c
c

ô
c  c


ô 

It was reported in a local paper in Rochdale (A town, northeast of

Manchester, England), of a young woman who was raped in a small
dark alley (a narrow passage between buildings) one evening. On a
separate evening around the same time, a young Muslim girl was
walking home from college. Aware that it was getting dark fast, she
wanted to get home as soon as possible, so her mother would not be
worrying about her being outside alone at night. 

The young Muslim girl faced a dilemma. To take the short-cut down the
same alleyway to avoid getting home after dark, or to take the longer
route and have her mother worrying herself sick about her daughters
safety. 

Conscious of the time, she takes the alleyway. While the girl is walking
she sees a rather sinister and dark figure of a man walking towards her
from the other end. As her pace quickens, she begins to read Ayat-ul-
kursi for her safety. The man, he makes eye contact but carries on
walking. When the young Muslim girl reaches home she tells her family
about this sinister looking man, they advise her to contact the police,
after having read the newspaper article some time before. When she
contacts the police they ask her to give a physical description of the
man. It matches the description the rape victim had given. Some days
later the young Muslim girl receives a phone call from the police, asking
her if she would come down to the police station to identify the man in
a line up. Both the rape victim and the Muslim girl pick out the same
man. The police are confused; they ask the rapist why he attacked one
girl and not the other. In reference to the Muslim girl, he replies 'why
would I attack her? When she was walking with two huge men on
either side of her?'