Aaj Jaane Ki Zidd Na Karo

Truth

"Zehra what are you doing in bed until now... don't you have school.... Allah Allah it's the 3rd time I'm waking you up..... if you don't get up now you will surely miss your exam.... wake up kizim"

Zehra on Hearing her khala woke up with a start "Ya Allah I'm late for my exam..... what will I do now!?" Saying this she hurriedly got dressed and left for her school without having breakfast again.

"This girl.. She never listens to me. What should I do with her Ya Allah? InAllaha Ma as sabireen" rukhiya breathed.

This is Zehra and her aunt Rukhiya. At a very young age zehra lost her parents. She was taken in by her khala rukhiya who remained single all her life for zehra's sake because she feared zehra would get neglected if she ever got married.

Today is zehra's last exam. And she was late. Why? Because she was up until fajr studying and had only got 3-4 hours of sleep after Fajr.

Zehra is not an ordinary girl, she is mature beyond her age. Having no parents did that to her. Even though her world, her khala was there with her in each and every step of her life but alas the absence of parents is a void none can fill.

Having finally finished school a happy zehra entered her house only to be greeted with the presence of her grandparents. The air surroundings them seemed grim. They were talking in hushed tone. Then zehra finally remembered, it was THE day. Usually her grandparents stays till dinner and then go home but every year on this day zehra's grandparents visits her khala and leaves without a word to her. The next day everything goes back to normal.

Zehra having dealt with the same things since young had finally had enough . Today she was adamant to know the reason behind this yearly meeting. Strolling confidently in the room she saw the occupants of the room masking their features. She without any delay asked the feared question directly "what is today or rather what happened today?"

A surprised look flashed in all the three people's eyes but with it there was another emotion much more stronger than surprise. After observing them for a while Zehra discovered it was pain. Raw pain, so intense that it had her stumbling.

Recovering quickly Rukhiya while shrugging her shoulders said "well it was your last exam today! Finally you will be free from school. And your grandparents came here to congratulate you. Right mum and dad."

"Ya ya of course kizim we are so happy for you our little peri. May Allah grant all your Legitimate wishes. May Allah always guide you my love. Ameen." Said Zehra's grandmother. But today Zehra was having none of it. She wanted answers today. Why is her life such a mystery? What happened to her parents? Why do people hide things from her? What are they hiding from her? She wanted to know it all and she knew it's now or never.

She knew she is never going to get any answer from her grandparents so she kept quiet until they were gone. Once they were gone she went into the kitchen to see her khala lost in her own thought doing dishes. Had it been another time the condition of her khala would have worried Zehra but not today. Today she needed answers and she was going to get it through hook or crook.

Hence she did the one thing that was prohibited in the house. She played Aaj jaane ki zidd na karo. Hearing the song being played, her khala went to Zehra and tried to snatch the remote in order to stop the song but Zehra hid it.

Glaring at her with red angry eyes she told Zehra in a cold voice to stop the song immediately. Zehra simply replied with a "No I won't. I love this song. Why don't you let me play this song. You know it's my favorite right. Plus it doesn't have any music in it too so it's not haram."

Loosing control Rukhiya shouted "Zehra I have never stopped you from anything, all I ever asked you was to not play this song ever. Can't you do this much for me. For all I have done can't you do just this much for me. When did you become so selfish han? I am certain I did not raise you like that. Then why? Why do you have to be as stubborn as her? Why are you so similar? Why does it......."

Getting teary eyed Zehra asked in a quiet tone "It's about them right? My parents, it's about them right."

When she got no reply Zehra began again "Why don't you guys tell me about them? Why don't I know who my parent are? What were they like? Why do you guys don't talk about them? It's like they never existed. Heck I don't even know where their grave is..." Rukhiya again said nothing just stood there with her back facing Zehra, as stiff as a wood.

After a long silence Zehra asked again "Were they so bad? Were they so bad that you don't even like to mention anything related to them? Do you guys hate them? Were they bad people? Did they hurt you? Why am I even asking, of course they were bad, of course they hurt you. I'm sorry on behalf of them. Please forgive them. Maybe it's good I don't know about them. Maybe it's good that they are far away from us that they are dead....." but this time she was cut off by her aunt . To say she was angry would have been an understatement, she was livid.

"ZEHRA! How dare you disrespect MY sister. How dare you disrespect MY brother in law. HOW DARE YOU? You want to know who they were, so listen, they were the most humble and kindest person you would have ever met. They were like the ray of hope in a grim reality. They were like the fresh breath of air for a dying man. They were like the bright sunshine after long harsh winter. They were the epitome of our happiness.

Yes we don't talk about them and we are sorry for that but we cannot. We cannot relive those memories again. It hurts Zehra. Ya Allah it hurts like hell but you are right. It is your right to know your parents . How wonderful they were. We are extremely sorry for our actions and selfishness my kizim. We are sorry . We wanted to tell you all about them. We wanted to tell you how amazing your parents were but Allah knows each time we tried we just couldn't. We couldn't because every time we think about them it rips us into shreds. We do not have the courage to except the reality. We are extremely sorry my love please forgive us. Today I will tell you everything about them. Come with me"