Stolen Lives
Malika Oufkir

Imagine that your father was a close friend and advisor of the king. Your mother came from a wealthy family and thought little of selling off an apartment block in order to finance an afternoon's shopping. You had been taken from your family at the age of five to become a playmate and companion to the princess of the royal family, and had only recently returned to your family at the age of sixteen to complete your education. Such was the life of Malika, daughter of General Oufkir. She was raised in Morocco, in an Islamic culture heavily influenced by the French. She traveled widely, was known among the jet set of her day, and planned to attend college. Unknown to her, her father had planned a desperate coup against the man who had taken her in as a daughter: the king of Morocco. When the coup failed, the entire family was sent to a desert jail as punishment.
This was an inside look into the elite circles of Moroccan culture. It was more than I wanted to see. Women existed to please men. Widows were condemned to solitude after their husband's death. The rich and powerful lived lives of desperate unhappiness. Though the worship of Allah shaped the daily lives of the Moroccans in a hundred ways, this did not offer a solution to the daily problems of life. At one point, Malika mentions the letters of friends and relatives that she received while in jail. Most told of holiday celebrations or gave news of the outside world. But not one gave her encouragement. Her family and friends had no wisdom, no hope to offer her in her tragedy. This spoke volumes about the nature of Islam. There were no answers. There was no hope. Allah was great and good and powerful, but never answered when you called on him. To live and believe that ultimately there are no reasons for the events in our lives, that we are mere pawns in the hands of fate- this is the worst prison of all.
This book left me quietly processing all that I had read. This was really the story of a loss of faith. It showed me the riches that I have, in knowing a God who orchestrates all the events of my life for His glory and my good. I can look back on hard years and know that it was indeed good. I can rejoice in blessings and not fear the days to come. I am indeed blessed to know the True God.