NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK! This story follows the lives of two prestigious Northern families-one that earned its place, and one that can't afford to lose it. Salma Babajo-skillfully veiled, conflicted, and fiercely proud-has always idolized her father. But he lives by one rule: if you burn the midnight oil to secure something, you hold onto it by hook or by crook. Salma wears her last name like a badge, oblivious to the cracks beneath; until the secrets start to surface. Kabir Yabo is everything Salma is not-reserved, steady, and willing to bend to societal expectations. He tiptoes through life, careful not to step out of line. They have nothing in common... except for a fate neither of them sees coming. But what happens when the perfect son collides with the girl who plays by her own rules? And when what's expected threatens to overpower what's real? Will they fight to protect the illusion they were raised to uphold-or risk everything for a love that was never part of the plan?

They say belief is suicide. They're not wrong. Where I come from, faith gets you a bullet in the head, a knock at the door that never ends well, or a name etched on a list you'll never live to see. Still, I believe. So does Basil, my only constant in a world stripped of everything soft. We've been hunted for years, slept under stone, eaten from dirt, prayed in secret, and watched good people vanish for whispering the wrong words. We've made it all these years with nothing but our prayers and each other. But then came the rumour about a sanctuary where the believers can live fearlessly. A lie, probably. A trap, almost definitely. Basil wanted to chase it anyway, because we owed it to ourselves and to the others who share our struggle, he said. I went with him only because I couldn't bear to watch him go alone. I should've stopped him... But now it's too late. ❝Islam began as something strange, and it will return to being strange as it began, so give glad tidings to the strangers(Ghuraba).❞ ‹بَدَأَ الإِسْلاَمُ غَرِيبًا وَسَيَعُودُ كَمَا بَدَأَ غَرِيبًا فَطُوبَى لِلْغُرَبَاءِ› (Includes books one, two and three in The Ghuraba Trilogy.)