K U WA I T I S E E K E R  25 but not your father. Can you put this right when you return? Suhayb is more than I would have expected. He is not soft and full of stories like you. You know he is strong, but now he is stronger than I would have known. He leads the family. In many ways he has shouldered aside your father. When the men pray, he leads. Can you believe this? He talks with the imam as an equal. I don’t know how you can contend with him. You must prepare for him. I hope I live to see you return. My love to my son, Fatima I intended to write a response but it would require more effort than I had left. I needed a source of rejuvenation. I opened my Quran, which was the beginning of my research into Sharia, and now over a matter of immediate importance. I was confused over status of abortion—was it murder? First, the Quran. I turned to 17.31, which seemed clear, “And do not kill your children, surely to kill them is great wrong.” Then I located the hadith that says life is not breathed into the child until 120 days. So perhaps the 120 days was a time of freedom. My heart strained my intellect, but I proceeded with the necessary: Dear Adam, It is difficult for me to contact you in this matter. I am sure you remember Anna from the Red Lion. As you are aware I stayed with her before I left for the US. We separated sadly but both of us had other business.