Summary

“Nikkah” concerns a woman named Qadirah who is actively dating, looking for a husband. One man, Salahudeen, is off-putting, and gives her a fragrance labeled “SATIN PANTY DROPPER” as a gift (135). She returns home to her roommate, Ihsan, who showed her what she knows about her faith back in college, and gossips about the date. Qadirah’s parents are famous pastors on TV. Back in her room, she signs up for a dating website called NikkahNetwork. She thinks someone messages her immediately, but it is just a bot thanking her for signing up. We learn that Qadirah’s conversion to Islam rankled her devoutly Christian parents. She later learns that she was “conceived from infidelity,” lending credence to the strange aspects of her parents’ marriage (145). Her parents had gotten together while her father was still with his first wife. This combined...