The Dangers of Islam: The Convert

Chapter: Twist

          "What do you mean a revolution?" Iman asked the tall young man. 

"Precisely that, a revolution. I'm not giving you more info until Khadijah comes home," Sam called out before running out the door. 

"Did he run away?" Ruby asked with a huff.

"You know as well as I that you keep extra food just for him, so why give him a hard time?" Iman asked Ruby.

     "He gets too complacent if I don't pretend to keep my guard up," Ruby chuckled before pulling out some tomatoes and onions. Iman joined Ruby at the counter and helped her finely dice the onions. This had became a routine in their lives. Every morning the children would go to "school," a building Ruby had constructed with the finest tutors in the world as the teachers. While the children studied, Iman and Ruby would begin making lunch. Ahmed and Max would occasionally pitch in, especially when Ruby was overseas for work, but it was common place to see Iman in the kitchen at this time daily. She remembered a time when all she had to do was call out and a staff member would rush over to serve her food. Iman paused and glanced at her arms once her sleeves rolled up a bit. She also remembered how alone she felt when she was forsaken by her own father.

*****

She glanced down the dark alley and winced as the rain irritated her raw skin.  She headed down the alley and found her shelter flooded with rain water. Athena frowned before looking at the cardboard box she had called her home for the last few days. She needed a more permanent residence, especially if she wanted her wounds to heal. The events following her conversion to Islam and her father's melt down were still raw in her mind. 

     Her father, the man she had looked up to for a majority of her life, beat her. The man had never so much as raised his voice towards his children, but he had whipped her mercilessly. She was tossed out of her home like a used rag by the very staff that had once served her. She had no money, no family, and no contacts. 

     With the wrought iron gates of her former home closed to her by the patriarch of her family, she turned to the mosque that only a few weeks ago had welcomed her with open arms. Upon seeing the state Athena was in, the imam quickly had his wife come to the mosque and explain to the teen that she should go back home and apologize to her father. She could always keep her faith inside, but until she could stand on her own two feet, she shouldn't embark on her own spiritual journey. 

"You don't understand. My father will never allow me back. I've been emancipated," Athena had tried explaining. 

"We cannot help you, child. Allah would never want you to be burdened in this way. You can make your stand another day. Just go home," the imam had countered. 

     Her protests had fallen on deaf ears and  she realized that her conversion to a religion she held dear had alienated her from everyone. There were some women at the mosque who urged her to get married to a Muslim man that could help support her. 

"Marriage is half our deen. You'd have a home and complete half your faith," one woman had suggested. 

     Athena couldn't understand how those women thought marriage to a complete stranger would help her overcome her current predicament. How could someone suggest that she, as a teenager and a vulnerable young woman, simply marry someone as a fix to her broken body and soul?