Muslim Forbidden Romance

Chapter 1

Alesha POV:
People came and left. That's life right. Strangers become friends to only become strangers again. The mosque was never a 'forever place' for anyone. Expect for my family and I. My father was the Imam, he lead prayers, gave religious advice and was the general leader of our small community. There were people from all walks of life coming to our small East London mosque for guidance from 'Imam Al-Hashim.' Nothing exciting ever happened in my life here. Yes my life, I basically grew up here. My father brought me into the mosque as a child and my youngest memories were here. He had big aspirations for me, to lead in his footsteps and become a female scholar. Emphasis on the 'female' scholar part because there weren't many. Even though my father never spoke of it I knew that he would have preferred me to be a boy. To take the Islamic world (or East London Mosque) by storm and become the best memoriser of Hadith and Quran. I could still do that as a girl but there was a clear gender preference, and it wasn't in my favour.

My fathers ambitions for me were never discussed with me but rather told to me. There's a difference you see. Discussing my future would include negotiation and finding perhaps a middle between my ambitions and his. Being told means there was no room for negotiation and it was already a done deal. My life was pre-determined as the eldest child in my family. It didn't matter that I had a secret love for music (which my father always told me was the devils work). It didn't matter that the last thing I wanted to was be an Imam. The life was boring, lacked excitement and adventure. It was dull, reading the same thing over until you can say it by heart. My friends at school all talk about their future. A bunch of fifteen year olds ready to take on the world and write their own books. I looked at them with envy beyond imagination. Sarah, a girl in my class said she wants to be a hairdresser like her mother. Although people laughed and told her 'that's not a real job' I found it fascinating. I went to her later that day and told her 'it's your dream not theirs, do whatever makes you happy'. If she knew about how much I wasn't following my dreams she would have called me the biggest hypocrite. Luckily no one knows, except everyone that attends East London Mosque. Jeez.