Pure At Heart

Pure At Heart (25) Hope

"Hardship is followed by ease just as daybreak follows the dark night. Be hopeful. Be patient." – Mufti Ismail Menk.

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Her house was a 10 minute drive from the mosque. She lived in an apartment. After she parked, she turned to me and smiled.

"Welcome home", she replied. I smiled as I got off. It was dark and quiet. We three climbed her stairs and she turned the lights on before I went in. I entered her apartment and sat down on her couch. She gave me noodles and juice for dinner.

"I'll go put Fatima to bed and then we'll talk. Until then you can eat and feel free to call your husband if you want", she said and went inside. On the way here, I had told her about how my phone service had been cut off.

Without taking a single bite, I dialed Zayd's number from her landline.

"Please pick up. Please pick up", I said as his phone rang. After 2 rings, someone answered.

"Hello! Zayd? It's me Hamna. Please you have to help me", I said. There was silence at the other end.

"Hello?! Please answer Zayd, I know you're listening", I spoke. There was silence at the other end for a few more seconds, and then he hung up. Zayd hung up on me. I put the phone down. Tears ran down my cheeks as I closed my eyes. I buried my face in my hands and cried without a care. I now knew the real reason he told me to leave. It wasn't because of his mother. He doubted me too. He also thought I had written those letters. He was also mad at me but he didn't show it. I couldn't stop crying at the thought that the little hope I had was now gone too. I thought my husband was on my side but after all he wasn't. I kept crying until I heard footsteps and saw Ayesha coming out. She saw me and sat down beside me. She hugged me.

"It's all going to be ok. Look at me. 5 years later, and I still have hope. Allah will do justice", she said as she lightly patted my back. I kept crying.

"Hamna, please have patience", she said. "Allah is our hope in times of hardships. With every hardship comes ease."

When she said that, I looked up and smiled. I wiped my tears and drank some juice.

"Life will get better", she told me and I nodded. There was no doubt about that. Of course it will. One day everyone will come to me and apologize. Until then, I had Allah with me. I think that was more than enough.

"I know", I said and she smiled again.

"Now we can make ourselves feel better by sharing what's within our hearts. I haven't been able to tell my story to anyone. Can I tell it to you?" she asked. I nodded.

"Of course", I replied.

"Ok well", she began.

"6 years ago, my parents told me about a good proposal and I agreed to meet the guy. He seemed like a decent guy and so I agreed. A year later we got married and it was the happiest day of my life. I can still feel what I felt when I signed the nikkah papers. I could barely keep my feet on the ground. I was happy, my husband was happy. At that point in my life, I didn't want anything else. I thought I had everything I ever desired. Life was pretty good for the first 6 months. And then, everything went crashing down", she paused.

"What happened?" I asked.

"6 months later, I got pregnant with Fatima. I decided to surprise my husband with the news and so I didn't tell him for a week. After a week, I started giving him hints and soon enough, he got to the point."

Ayesha's flashback

"You're pregnant?!" he said. I giggled as I sat down on the couch. He stared at me in surprise.