that how I want to deal with my life. I thought about why if I take every day as a chance to do something in my life. I also want to ignite thoughts in the community. I think majority of people do not want to change their way of life. I think we should be more flexible and be open to hearing and discussing other opinions. We can agree to disagree with respect.”
Amal has been a writer since she was 17. “I have written for Arrayah highlighting the life of a Qatari student studying abroad. I wrote about my life as a student. When I came back to Qatar, I joined Hamad Hospital and kept writing my opinions. Actually, one of my friends collected all my opinions and took them to the publication.
“I am also planning to translate my book into Urdu. The issues I have discussed are very local and there are many people in Qatar who speak and understand Urdu. My target audience lives in Qatar.”
