Jesus asked me why I had rejected him

Faridah was born into a strict Muslim family, but as a teenager went her own way – until she had an encounter with Jesus that changed everything

I was born in a liberal nation but into a strict Muslim family. My father was prominent in politics and deeply conservative. Life for my sisters and me was tightly controlled, so much so that we weren’t even allowed to shop in public. If we wanted to buy clothes, my father arranged for shops to close after hours so no strangers could see us. We wore full traditional dress from head to foot, though not the burqa.