The Imam's Daughter

My Desperate Flight to Freedom

Hannah Shah is an Imam’s daughter. She lived the life of a devout Muslim in a family of Pakistani Muslims in England, but behind the front door, she was a caged butterfly. For many years, her father abused her in the cellar of their home.
 
At sixteen, she discovered a plan to send her to Pakistan for an arranged marriage, and she gathered the courage to run away. Relentlessly hunted by her angry father and brothers, who were intent on executing an “honor” killing, she moved from house to house in perpetual fear to escape them.
 
Over time, she converted to Christianity and was able to live and marry as she wished.
 
Hannah found the courage to live her life free from shame, free from religious intolerance, and free from the abuse that haunted her childhood. This is a remarkable true story of how a young girl escaped a life of torture … a story you won’t forget.

Pub. Date: April 2010

Recommended by Staff
I couldn't help but mourn with Hannah over the loss of her childhood as she suffered at the hands of her father, a respected Imam in her Muslim community.  Her journey from abused daughter to a runaway to a healthy individual is amazing.  The way God worked in her life as she became His is wonderful.  She escaped torture and found true love in Jesus and her future husband! ~~ Denise

Publisher's Preview

Shah tells her story of growing up in an abusive Muslim home in Britain and eventually converting to Christianity. After 10 years of enduring abuse behind the closed doors of her Muslim home, Shah had determined that it was time to flee before being sent to Pakistan and forced into marriage. After years of keeping up appearances for the sake of her family and her culture, Hannah could take no more and, at the point of contemplating suicide, she mustered the courage to leave the life she had known. While her escape opened up a new world of unimaginable freedom - revealing to her what love really is and bringing her into a new life in Christ - it did not come without dark hours and sheer terror, as her father hunted her down. Now married and living as feely as she can under a new name, Shah travels the world speaking to bring awareness to what happens behind closed doors and to bring the promise of a brighter future for Muslim women. This book is a powerful story for readers curious about the lives of Muslim women and for those who desire to see God's love and power in action.