News about the man’s arousal on stage spread quickly. Haji Ahmad’s wrath could no longer be restrained. Here was proof of zina of the eye. Salimah’s dancing was toxic.

‘We must oppose Salimah’s immorality to the death!’

The following day, after the festivities subsided, a group of men confronted Salimah in her home. The delegation claimed to be acting on behalf of a mosque and was led by Haji Ahmad. But Salimah, who spent her teen years at a mosque, knew full well that several of the men were anything but devout. She had seen them gambling and selling downers in dim street stalls. But maybe the situation really had changed. Haji Ahmad forbade Salimah from singing again. If she did, she would have to leave the village. Salimah saw anger boiling in his eyes, eyes that for many years had held a different radiance.

—

Trivialities tend to evaporate from memory but Salimah never forgot. She remembered when Haji Ahmad came to the mosque, replacing Haji Ibrahim, to teach Qur’anic recitation to the youth. He lectured teenage girls, subjugating their thinking. At that point Salimah, only fourteen, dared not look any man in the eye. She wouldn’t meet the gaze of her recitation teacher, though she surreptitiously observed how Haji Ahmad, who was in his early forties, was much more handsome than elderly Haji Ibrahim or even Solihin, who all the village girls were crazy about.

One night, Salimah was the last student at the mosque. Haji Ahmad asked her to work through a segment of the Holy Book, to determine her readiness for a Qur’anic reading contest. They sat facing each other. Salimah read the Sūrat an-Nūr, with its prescriptions on morality. After a few verses, Salimah realised that Haji Ahmad wasn’t paying attention. She made deliberate mistakes but her teacher didn’t correct her. Salimah sensed Haji Ahmad leaning further forward until his breathing caught her attention. Heavy breath. Masculine breath. Salimah raised her head. Haji Ahmad was staring at her. His eyes held an odd, ambiguous look, as if they could penetrate her veil and the shirt buttoned up to her neck. Salimah met his gaze. They stared at each other for a long time until footsteps could be heard approaching the door. The muezzin of the mosque.