Beneath the Olive Sky

Zayd Malik doesn’t talk to girls. It’s not a religious front or a mysterious charm — he’s just painfully shy. Average in every way and haunted by a past filled with rejection and ridicule, Zayd starts over at Al-Noor Islamic High School hoping to stay invisible. He keeps his head down, avoids eye contact, and buries his thoughts in quiet poems he never shares. Amina Rahman is everything he isn’t — confident, kind, top of the class, and deeply rooted in her Islamic values. She’s focused on her dreams and doesn’t believe in distractions, especially the romantic kind. But when a class project pairs her with Zayd, she discovers there’s more to the silent boy who always looks at the floor. As gentle conversations spark in the shadow of the olive trees on campus, Amina begins to see Zayd not as “the awkward one,” but as someone who feels deeply, thinks quietly, and hides sincerity behind his silence. Together, they must navigate the fragile line between admiration and fitnah, faith and emotion, in a world where a single glance can mean too much — or nothing at all. As feelings begin to bloom, both must decide: is it possible to fall in love without crossing the boundaries of deen? And is waiting for what’s written a sign of weakness — or the greatest strength? A halal, heartfelt story about shy hearts, sacred boundaries, and the courage to wait beneath the olive sky.