His Hafizah and her Hafiz

Epilogue [PART 1]

***10 YEARS LATER***

Abu Hurairah POV:

Groaning, I waited impatiently for the kids to file up in the car. I hated waiting, and I absolutely hated the ruckus they created every time I came to pick them up from school. Most of the time, I'd advise Safoora to pick them up instead, more like beg her. But, at times like this, when I didn't do the dishes, I was kicked out by her to do the 'honourable' duty. Oh Allah, why, oh why was I the chosen one?

"Why aren't they coming yet?" I screamed angrily in my isolated van, punching the middle of my steering wheel. "Dammit, why did I even come here in the first place?"

"Assalamu alaikum," The van's door swung open, and my eldest ten-years old daughter stumbled in panting breathlessly slamming the door shut again. She wore a baggy dark grey hoodie on top of her abaya-- her hood concealing her beautiful face within.

My anger immediately vapourized, and a smile crept up my lips at the sight of her and I greeted her back, gazing at her through the rearview mirror. "Walaikum assalam, Halima. How was school, hon?"

"Yeah... it was fine." She mumbled curtly, glancing out through the window blankly at a distance submerged in her world of thoughts. Halima was a one of a kind girl. She was suicidal and mentally traumatized from what I knew, but she wouldn't ever open up to me or Safoora. At the striking hours past midnight, she thrashed around and screamed with terror grappling with nightmares. Me and Safoora would take turns and hold her, and read surahs to lull her back to sleep, but it was a petrifying repeat every night. Her cries woke the entire house apart. She was tired of it, and we were extremely worried about her. Halima wasn't mentally ill, she was in fact a brilliant girl and her quran was an exact proof of that. After sending her to Ali's wife to help her memorize, she had proven to memorize more than thirteen chapter this year astonishing me and Safoora with her powers.

"Wanna talk to me about it?" I asked.

"There is nothing to talk about. Just the usual, math, english, and science." She mumbled curtly, her eyes still glued blankly to the window. Did I really fail as a father?

"Oh... " I trailed off, looking around the vast school field in front of me for the rest of the kids. "Where are the twins and Queenie anyway? Who do they think I am, their personal chauffeur?" I glanced at the time angrily and groaned, throwing my head back in annoyance.

"Oh, sup uncle?" The passenger door beside me swung open, and Harun slid in with a wide grin. "Never expected you to come here for us. This is so sweet of you."

"Today's your lucky day!" I cheered dryly, glaring at him. "Where's your twin and Qulsum? I am tired of you people. You people are in elementary school right now that means to be a big kid, and to hurry up, pack up and head home. How hard is it to understand? Where's Musa?"

"Mischief." Harun answered bluntly, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, what happened to you all of a sudden? Why did you back out of his plans?" I asked with sarcasm. Why was he pretending to be a saint all of a sudden? Did Allah bestow mercy upon this family? That would be great--

Harun laughed nervously, "We'll you see, mom grounded me for a month--"

Of course, why didn't I come to think of it?

"What did you do this time?"

"Well... I kinda took mom's stethoscope and tried baking it--"

"What?" I screamed. "What stupid kind of idiocy is that?"

"Well, I just wanted to see the final results since no scientist in the past has never done that. I mean... I tried telling her that it was jus a pure honest scientific research, but mom won't buy my excuses. I told her that I won't eat it or anything, but she just shut me out, screamed at me, and told me I was grounded in my room for a month straight. Sad right?" He nodded grimly.