Love for Allah... Ibadah...

Chapter 8- The onslaught of memories

Moosa Alaihi Salam was a great prophet. He was one of the five greatest prophets of Islam. And his whole life is a lesson for people who can understand. But one lesson his life teaches was keeping his counsel with his brother Haroon Alaihi Salam. He wasn't selfish to keep prophethood to himself. He presented his brother's name for this duty. He wanted even his brother to have the high station that he had. He took his advice on almost everything. That is the spirit of brotherhood. Today, everywhere we see selfishness and betrayal. We see a brother jeopardising his brother's chances so he could move ahead. Where is love? Where is loyalty?

Umar took this lesson from Quran, that he cannot walk like a lone wolf to success. A person is not successful if he walks ahead; he is successful when he learns to walk ahead with his people. When he knows how to pull his society to the right direction, he knows the true meaning of life and that is success. Only wanting happiness for yourself is just selfishness. Umar loved his brothers and he guided them as and when he could.

He closed the Quran and looked up towards the window of his younger brother's room, which faced the lawn and from where he could hear his brothers' laughter and cries of victory and exclamations of unfairness, and smiled. He wished they would always smile this way and make a beautiful difference in the world. He sighed as he stood up and walked inside so he could join his brothers.

•••••

Rubdha

4th January, 2017. Riyadh.

She dropped her bag on the table before her and sat down heavily on the armchair, as she slowly massaged her aching shoulders. She was too tired today. She had just gotten back from the school and now she had to prepare the dinner, as her mother was not at home. She sighed and got up to keep away her things in her room, before entering the kitchen. Her sisters were at their friend's house and so, she was on her own.

She entered her room, at the end of the long passageway and winced at the mess that the room had become. She had to leave before the twins did in the morning because her school bus picked her up before the twins even got up and the twins usually did everything in a hurry, in the morning. This was usually how their room looked in the evening when she returned.

She entered the washroom to freshen up and did her usual ablutions before she exited it. She prayed the Asr' salah and then hummed a nasheed that she had listened to earlier. Tying her hair in a tight lower knot, she scrunched her nose and tied her long and wide dupatta (veil), around herself tightly, and got to work. She took ten minutes to tidy up the room and then went towards the kitchen, all the while humming to herself.

At the doorway of the kitchen she came to a stop and watched wide eyed. Her father was inside the kitchen... chopping vegetables, on a wooden board. He wasn't doing it deftly, but he was still managing it all by himself. His face was scrunched in concentration and he was biting his lips again and again as he made a sloppy cut here and there.

Rubdha leaned on the doorway and smiled, as she watched her father fondly. Her eyes teared up. She had never seen the men in her family work in the kitchen. It was just the way their family worked. The males in the family were always brought up to think that they were above the kitchen work and it was the department of women. They were lead to believe that working in the kitchen would lower their respect. Today was the first time she had seen her father do this.

"Ahem!" She cleared her throat loudly. Her father's hand trembled in shock as he lifted his head and watched her with an open mouth. Rubdha lifted her eyebrows in question and tilted her head. Her father stumbled with words, before carefully placing the knife on the counter and sighing in defeat.