Na'ima B. Robert

But I can’t deny the gifts God gave me. I can’t pretend I don’t love what I do. So I’ve got to halalify, y’know?

. Art is for the select few, those who have the time and energy to appreciate it. You can’t appreciate beauty if you are running on empty, struggling to survive.

If there’s one thing I’ve learnt in my short time on earth, it is that you don’t have to look, behave or think like everyone else to achieve. Just be sincere, work hard and Allah will take care of the rest.

Azra smiled. ‘Of course love is halal, Caroline, don’t be silly. But, in our religion, halal love is between a husband and wife, no exceptions. And if a young person feels that they are physically and emotionally ready to be in a relationship, Islam encourages them to do it the right way, with honour. Why do we see nothing wrong with 13-year-olds having sex – which they do – but have such a problem with the idea of an 18 or 19-year-old getting married? I know which one I would choose for my girls!’

He chewed his bottom lip and thought for a moment. Then he looked up at me and said, ‘Mum used to take me to the library. We’d go to the kids’ section and spend hours there, reading to each other. Mum always chose the picture books – she said she missed out on them when she was a kid and wanted to catch up on all the latest ones.’ His voice became wistful. ‘Then, afterwards, we would choose our books – 15

books each! – and then go for a hot chocolate. That was our special routine, our special time, just Mum and me.’

But there was one piece, a larger than life painting of a pair of hands holding a ball of fire, about to shoot it into a basketball hoop, that made me stop short.

I recognise those hands.

, with difficulty, there is ease. Verily, with difficulty, there is ease.’

That was a promise, a promise that things would eventually get better, that every cloud did have a silver lining. That it was worth holding on for another day.

Please, Allah, if it is good for me, decree it and, if it isn’t, remove it from me and replace it with better.