A Muslim's Romantic Journey

Chapter 16.

Yusuf's POV

I barely slept the night before the Nikah. Safia and I were getting married on Sunday and we had our Walima planned for Friday evening. We wanted the Nikah on a Friday, as it was Sunnah but the timing wasn’t very good because of Safia’s university. It would have made more sense to wait until the summer to get married but the summer just seemed too far. Islamically, the sooner we got married, the better.

Safia's family planned the Nikah and my family planned the Walima. It was kind of tough trying to compromise with my mum. Of course she wanted to have an extravagant Nikah and Walima whereas I wanted something nice and simple. I knew Safia wanted something simple too. All in all, the planning wasn't too bad, except for the issue of the number of guests. My mum was frustrated about me wanting to invite no more than 50 to 60 guests. Out of those, I'd said to mum that she could invite 20 people. She had said 20 people were only around 4 families which was nowhere near enough. I laughed and replied back saying if the family was like Safia's, then it would only be 1 family. She didn’t appreciate my humour and was still not happy with me but she came around. 

I woke up on the day of my wedding after about a couple of hours of sleep. I only managed to fall asleep after Fajr. Usually, I would have been exhausted but knowing that the night that had just passed was my last night as an unmarried man made me both scared and excited. My life was about to change, nothing would ever be the same again. In a way that made me upset. My comfortable single life was over. But it felt like it was about to be replaced with a better one. I'd been waiting for this day for so long and all my patience was about to be paid off. I jumped out of bed and showered. I neatened my beard, shaving around the edges and trimming it a little. I was unsure of what to do after that. I came downstairs for breakfast.

"Asalaamu'alaykum." I said as I came down. Maryam got up from her seat and crashed into me with a hug.

"My brother's getting married today!" She sang happily.

"Well congratulations to him." I replied laughing.

"I made pancakes but they went a little wrong. They broke and aren't round but they're still edible. I'm the last person to make you breakfast before you get married. Remember that." She told me as I sat down to eat. Maryam was the only one who was fully sharing my joy. Of course everyone else was happy and looking forward to Safia moving in with us, but Maryam and I were extra happy.

"What am I supposed to do after breakfast? When shall I wear my suit? Keep in mind that I want to delay it as much as possible."

"Let me talk you through the day as far as I know. We have to get there by 4, and then you get married when they say so, and then you see Safia when they say so and then you go to the hall to eat when they say so."

"Thank you for being so specific." I said sarcastically. I really didn’t know what I was supposed to do. But I guess Maryam was right. I’d just have to go along with what Safia’s family told me to do.

"You're welcome." I looked at the clock, I had 6 hours to get ready and get to Safia's house. That was too much time.

"We've got so long, what should we do?" I asked.

"Mario Kart?" I smiled and nodded. We were to play Mario Kart on my wedding day.

We played as Javed made his way to the living room. He woke up around noon like he always did on days off.

“You’re such a kid Yusuf.” He said standing next to me as I sat on the floor engrossed in the game. “Are you sure you’re ready to get married?” Maryam spoke up for me.

“I know Safia better than all of you and I know that when Safia comes, she’ll probably be sitting here playing Mario Kart with Yusuf too.” I grinned at thought. “But I’ve got to warn you, she’s competitive.” Javed scoffed and called for mum to bring his breakfast. Maryam and I played on the Wii until it was time for Zuhr.