"The Hundreth Name"

Oppenheim, Shulamith Levey. The Hundredth Name Pennsylvania: Boyds Mills Press, 1995.

The Hundredth Name is a story about a young boy living in Egypt that is extremely close to his camel. The boy, named Salah, is deeply worried about his camel because he always looks sad and Salah wants nothing more than for his camel, named Qadiim (meaning Ancient One), to be proud and happy. Through the course of the story Salah turns to his faith for help in making Qadiim happy and proud. Help is granted to Salah from Allah in that he tells Qadiim what the hundredth holy name is when no one else is permitted to know. Once Qadiim knows the secret of the hundredth name, he is happy and walks tall and proud

In reading the information about the authors of this book I was concerned that is was too much of a fairy tale. The author, Shulamith Levey Oppenheim, heard a tale of the ninety-nine names for Allah on her first visit to Egypt and was so captured by it, she penned it and had it first published in Cricket Magazine. In 1995 the story was published and illustrated by Michael Hays who says that he did "extensive research" for this work and had "an Egyptian father and son" sit as models for some of the scene that take place between Salah and his father. I feel that this particular image of the Arab world is too stagnant and depicts the Muslim religion as having fairy tale properties.

I found Shulamith Levey Oppenheim's website which features some reviews of The Hundredth Name, all of which are positive and credit Oppenheim for her use of prose in such a sort story and says that The Hundredth Name "conveys the lessons of a foreign culture and its enduring religiosity". (http://www.shulamithoppenheim.com/hundredthname.htm). It worries me that I could not find mention of The Hundredth Name in a more critical review of the text and I feel that it is problematic that a story with fairy tale qualities could come to represent a modern society and religion.