Assalamu alaikum - I called the police to protect my sister and now my family is against me
Assalamu alaikum, I don’t even know where to begin. I need to get this off my chest because I feel like I’m breaking. I’ve been making dua and asking Allah for sabr, but the calm never seems to last. Earlier this year, during my senior year of high school in Ramadan, everything fell apart. My younger sister missed four assignments and her teacher sent a note home. My dad has always had anger problems, but that day he completely lost control. He screamed and hit her with a frying pan - on her head and all over her body. It was terrifying to see. At the time his own father was dying and later passed away, and he was under a lot of stress. But that doesn’t excuse what he did. I was scared. I had already been in contact with a detective over a child protection concern that could have involved my parents, and I remember texting her, shaking, saying: “If this is how he reacts to missing assignments, how will he react to CP?” She called the police, and my dad was arrested. He was gone only a few hours, came back with a court date, and later the case was dismissed. When my family discovered I was the one who sent the text, my life changed. My mom shouted that I wasn’t her daughter anymore, that no one in our community would do something so shameful, that I ruined the family’s honor. At first I felt bad for my sister even though she’d been rude, but when they all started disrespecting and mocking me, saying, “At least I didn’t call the police on Dad,” I became the villain - the ungrateful daughter, the “snitch.” My mom places all the blame for my sister’s behavior on me - the same sister I was trying to keep safe. I wasn’t even only protecting her; I was trying to protect myself from what could have come out about the CP situation after everything she put me through. I wouldn’t have cared if he cracked her skull open - I have four younger sisters, but my mom only ever reaches out to me when she needs something. The others often say no, they yell at her, they ignore her - and she says nothing. But if I refuse, she guilt-trips me, saying, “You’ll regret this,” or “I’ll never help you again.” My parents act like two different people. One moment they’re kind and supportive, the next they’re screaming, calling me ungrateful, or spitting in my face. I feel like I’m walking on eggshells every second I’m home. I’ve been seeing a therapist in secret - she diagnosed me with depression. I also spoke to a Sheikh after everything happened. My parents yelled that I should have gone to a Sheikh instead of the police. When I did speak to one, he told me my dad’s actions were wrong but didn’t offer much more. Now I’m in college. I worked all summer and spent every earned dirham on my tuition. My college is only a short drive away, but my parents refuse to drive me because they say I “betrayed” them. So I wake at 6 a.m. and take a two-hour bus ride just to reach class by 8. Every time I sit on that bus I stare out the window and wonder why I have to live like this - why protecting my sister made my whole family turn against me. What hurts most is how fake everything feels. When I do well - good grades, helping out, achieving something - they suddenly act proud and kind, like they forgave and forgot. But it always returns to insults, guilt, and manipulation. It’s emotional whiplash. My dad is very spoiled. He never confronts us himself. When he’s upset he calls my mom and complains, then she storms into my room and screams at me. Because I’m so tired and drained, I sometimes lose my temper and yell at my sisters - the very thing I promised I wouldn’t do. It’s this never-ending cycle of anger that begins with him and ends with me. I’m exhausted. I cry almost every night because I can’t breathe in this house. I keep praying for sabr and asking Allah to ease my heart, but any peace I find disappears after a few days. I hate feeling so much resentment toward my parents. I hate feeling like a bad Muslim for having those feelings. But they keep pushing me to the edge, and I don’t know how to keep holding on. I can’t leave because we’re still under asylum, and I need to stay for paperwork and to be able to marry properly later. Right now it feels like I’m trapped - emotionally, mentally, and physically. I don’t even know what advice I need. I just want to know how to survive this - how to live in this constant storm and not lose my faith. How do I continue to respect parents who treat me like nothing? How do I keep my iman when I feel so broken inside? Please make du’a for me. I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up. Jazakum Allah khair for reading.