My Dear Aiesha,

By now you will have read and digested the article on page seven in today's New Straits Times entitled "Schoolgirl Found Dead." It reports the brutal death of a 15-year-old schoolgirl who was found in a monsoon drain in Bandar Baru Uda, Johor [Malaysia], 100 meters from the bus stop where she was last seen at 5:45 a.m. waiting in the dark for a bus to school to attend a farewell party for her teacher. She was ambushed in her school uniform, dragged, according to her bruises, on her knees from the bus stop, raped, murdered, and dumped. Just like that. Her only mistake was waiting alone in the dark for the school bus. Let no girl or lady say, "It can't happen to me!"

Every other day similar cases are reported, not just in New York and the ghettos of the US, but also now in peace-loving Malaysia. Beyond this tragedy for the girl's family and friends is a much wider worldwide, tragedy. Humans, God's greatest creation on earth — born pure and equal, each a potential genius — are consciously and willfully choosing to abandon morality. They are turning into animals and sinking to the brainless law of the jungle.

Look at the heart-wrenching photo of the grieving mother and all those hopes and dreams that she had for her eldest child. Put mummy into that terrible picture! Now begin to see the bigger picture beyond the "injustice" of our recent insistence that you withstand peer group pressure and wear a headscarf in public. But even that most sensible Muslim badge of honor, a precaution to hide sexuality, was not enough to save the girl from Johor. Never let your guard down. Always be protected by the Muslim community. Never become isolated, even at a bus stop. God gave you a brain — use it! Do not get separated and isolated. Do not make yourself an easy target. Outsmart the fallen humans who inhabit the animal kingdom.

Understand the nightmare fears of all parents worldwide, now a grim brutal reality for this family, their relatives, and the hundreds and perhaps thousands of people who know them or knew of them. Imagine the wave of despair and sense of helplessness that sweeps through the community, turning into fear and compelling parents to chaperone healthy, robust teenage daughters, who in turn rebel at being treated like delicate babies and suffer the injustice of not being trusted. Can you not see? It is not you, our pride and joy, that we don't trust; it's your predators!

Aiesha, wise up. Our religion has been perfected by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to protect us from harm. Follow it, don't fight it. Don't change it to suit your momentary agenda. We as your parents are entrusted to guide you into adulthood. But you are not there yet. 

There is a better way. Grow into an elegant, young Muslim lady that your religion and your parents can be proud of. Resist the evil surrounding you and bombarding you every day on TV and in the popular media, and help make the world a better place for all human beings. Set an example to your friends who are leading a Jekyll-and-Hyde life, one moment like Muslims, then the next moment like decadent yuppies. You have a good 50 years ahead of you, God willing. It can be very enjoyable and worthwhile, but you have to learn how to look after yourself.

— Your old Dad

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