‘Consequences of Love’ a tale of risk, passion

  Through a black-and-white world of men dressed in light robes and women hidden behind dark veils wanders Naser, an African immigrant living under strict Muslim law in Saudi Arabia.
  He longs for his mother, who sent him and his brother out of war-torn Eritrea in hopes of keeping them safe. But he soon learns there are great boundaries between the sexes in his new country.
  While growing up in Saudi Arabia, Naser misses the comfort of women and he resents the dogma forced on him by the local imam. During one Friday service, he becomes so angry he vows to never return to the mosque.
  I suddenly remembered his hate sermons against Jews, Shia and Sufi Muslims, Hindus and Christians. I recalled his hundreds of speeches that he repeatedly gave to drum into our heads that women are weak human beings and inferior to men.
  I had a strong headache coming on. I felt like my head was about to explode. I didn’t want to be there anymore. I could no longer sit and close my eyes and pretend that I wasn’t hearing what he was saying. I could no longer block out his voice obliterating my ears, poisoning my heart. I didn’t want to hate anybody. I didn’t want the imam to make me fear Allah more than loving Him. I remembered what our Eritrean imam in the refugee camp used to say: “Allah is compassionate and merciful. Always remember that Allah is love.” And I no longer wanted to betray my strong mother — the most beautiful person in the world who sacrificed her life for her children — by being in the same place as this man, a man who spread hate and lies against her just because she was a woman.
  I just got up and left.
  Naser numbs himself by sniffing glue and drinking perfume with his friends. Though men pressure him — and sometimes force him — to find sexual companionship with other men, Naser still dreams of having a girlfriend, a woman to love and touch.
  He is shaken from his daydreams when one day an abaya-covered girl drops a note at his feet. Love soon blooms as he begins corresponding with the woman he can identify only by the flashes of her pink shoes peeking out from under her heavy black covering.
  Naser knows his pursuit of the pink-shoed girl is dangerous and that their forbidden love could get them both killed — stoned to death or decapitated — but his heart will not obey his head.
  Sulaiman Addonia’s “The Consequences of Love” is described as a Romeo and Juliet story, and it is that but more. Addonia, who was born in Eritrea, lived in a refugee camp in Sudan and later emigrated to Saudi Arabia, speaks from experience about the brutal life suffered by many in this extremely religious country. Not everyone accepts the imam’s extreme views, and Addonia’s characters express sensitivity, awareness, bravery and compassion that endears them to readers throughout this heartfelt novel.
  “The Consequences of Love” is a sad romantic story, one that resonates with truth. Despite the ever present threat of the religious police, Naser finds courage in knowing that life is temporary. He willingly risks his life so he can, if only for a brief time, know what love feels like. Then, he knows, he will die happy.