18‘Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar.’
Besides being the start of the call to prayer, that’s also the signal that it’s time to start fasting. I woke up terrified, repeating, ‘Grandmother, Grandmother.’ I was desperate for a drink of water. My throat was dry and I could feel my heart throbbing in my temples. I felt my throat with my fingers. No sign of blood. It was a nightmare, a sequel to the living nightmare that had taken place in the sitting room when I burst in without permission. I took a bottle of mineral water from the bedside table and gulped it down without stopping till I finished the bottle.
‘Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar.’
When she first translated the words of the call to prayer for me, Khawla said they meant that God is greater than everything else in existence and mightier than an
