The Three Struggling Muslimahs

3

Khawla's POV:

To have to see Rayhanah zone out of class was truly heartbreaking. There was nothing I could do and telling her I understood her pain would only make matters worse. My father worked with the military and so many years have passed since the grand bombing it was easier for us to pronounce him dead than await the return of a man who might never come back. I tried so hard not to think of him and how amazing my life had been when our family was a whole but that was close to impossible. Being the first born in a family with no bread winner, I had to suck up a lot of things. But I knew all too well that when Allah (S.W) gives his creation a problem, He never fails to provide a solution.

As I made my way downstairs, I prayed mama would accept my idea so that we could help pay for my siblings' tuition fees.
"Hayaty when did you come back from school. I didn't even hear you come in."
"Assalamu Aleikum Mama. I just arrived. You were in the washroom that's why. Ummm... Mama I wanna ask you something. But please don't think of me as your little girl. Think of me as your eighteen year old daughter who needs to find a source of income otherwise her siblings will have to drop out of school. Okay?" I asked shaking with worry.
The look on her face told me she might not agree but it was a chance I was willing to take.
"Bismillah! You know I am in cookery class yeah? So this whole week Miss Salwa has been asking us to make our own recipes and perfect them and today she said she was absolutely pleased with mine. Long story short, I wanna open a small 'bakery' here so that we can start baking cakes and biscuits and selling them here - as a start and In shaa Allah who knows maybe we might be lucky enough and open a real one one day." The tension in the room was too much. Mama scanned the recipe that I had placed on top of the dinning table and signed.

"Yallah!"

I stood transfixed to the ground with a look of confusion on my face."What kinda mom would I be if I didn't support your dreams hayaty. We'll do it. But only ...." I jumped on her as we filled the whole house with laughter and squeals. It wasn't long before my three brothers joined in on the fun leaving mama gasping for breath in between laughs. Yes we had had it rough for a long time but I wouldn't change the situation for all the gold in the world. It was moments like these that made me realize that family was all that mattered. No matter how disfunctional, they made all kinds of setbacks a little bit more bearable.