The Imam's Daughter

This is a story of inspiration, courage, strenght and redemption. A voice for other woman who face the same situation in their daily lives. Excellent book.

Great book to read and gripping. The ordeal she endured was horrible. Reading this make one wonder this can happen to anyone.

This book was the kind of book that you want to keep reading because you want to know what is going on with the Imam's daughterTo live in England and be treated with beatings and every other cruelty her dad could make up as punishment is a crime in itself.The Imams daughers family were fed such negative messages from her dad it is hard to believe this happens at such a level of cruelty that I would like to get her dad and give back to him what he deserves. I am a Christian and I went to my brothers funeral yesterday and was able to share about Jesus Christ the Hope of eternity to them.May this book bring inspitation to believers to not be initmidated by any person but to be free to tell of Jesus in any way possible and with love and boldness. Jesus conquered the problem of problems Death. We can trust HIm when he tells us not to worry!

Poor Hannah and the abusive suffering she went through while her family and community turned a blind eye. It is unimaginable that in this day and age in a so called civilsed society this is still going on. I cannot imagine the suffering she has been through physically mentally and emotionally but she still kept her spirit. Hannah you are one in a million and still campaigning and working to help other young women from the same abuse. As for her father, he should rot in jail but has got away with the atrocities he inflicted on his poor daughter. It shows the chauvinistic contempt for women so prevalent in their culture. Unexcusable and they should be held to account for their action. I would thoroughly recommend this book but it is very haunting.

This book has been a powerful insight into a culture which I have not known much about. The "media" face of Islam does not touch the inside world of Muslim women and the culture of shame which protects the community from anything that looks bad. While we do not want to condemn any community, this book helps to uncover the aspects of the belief system that harm it's own people. Women in particular need to be given a voice though such books and people. In Asia, the millions of voiceless women who are not given the opportunity for education and other basic life choices need to be spoken for. I hope many people read this book.

But God......the only way a girl could endure what this daughter did from her father and not end up in a mental institution.

Excellently written! (5 Stars)This must not happen again in a civilized country!The story is true and very sad.

This is one of the best personal confessional stories I have ever read. I was glued to the book. I think I read it in two major sit-downs, and that's pretty fast for me. Checking the start and end dates of the read it amounts to five days!Hannah's story is a window into a different world. Certainly not all Islamic families are this way, but there is no question that Islam played a part in the situation and how the events unfolded. Certainly not all Islamic fathers are abusive, controlling, and rapists, but Islam was certainly used to justify his behavior and, more importantly, allow the family and community to excuse it. Certainly not all Islamic families will attempt to kill their daughters over rebellion to a forced marriage, over family "honor," and apostasy, but one hears way to many that do, and many are not as lucky as Hannah. While the events of Hannah's story are at the extreme, the author lets us see the underlying logic and foundations of her community.I grew to love Hannah. No child should ever be subject to such abuse, starting at the age of six. No woman should be subject to such control and what amounts to enslavement. It's a tribute to Hannah's shrewdness, desire for freedom, and survival instincts that she broke free of her repression. It's a credit to her that she now works to help other women in such circumstances. It's a credit to her that she has forgiven all, including her father, and come to a better understanding of Islam , which she finds in the ideal to be not as constraining as how her community practices it, though I wasn't exactly convinced. It was such a relief to find that in the end she found love, happiness, and a religion that believes in a loving God.

An amazing story, I couldn't put it down. I note from the reviews that a number of people think it to be made up but by that reckoning the vast amounts of other books about women whether islamic or not being mistreated by Islamic males must also be made up. its heartbreaking to read what this young woman went through but so encouraging to also read how she fought back and achievd great things in her life. I'm now reading 'Disgraced' by saira Ahmed which according to denialists on here, must be made up. Why not wake up to the fact that there are not very nice people whom hold trusted positions in all organisations/religions etc including Islam but at the same time if one honestly looks into the way Muhamad lived his life one would also see a connection. Other good books I would recomend are Sold by Zana Munsen. Slavery Terrorism and Islam by Peter Hammond. The people vs Muhamad by JK Sheindlin and Afghanistan where God only comes to weep by Siba Shakib.

I read this book in less than 24 hours. The heart rending story of Hannah, a girl born into a Pakistani Muslim family where her father was the local Imam. He ruled with unquestioned authority and subjected his small daughter to the most horrific levels of abuse, both physical, sexual and mental under the guise of "punishment". It made me sick to my stomach - the hypocrisy of the man, his "standing" in the community, where he seemed to think he was only one step removed from divinity. The prejudices of this cruel and tyrannical man come through loud and clear. Having moved from rural Pakistan, where they had lived in relative poverty, he then sets about abusing the benefits system in England by claiming from the state while being paid as an Imam. He then denounces all white people, their culture, country and religion as corrupt, evil, filthy, and everything else you can imagine. You read the book with a sense of disbelief, how CAN anyone be so blind as to their own small mindedness. His children are ruled by his rod of iron, and Hannah is clearly singled out as the scapegoat for his ever ending cruelty. Forced into the cellar, where she is beaten and repeatedly raped, Hannah is also made to wait on the family as their slave. She invents a fantasy world where she escapes to when it all gets too much and eventually plucks up the courage to tell someone what is going on. She is assigned a social worker of her own culture and religion, but he is a man! As a child protection social worker myself, this beggars belief. Of course this snake of a man, who ought to be struck off if he is still practicing, goes straight to her father and reports to him all she has said. I read it in absolute outrage, how DARE he betray this girl. Her fahter of course, subjects her to a vicious beating and she is left tied up in the cellar for days on end. Her so called social worker sees her again in school, were he lectures her about how she should not betray her community! ArghhhhhhhIn the end Hannah finds the strength to leave; discovering that she is about to be packed off to Pakistan for an arranged marriage, she runs away. However, her troubles are not over. She is followed, hounded and threatened with death. Her worst time comes after she has converted to Christianity, which in the eyes of her bigoted father and community is not to be borne. A 40 strong mob of men discover where she is living and she is lucky to escape with her life.I am pleased to say that Hannah's story has a happy ending. She graduates from University and marries for love. However, I am saddened that she never quite found the strength to report her father to the police for his abuse of her, meaning that he got away with it. She did try, but sadly, did not feel strong enough. She was once again let down by a social worker who told her afterwards that she was useless and had wasted everyone's time! No wonder we have a bad reputation!!I applaud you Hannah for telling your story and for working so tirelessly to educate other people and offer so much support to women in the same situation.Highly recommended.

While I am not surprised that some people from the same religious background do not like this book, I am surprised that they do not see the same thing happening today. Only recently there was the case of the mother and father who murdered their daughter because she supposedly brought shame on the family. Such abuse is prevalent I all abusive religions for such, but it is made worse when the leaders try sweep the issue under the carpet and appear like holy men. It is my prayer that many Muslim people will read this book without trying to find fault, and come to the realisation that ugly things are done by even those who appear nice people. Thankfully the lady of this book is now being mightily used by God to show others the correct way to live.

I think that any muslim woman/girl who is suffering in silence should read this remarkable true story to gain a sense of hope and determination to move forward and to make that first step of getting free.Actually no matter what religion or sex this book is such an eye-opener and is a really fascinating read!I am amazed that there are people out there who can follow a religion in which they believe they are following and practising when they are actually going against it as they do not understand it.If you are a British muslim and only ever read the Quran in Arabic, it can easily be accessed on the internet in English, and it is well worth the read, that way you are able to see that what you are being taught/made to believe actually has anything to do with the religion you are following at all.I admire Hannah!

This is a well written and shocking account of what can - to those of us who assume that all immigrant communities do somehow become Westernised - go very wrong.