part 99: (nicholas)

**”Bismillahir rahmaanir raheem”
-in the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful-**

Tasha picked up her office phone to call the schoold back but before she could start dialling, her cellphone began to ring again. It was the school again.

Now she panicked. What if something happened to nick. Maybe he was ill and needed to come home urgently.

Or maybe he didn’t get to complete his work this morning and had gotten into trouble.

“Hello tasha abed….” She answered the call before the call could cut again.

“Hi miss abed… Its ninette, the secretary of the school. The head master asked me to give you a call and ask if you’d be able to come in urgently. He needs to discuss something with you.” The secretary spoke through the phone.

“Is… Is everything okay? Is nick alright? Is he ill?” Tasha asked worriedly.

There was silence for a few seconds before the secretary replied. “I’m afraid I can’t discuss anything further with you over the phone. I was just instructed to call you and ask you to come in as soon as you can. I’m sure the head master will give you all the details you need”

“Ok thanks… I’m going to just speak to my boss and see if I can take about an hour off to come through..” Tasha replied before greeting and ending the call.

What in the world was going on? What was so serious that needed to be discussed face to face.

What if tom was right. What if nick was taking things too far?

How am I supposed to deal with any more issues?

All these thoughts were running through tashas mind. She had no idea what to expect or what was going on.

She went in to speak to her boss who gave her the afternoon off to deal with whatever needed to be dealt with.

Tasha contemplated whether she should call tom and let him know what was going on. But she herself didn’t know what was going on so she couldn’t call him yet. She decided to rather deal with it alone and then call tom afterwards.

Her mind was spinning all through her drive to the school.

She kept on thinking about nick. About how he seemed alright. He didn’t seem sick at all this morning or lately. He seemed to always be busy with work either at home or at friends places so she was sure that it couldn’t have something to do with nicks performance at school.

Or could it?

As tasha pulled up into the school parking area, she felt even more anxious.

She could hear the kids chatter and shouts from inside since it was recess.

She strolled into the reception area.. “Hi ninette.. I’m here to see the head master. I’m tasha abed.. Nicks mum”

A chubby and short red haired woman with short curly hair looked up from the top of her glasses..
“Oh.. Hi miss abed… Let me just tell him that you’re here.. You may have a seat in the meantime.”

“Thanks!” Tasha mumbled. She couldn’t sit. She was too worried so she paced up and down nervously.

The secretary returned after a few moments. “His just busy on a call… He’ll be with you shortly”

Tasha nodded and continued pacing for a while until she realised that her heels were making too much of noise so she sat down reluctantly. But just then the secretary informed her that the principal was ready to see her.

Tasha walked in to his very neat office and took a seat across him.

“Sorry to rush you over on such short notice…” The principal gave his hand to tasha for a handshake.

“But its quite important and I needed to discuss nicks recent performance at school as well as nicks being absent so often.. ”

Tasha cut him short.. “Nick being absent? As far as I know nick hasn’t been absent at all this year. What do you mean his been absent so often?”

The headmaster raised his eyebrow…. “So you’re saying that you are not aware that nick is absent today either?”

Tasha felt like she was slapped across the face.. “Absent?… Today?” She whispered.

“Yes miss abed.. Nick did not attend school today and that’s why I’ve decided to speak to you about it. He’s been absent for one day almost every week in the past 2 months.” He replied.

Tasha was speechless..

“But…but.. I dropped him off myself this morning. There must be some kind of a mistake. Are you sure you not mixing nick up with another kid?”. Tasha defended.

The principal gave her a sympathetic look and the said. “The first step to fixing this problem is acceptance… No parent wants to hear of their childrens wrong. But accepting it, can do a world of a difference”

Posted by silent living…

part 98: (hanzalah)

**”Bismillahir rahmaanir raheem”
-in the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful-**

“Assalaamu alaykum abba jaan…” Hanzalah greeted as he jumped into the car after school.

“Wa’alaykum salaam beta.. How was your day today…” Abdullah asked like usual.

“Alhamdulillah.. Can’t complain.. Same as every day. There’s a circular here that they handed out..” Hanzalah said as he reached for his flip-file in the front section of his bag.

“What about? Anything important?” Abdullah asked glancing at hanzalah for a few seconds before looking back at the road again.

“Just another fund raising dinner.. This time its for the grade 12 students but us grade 11’s need to do all the work and they need funds from all the parents” hanzalah informed his father.

Abdullah sighed… As it is the school fees were so exorbitant. And still almost every month there’s some kind of fund raiser or the other. When will it end? How are the middle class and lower class supposed to afford all this?

“I was speaking to a customer today….” Abdullah began.

“Jee abba? About what?” Hanzalah asked.

“He was telling me about his kids. They attend some school in town. There’s a seperate one for girls and a separate school for boys. And apparently the fees are much cheaper and the level of education is quite high..” Abdullah explained.

“Abba… Err…” And then hanzalah just sighed and kept quiet.

“What is it beta? Talk to me!” Abdullah asked his son affectionately just as they reached the school.

Hanzalah has to go to the shop with abdullah everyday after school since there’s no-one at home. He does most of his home-work while his there until its time to close up and go home.

Their lives are terribly tough but abdullah finds consolation in the fact that its only temporary. Inshallah soon naeema will be around and things can go a little back to normal.

“Abba… I know you want what’s best for me and you know I won’t go against your decisions, but I’ve only just started in this school and as hard as it is, I’m in 11th grade, Its just going to make life a little harder switching from school to school at this point. By now everyones settled and concentrating on their final results and what they plan on studying when they’re done with school next year…” Hanzalah tried to make his father understand in a respectable manner.

Abdullah put his hand on his sons back and then looked down before saying “beta.. You don’t have to always be so strong.. If things are tough, come home and talk to me. I’m still here for you.”

“I know that abba… I know.. And I’m really glad to have you there for me and watching out for me.. ” Hanzalah truly did appreciate his father.

All the other kids around his age lacked that companionship with their fathers. And he appreciated that his father made all the time for him at any time and treated him like an adult by discussing everything with him. It made him feel important.

“How long beta?” Abdullah managed to ask.

hanzalah looked at his father confused.. “How long what abba?”

Abdullah looked at hanzalah in the eye and asked “How long son? How long have you been taking the bullying and nasty comments?”

Hanzalah let out a huge breath and closed his eyes. He’s been keeping this away from his father for far too long. He thought he could handle it, but now his father knew.
“From the day I started here…”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me beta? Why?” Abdullah asked.

“Because…” Hanzalah explained.. “You’re going through so much as it is. With ammi being sick and then passing away. And now you have so much on your plate. You have us to worry about and the house, and the shop which I’ve noticed has also become very quiet lately…. I’m old enough to deal with these things. Its petty stuff”

Hanzalah was too mature for his age. and it was all naseemas doings. She tried hard to bring these kids up in a way that they would cope with the outside world.

Naseema would want them to fight their own battles and become strong. Not running away from their problems.

“Ok beta… But why don’t we just have a look at the school. Just check it out, if you’re not comfortable and want to stay here, I won’t force you, you know that.” Abdullah asked again.

“Okay abba… If it will make you happy.. I’ll go. ” Hanzalah gave in.

It made abdullah at ease. He called up his customer to get the details and organise to have a look at the other school.

***************
Authors note:
Please don’t forget about our quraan khatam which can be found on http://www.silentlivingsanthology.wordpress.com
There are 6 paras/juzz/chapters left to complete our first khatam… Please contribute.. Jx… B.A

Posted by silent living…

part 97: (hanzalah)

**”Bismillahir rahmaanir raheem”
-in the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful-**

Abdullah was so hurt at what he heard. No he wasn’t hurt. He was disgusted. No actually he felt sorry for these kids. Sorry that they were brought up in this manner, to talk like that about other people at such a tender age? These very kids were going to be the future generation. The future adults and leaders.Is this what they are going to be like as adults? Is this the very thing that they are going to teach their kids and their kids kids?

Obviously the parents of these kids discuss other peoples lives as if their lives are perfect and as if they have it all.

And obviously the parents of these kids discuss these things right infront of their innocent children, not realising the outcome of their actions.

Abdullah could have simply jumped out of the car and reprimanded them for their outrageous remarks. But ofcourse he knew better than that.

Reprimand them today and they’ll run straight home to complain to their brainless parents and then they’ll all pitch up at his front door ready to fight and justify their actions.

Absolutely pointless!

Abdullah wasn’t afraid of them fighting with him, but he just couldn’t allow hanzalah to be picked on any more than he already was.

He drove off to work with habeeba and continued his day but what happened that morning couldn’t leave his mind for even a moment.

How long had hanzalah been bullied and mocked just because he came from another country?

You know what’s the funniest part of it all..?. That we’re treated as less of a human being because of where we come from. Like we choose to come from a certain place.

but let a child from the states, london or even saudi start attending the school and automatically they will be given a different preference. They will be held up high because of where they come from.

Pakistani and indian kids are mocked at and treated as less of human beings, along with malawian or zimbabwaen kids simply because of their colour or place of origin.

But let there be a world cup held in pakistan for example and then everyone is ‘proud’ to have gone to pakistan for the world cup.

Honestly, our priorities in life are so messed up, its scary.

There was no point complaining to the school either. What could they do when they were none the better themselves.

But there was no way that abdullah was going to allow his son to be a laughing stock anymore. Especially because he now knew what he was going through.

His love and admiration for his son grew even more now knowing that he bared it all with patience and never came home to complain.

Abdullah was brought out of his reverie when a customer walked into the shop.

He walked over and greeted with a smiling face.. “Hello sir… Can I help with something?”

Abdullah spent the next hour helping the customer with whatever he needed. He tallied up the amount and found that this man was so warm and wonderful.

In this hour this very stranger who wasn’t even a muslim spoke to abdullah as if he was a human being. He didn’t ask where he originally was from and even though abdullahs accent made it clear that he was a foreigner, he didn’t judge him. He was such a friendly person and spoke non-stop about his life and what he did and about his kids.

What caught abdullahs attention was when he spoke about his kids education. He had one daughter and one son who both attended private and seperate schools.

Abdullah was very interested and had a great idea….. Now all he needed to do was speak to hanzalah about it.

Posted by silent living…

part 96: (hanzalah)

**”Bismillahir rahmaanir raheem”
-in the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful-**

Its been so sad and lonely back at abdullahs residence. It was basically just the 3 of them in the house every day and every night.

But instead of things being awkward, abdullah tried to be the best father and mother at the moment.

He would wake up early to make sure the kids were sorted in the morning. Hanzalah was a great help too.

There wasn’t anyone to look after habeeba so abdullah had to take her to the shop with him everyday.

He made sure to take a whole lot of activities for her so that she would be bored and instead occupy herself while he was busy himself.

After making sure that the beds were made and the house was neat, abdullah would drop hanzalah off at school and then head over to the shop with habeeba in tow.

At the time of zuhr salaah, he usually closed up and went to the masjid. Now he had to tag habeeba along to the masjid. He didn’t approve of girls going to the masjid and got a few looks for that, but he didn’t have much of a choice did he?

Luckily habeeba was very small still and she remained quiet all through the salaah, trying, in her own way to perform salaah aswel in one corner of the masjid.

The shop wasn’t doing too well. Abdullah found himself in a little bit of financial strain at the moment. With naseemas illness, and then demise and then having everyone over for all this time, it seemed to have taken his business down abit.

Even though everyone tried to pay for things while they were here, it was still his duty to make sure that all his guests were comfortable all the time.

This year was just a very taxing year thus far. But Allah doesn’t burden anyone with more that they can handle. And no difficulty will last forever. At some point Allahs going to change the bad conditions to good ones and reward a person for the patience they endured all through the hard times.

We are humans.. And weak ones too. We failed to comprehend the wisdom of Allah many a times. We may have the best of everything for years on end, and then Allah tests us for just a few months to a year and we immediately cannot cope.

Its at these times that we have to bear patience like Allahs great friend and servant, prophet ayoob(peace be upon him).

Prophet ayoob(peace be upon him) had the best of wealth, a big family and owned vast amounts of land and animals. But to test him, Allah had inflicted upon him a fatal illness. One so severe that in due course he had lost everything. His wife, his kids, the community around him, famly and friends, wealth… Everything. But never did he complain to Allah, instead he grew closer to Allah throughout his illness.

Allah tests His dearest servants the most.

And here abdullah found himself in a similar situation. It was test after test.

The final straw came one morning when he dropped hanzalah off at the islamic school that hanzalah was attending.

As they pulled up at the school, abdullah noticed the rich kids being dropped off in expensive, fast and mice looking cars whilst hanzalah was dropped off in an old and rickety red car.

This didn’t seem to bother his son much from the looks of it.

“Assalaamu alaykum abba….” Hanzalah greeted cheerfully as he got off the car. He turned around to give his sister a kiss on her forehead before jumping off, unperturbed that kids his age were watching and didn’t do such things.

Abdullah admired his son for this. He had to wait for a while before driving as there was a few cars ahead of him. That’s when he heard a group of kids snicker and laugh as hanzalah walked past them.

“Paki!!!!” The one remarked and the others roared with laughter.

Hanzalah ignored them and continued walking.

“Can you believe that his toppie got married already, his tannie isn’t even cold in her grave and the toppie is running off with someone else… Plus with his tannies sister…. Crazy people this hey!”

******************
Authors note:
Jumu’ah mubarak everyone. Maaf for my lack of posts. Please bare with me till after ramadaan as this time of year is a little hectic for me. I will try my best to post whenever I have some free time inshalah

Posted by silent living…

part 95: (nicholas)

**”Bismillahir rahmaanir raheem”
-in the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful-**

tasha got home after dropping nick at school and headed to her room to wake tom up for work like she usually does before going to the kitchen to pour his tea.

Tom liked his tea luke warm instead of piping hot or ice cold so tasha usually pours his tea so that by the time he finally gets out of bed, hits the shower and comes to the kitchen, its just perfect for him.

She popped some toast and began spreading some margarine on it when tom walked in and gave her a peck on her cheek.

“You’re up and about early today?” Tom asked surprised that tasha was bathed and ready to leave for work already.

“Yeah.. I got done early since nick had to be at school extra early today.” She replied.

“Why?” Tom asked.

“He said that he didn’t understand some work and some kid at school was going to help him before school” tasha said as she stood up and gulped her tea down.

Tom didn’t say anything and looked like he was deep in thought. He only began talking a while after the long silence.. ” You know…” And then he remained silent again.

“What?” Tasha asked looked at him weirdly.

Tom sighed.. “You know I hate getting involved with nick.. But…” And he stopped again. reluctant to continue.

“But what?” Tasha asked again getting annoyed that tom wasn’t getting to the point.

“But I’ve been noticing his behaviours abit off lately.. So not like the old nick…” Tom tried to tell her.

“That’s a good thing right? The old nick was lost in a shell and missing out on life.” Tasha replied a little too quickly.

Tom didn’t respond but took a bite of his toast and then a sip of his tea again.

And then he said: “I found some of my cigarettes missing the other day… And then again yesterday”

“So? What are trying to imply tom?” She shouted angrily. “What are you trying to say? That I brought my son up to steal? And nick doesn’t smoke! It was just a silly mistake that he made once long ago in school!”

Tom shrugged as he drank his last sip of tea and then got up.. “I told you I shouldn’t get involved.. Sorry that I said anything”

Tasha sat angrily at the table. ‘How dare tom imply such a thing. He’s probably over smoking and not remembering and now he’s blaming it on nick!’ Tasha thought.

‘I knew it will turn out this way. Tom just doesn’t like nick because he’s not his own child’ she suddenly felt hurt that things had turned out this way. She always thought of tom to be more mature and very different.

In all her anger, she hadn’t realised that she was running late for work. She glanced up at the kitchen clock and got up with a shock.. “Oh crap!”

She hurried out of the house without even greeting tom today. She didn’t give a damn to greet him. How dare he talk like that about her son. Nick was a good boy and would never do anything like that. And yes he was a little different. But she was happy with the way he was. Atleast now he had friends and a life.

She was still so annoyed when she got into her office that she couldn’t focus on her work.

Only at midday did she realise that her cellphone was still in her handbag on silent. And when she pulled it out, she found 3 miscalls from the school….

Oh no! What happened now? Why was the school calling her? And three times?

********
Authors note:
Dear all…. Please do check out this blog… For those in south africa.. Gauteng more specifically. Its not a story, its a business blog… For those who may be interested
dvinetreats.wordpress.com
Jx…B.A

Posted by silent living…

part 94: (hanzalah)

**”Bismillahir rahmaanir raheem”
-in the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful-**

The best part of marriage is to wake up in the morning in the arms of someone who cares about you.

Naeema opened her eyes and felt abdullahs strong arms around her waist. Her back was facing him but she could feel his warm breath against her skin.

She often thought about marriage, but it was little things like this that needed to be experienced in real life.

She stayed as still as possible. She didn’t want to wake him up. He was probably just as exhausted as she was. If not more.

She lay there deep in thought about how different her life was going to be as from today.

Once abdullah woke up, they lay in bed for another while longer just chatting and learning more about eachother.

Eventually they climbed out of bed and headed for the kitchen for what was supposed to be breakfast. But looking at the time, it was almost lunch time.

Naeema wanted to make breakfast but upon abdullah insistence, she gave in and allowed him to spoil her today.

Abdullah knew that once naeema returned from pakistan, she would have her hands full, so he wanted to make the most of these few hours they had left together.

Just before zuhr, abdullah had a quick shower and headed towards the masjid while naeema lazed around for a little while before showering herself.

“Get dressed and be ready when I get back from salaah, we’re going out a little this afternoon.” Abdullah told her before he kissed her and left for the masjid.

the couple headed towards the park where they took a casual stroll around holding hands. The air was cool and the atmosphere was serene.

They bought ice-cream and candy floss and spoke for what felt like just a few minutes but was infact a couple of good hours.

They returned home in time for asr where abdullah dropped naeema home and headed towards the masjid again.

Abdullah never missed his salaah with jama’ah. It was the most important thing to him.

He often thought about the hadith of nabi(sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) wherein he stated to the effect that
Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: “the Messenger of Allah sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam said, ‘No prayer is harder for the hypocrites than the morning and the night prayers and if they knew the reward for these prayers at their respective times, they would certainly present themselves in the mosques even if they had to crawl.” The Prophet added, “Certainly I decided to order the muadhdhin to pronounce adhan and order a man to lead the prayer and then take a fire flame to burn all those who had not left their houses so far for the prayer along with their houses.’” (Bukhari, Adhan 29, Husumat 5, Ahkam 52; Muslim, Masajid 252, (651); Muwatta, Salatu’l-Jama’a 3, (1, 129-130); Abu Dawud, Salat 47, (548, 549); Tirmidhi, Salat 162, (217); Nasai, Imamah 49, (2, 107).

The 2 days alone between the couple was over in no time and they both had to face the reality of naeema leaving.

Abdullah, hanzalah and habeeba accompanied everyone to the airport to bid them all farewell.

It was such a sad situation to everyone. They had all become so close in these last couple of long weeks.

Everyone was of such great support throughout naseemas period of illness and even after her demise. They had all helped to make sure abdullah, hanzalah and habeeba were well cared for and now it was time for them to leave.

Everyone hugged and shed a couple of tears.

No-one wanted to leave them alone, but the reality was that everyone had lives to get settled back into. No-one could stay behind forever. Life needed to go on.

When it was time for naeema to greet abdullah, that was the hardest. Its so amazing how two peoples bond can grow just by the mere action of nikaah.

“I can still stay if you say so.. I don’t have to go back. I can stay to look after you..” Naeema sobbed while abdullah hugged her to him.

“No… You must go… Its only fair to everyone back home.” He stroked her back comfortingly. “Inshallah you’ll be back soon and then we’ll be one big happy family again ”

“But I feel terrible leaving you all knowing that you are now my responsibility..” Naeema complained.

“Shhh.. Come now…. You’re going to miSs your flight” abdullah tried to calm her down. She was way too emotional.

Finally they hugged one last time before she greeted hanzalah and habeeba and the followed everyone else through the boarding gates.

The reality of it all finally knocked the 3 of them after months, the minute they walked in to their empty home after returning from the airport. Abdullah, hanzalah and habeeba were all alone!

**************
Authors note:
Please don’t forget to contribute to our quraan khatam which may be found at silentlivingsanthology.wordpress.com
There are a few juzz left to complete our first khatam inshallah…
B.A

Posted by silent living…

part 93: (hanzalah)

**”Bismillahir rahmaanir raheem”
-in the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful-**

Naeema quickly looked down again. Bashfulness washing over her. But then realised that it wasn’t haraam to look at abdullah anymore. He was now hers. All hers and looking at him would now earn her multiple reward instead of sin.

She slowly lifted her gaze again as abdullah walked forward with a warm smile.

“You look beautiful my wife…” He complimented in urdu as he took her hand and pecked at it lightly…

Naeema blushed. She was full of nerves and so afraid. She didn’t know how to respond. She was afraid that if she spoke, she would utter the wrong words so she opted to remain silent.

They sat on the bed together where abdullah silently made dua for their marriage to be blessed.

“You don’t have to be afraid or scared. You have made a very big decision and a great sacrifice. No doubt Allah will reward you greatly for it. I don’t know you well and neither do you know my habits, but together we will grow inshallah.”

Those were such sweet words naeema thought. She automatically eased up a little. She breathed out the air that she didn’t realise she was holding in.

She really wanted to say something to abdullah. She knew that it couldn’t be easy for him today. But she didn’t know what to say.

She opened her mouth to say something and then closed it again. She was feeling terribly anxious.

She closed her eyes for a second trying to gain the courage to talk so that the awkwardness would disappear.

She opened her eyes and looked straight into abdullahs..

She concluded that the best would be to speak exactly what she felt inside.

She gracefully lifted her hand to touch his cheek and said:
“I know that this can’t be easy for you either. We all miss naseema today. And I cannot imagine how you miss her. I cannot be her. She was perfect in every way. But I will try my best to be there for you and the children. As long as you always hold my hand and guide me.”

Abdullah pulled her gently into an embrace and held onto her for a while. It felt so warm to have this kind of affection. And the best part was that it was all halaal.

Their moment was interrupted by a knock on the door.

They pulled apart and abdullah still held onto naeemas hand.

It was habeeba..
“Abba jaan… Khalla… Dadi sent me to call you to eat…”

Abdullah smiled at his daughter and motioned for her to come closer.

He picked her up and placed her on his knee.
“Beti… Khalla is going to come and live with us forever now okay? She’s going to be your new mummy…”

Habeebas eyes lit up and she hugged naeema…
“Really? You stay? Forever?”

Habeeba had grown so fond of naeema in these couple of weeks and vice versa. They had formed a great bond. Naeema loved kids and she loved her niece a lot. Well now she was her step mother.

Abdullah and naeema both giggled at habeebas reaction before they got up to join the rest of the family for the celebration.

Naeema joined the ladies in the kitchen while abdullah joined the men in the lounge to enjoy a good meal of biryani.

After everyone was done eating and having tea with some sweet treats, they all helped to clear up and then left to give the new couple some privacy.

The rest of the night was spent with abdullah and naeema getting comfortable in each others company.

Abdullah had to get used to sharing his bed with someone again.

And naeema would have to get used to sleeping with a man beside her.

Abdullah went out of his way to make naeema at ease.

They had light hearted conversations throughout the night after they had performed 2 raka’aats of salaah together.

Naeema changed into something more comfortable.

When they realised the time it was already 3am.

“Since we are up, would you like to join me for tahajjud salaah?” Abdullah asked naeema carefully, not trying to force her in any way.

Naeema got out of bed and made her way to their bathroom while abdullah used the other bathroom.

They stood together but separately performing salaah.

Naeema simply read 2 rakaats and waited patiently on her musallah for abdullah to complete.

She was in awe at the piety of her husband. He read a couple of rakaats instead of just 2 and he performed them with such humility that she’s never seen before.

He performed his salaah as if he had no care or worry in the world. No rush to complete it for anyone. Every posture was perfect.

He made his final salaam and sat for a few moments before turning around..

“Maaf… Were you waiting for me?” Abdullah asked concerned as if he felt bad that he caused so much of inconvenience to his new wife.

Naeema smiled and shook her head. “No.. Not at all.”

Abdullah looked relieved. “I’m going to make dua. If you want to jump into bed, you can.”

“Do you mind if we make dua together?” Naeema asked.

Abdullah kissed her hand and then turned around to face the qiblah once again and began his dua.

He praised Allah and sent durood upon His nabi sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam And then recited a few masnoon duas before making dua in urdu for love between him and his new wife the way Allah had granted love between nabi sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam and his wives.

“Oh Allah, grant me qualities like that of my nabi so that I am able to care for my wife the way I’m supposed to, the way that is pleasing to you. Yaa Allah! Lord of the worlds, increase our understanding for eachother. Yaa Allah, grant us a successful marriage. A marriage that thrives on your obedience and the sunnah of your habeeb.. Oh Allah, grant us pious offspring who will be the coolness of our eyes. Who will be ever obedient to you and the sunnah of nabi sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam…..”

Abdullah continued with his beautiful duas, he made dua for his 2 children aswel and finally ended his dua..
“Wa salaamun alal mursaleen wal hamdulillahi rabbil aalameen”

By the time they’d concluded, it was just a few minutes before fajr came in. They performed their sunnah rakaats of fajr salaah when the time came in and abdullah made sure that naeema got into bed after completing her salaah. He gave her a kiss and left for the masjid for fajr.

By the time he returned, naeema was fast asleep. Abdullah slipped quietly into bed beside her and joined her in a deep and peaceful slumber.

************
Authors note:
Season one of sabreens story has come to an end, nicks story is almost at the end of season one and hanzalahs story has a few more parts aswel before reaching the end of this season. So until the end of sha’baan, we will focus on completing nicks and hanzalahs stories of season one and after ramadaan, season 2 will begin inshallah… B.A

Posted by silent living…

part 92: (hanzalah)

**”Bismillahir rahmaanir raheem”
-in the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful-**

‘Innal hamda lillah….” The moulana began in the masjid.

Abdullah couldn’t help but think of his first nikaah. It was so different to this one.

The first time around he couldn’t control his excitement, he could barely pay attention to what the moulana was saying or if he had said anything at all.

He kept rehearsing the words in his head ‘nikahtuha wa qabiltuha’

He couldn’t wait to be the loving husband to naseema. To start a new life. To no longer be a bachelor.

This time around he listened attentively to what the moulana spoke. He was so much more matured.

He was excited aswel. But for different reasons.

This time he was excited at the fact that he was unsure if he would be able to be a good enough husband to naeema and at the same time a proper father to hanzalah and habeeba.

He was worried if he had made the right decision and if this decision would alter their lives for better or worse.

But as the aalim spoke so profoundly about the importance of nikaah. About the importance of love after nikaah. The importance of fulfilling the sunnah of our beloved rasool of Allah, abdullah had settled down abit and placed his complete trust in Allah.

He would have to be the best husband to naeema. It was her right.

The nabi of Allah sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam had multiple wives, yet he treated every one of them justly. He loved every one of them equally and fulfilled the rights of every single one.

There was such beauty in islam. The solution to every problem can be found in the life of our habeeb sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam and his illustrious sahaabah.

So here he sat humbly in the masjid, seconds away from being the husband to a young bride who knew nothing about marriage, nothing about having kids or raising them and nothing about being a wife. It is going to be a journey which he would have to endure patiently.

As the aalim concluded his lecture. Abdullah was summoned to the front where the nikaah was to take place and he would once again recite the words ‘nikahtuha wa qabiltuha’.

It was then that abdullah had decided to close his past chapters so that he may start off completely with a new one.

A person cannot start a new book if he is still lingering on in an old one….

So as he said those words, a different type of blessing. Washed over him.

Immediately after the nikaah was performed, hanzalah proudly walked around the masjid, handing out dates to all that were present.

His dadi had prepared some special dates. Some which they had stuffed with coconut and others with almonds. Some were left plain too.

Abdullah searched for his son and hugged him.

‘Congratulations abba… ” Hanzalah could feel the tears filling up in his eyes… “Ummi would be happy with your decision today”

Abdullah couldn’t say much as emotion had overtaken him in that moment. He just hugged hanzalah tighter for a few seconds before they parted and headed home. Abdullah had to meet his new wife…

Abdullah could feel the happiness at home the minute he entered the house. Its been a long time since this house was radiating happiness. And this happiness can only be brought through nikaah.

He went forward to greet his mother.

*Allah look after you beta… Allah grant you happiness once again!” Abdullahs mother affectionately held his cheeks with tears in her eyes.

“Jazaakallah ummi jaan…. You have chosen this for me and I don’t doubt your choice one bit” abdullah reply..

“Jaa… Go now son…. Go meet your new bride!” His mother teased as she pushed him playfully in the direction of his room.

Abdullah couldn’t help but smile widely with a slight blush to his cheeks.

Before he could reach the room he picked habeeba up and kissed her on her cheeks…

Abdullah took a deep breath before knocking lightly on his own room door whic he would now share with his new wife…

He entered the room and greeted with ‘assalaamu alaykum’ and that’s when their 2 gazes met for the first time as one…

Posted by silent living…

next post…

Assalaamu alaykum…

My sincerest apologies for not posting as promised… I was having trouble accessing old posts and posting new posts…

But alhamdulillah I seem to have sorted it out so new post will be up some time tonight inshallah…..

Jx for the understanding.. B.A

Posted by silent living…

no post!

Slmz…

Maaf… Just letting u know that I am unable to post today. Have tons of work and still not done… Maaf again.

Inshallah next post will be tomorrow evening…

Jumu’ah mubarak…

Posted by silent living…