She Wore Red Trainers: A Muslim Love Story

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It was a drawing of a hand, a strong, beautiful hand, the fingers tipped by perfect fingernails. A hand holding a basketball with a mole below the middle finger. And it was obvious who it belonged to. Mr. Light Eyes." So the books is a Love story by a Muslim author and I love it! A great book to catch glimpse of lifestyle taught by Islam. And then there is Amirah, who is pretty resistant to the idea of boys and marriage especially in light of her mother's disastrous love life as her mother is, at the beginning of the novel, grappling with her fourth divorce. And at the same time Amirah is also questioning what she wants to do with her life and what she sees for her future. She loves art but other more practical subjects are more encouraged and pushed.

When Ali first meets Amirah, he notices everything about herher hijab, her long eyelashes and her red trainersin the time it takes to have one look, before lowering his gaze. And, although Ali is still coming to terms with the loss of his mother and exploring his identity as a Muslim, and although Amirah has sworn never to get married, they can't stop thinking about each other. Can Ali and Amirah ever have a halal "happily ever after"?

Ali and Aminah met by chance at the basketball court on a day she wore red trainers,and had to struggle between Aminah’s brother ,Zayd due to his overprotectiveness, keeping it halal and dealing with their feelings. Well hello there, book about two Muslim teens having a crush on each other and trying to cope with it in a halal way! Do you know how rare you are? then we have ali, a soft sweet boy who is starting to learn more about his religion after the tragic death of his mother and is trying to cope with his grief, help his younger brothers, all while in the process of moving to a new city. The bloke he tries to marry her to is a Saudi guy who makes her wear Niqab just to see him! Their religious values are obviously not compatible. He then makes her take it off so he can observe her looks like she's some sort of farm animal!

Zayd's characterization feels off to me. He is portrayed as a caring brother, someone who is willing to do anything for his family. His return from KSA when Amirah runs away as a teenager, putting his studies on hold is evidence enough of that. And he's not portrayed as a fanatic, harsh and unloving or unforgiving. He trusts Amirah in some deeply important ways. But then when he catches sight of her heading for the front door without abaya and hijab already in place, his eyes bug out. This would fit better if it wasn't made clear that the family didn't make a habit of wearing hijab around the house in other parts of the book, and this one scene seems to undermine the trust that he shows Amirah elsewhere. I had given him my most superior look. ‘Anyway, who said I’ll be sitting at home? Uni is only a couple of months away, remember? And then there’s the fat job afterwards, inshallah. You do know that I’ll be working after I graduate, don’t you? No signing on or benefits for me. And no waiting for some useless man to take care of me.’No, Kareem, I really don’t think so. I mean, I appreciate the gesture but I couldn’t, I just couldn’t…’ As we left the house and walked down the close to catch the bus on the main road, I looked up at Mum’s window. The left side of the curtain was sagging badly, right where the broken glass had been sealed with masking tape, months before. Abu Malik was meant to have had the glass replaced but, obviously, he’d never got round to it.