"Also prohibited are the women who are already married, unless they flee their disbelieving husbands who are at war with you*. These are Allah's commandments to you. All other categories are permitted for you in marriage, so long as you pay them their due dowries. You shall maintain your morality, by not committing adultery. Thus, whoever you like among them, you shall pay them the dowry decreed for them. You commit no error by mutually agreeing to any adjustments to the dowry. Allah is Omniscient, Most Wise.
*4:24 If believing women flee their disbelieving husbands who are at war with the believers, they do not have to obtain a divorce before remarriage."
-Surah An-Nisa, verse 24
Waliya looked lost. It wasn't even fifteen minutes since Aahil had walked through the security gates and she already looked like a lost soul. Her brother, Raihan, was amazed to see her drastic change and wondered if having her marry Aahil before he left for Dubai was actually a good thing to have done. She already looked withdrawn and sad and pondered if their three days together could really have had such a great impact on her?
Did time spent together affect the intensity of one's love? Or was it the type of person that Aahil was, that caused to her to act differently in the short time apart? He was not certain, but one thing he knew for sure, six months without Aahil was going to be pure torture for Waliya.
He had to do something to cheer her up, that was his baby sister and he had to take care of her. Walking over to her, he slung his arm around her shoulder and spoke to her in one of the most teasing voices, "So little sister of mine, how about you and I go for a little sweet shopping?" He knew mentioning sweets would get her excited since she would be able to stock up on her Tempo chocolates and her Oreos. However, this was the one time she smiled sadly and shook her head.
"I have enough because Aahil was too stubborn and he made me keep half of what I originally bought for him," she said and rolled her eyes at him.
They were walking out of the airport and towards to his car pulling her along with him. She was moping and he didn't like it. He was supposed to take care of her and make sure she was happy, but this was an inner pain that he couldn't fix. It was making him feel like useless -in every single way. He couldn't make her happy.
"Wow, so you're trying to tell me he already knows what a beast you are when it comes to your sweets?" he teased her. All he wanted from his sister was a smile, a true one. One smile that wasn't fabricated, and showed her pain.
She nudged him with a smile and they continued their little childish game of knocking one another in the ribs and racing ahead to the car. By the time she reached the car, he could see her puffing a little from being breathless and the running they had done. Her eyes shone a little brighter and her cheeks were rosy, finally she had some colour.
"Raihan, Waliya," their father said in a mock strict voice, but his eyes showed warmth at their behaviour. "You are both married adults, act like it. Waliya, I expected better from you," he said and unlocked the car. They slid into the back seat while Nafeesa got into the front seat. "You should have won," he father added before starting the car.
She burst out laughing and pulled tongue at Raihan's sulking face. He was about to grab it, but she pulled it inside in time. "Hah, daddy expects better from me, but you're the athlete!" she rubbed it in his face.
"Mummy, Waliya has sweets in her bag!" he said and stuck out his tongue at her, knowing that his mother loved sweets -maybe more than Waliya. 'Idiot!' Waliya mouthed to him.
"Hmm?" Nafeesa said as if she were uninterested in their conversation. She knew Raihan was trying to get a raise out of her daughter, but not giving him what he wants was a thousand times funnier than seeing Waliya getting angry.
"I said," Raihan re-iterated. "That Waliya has sweets in her handbag!"
"So?" Nafeesa said as if she were bored. "She is allowed to have sweets in her bag, isn't she?"
"Argh! You women are incorrigible!" he said frustrated. For the next hour or so, he sat there trying to goad Waliya into being annoyed or something, but he was happy to see that she was interacting and not moping like some love-sick high school girl over a three day boyfriend break up. She was teasing him and causing fights, while at times going to her phone, hoping to see some message or something.
As a phone pinged in the car, she eagerly grabbed it just to see a message from one her friends she went to school with congratulating her on her wedding and wishing her well and hoping that Waliya enjoys her honeymoon. The hope she had for having that message come from Aahil, suddenly just vanished. Unenthusiastically, she typed back a dry and boring 'thank you' message, not even concerned with the fact that she was wrong about Waliya going on honeymoon.
Every time her cell phone went off, she grabbed it and stopped teasing Raihan just long enough to see that it wasn't Aahil and then she would ignore it. It wasn't who she wanted to talk to, but she was well aware that her brother was looking over her shoulder and reading her message. By the time they reached Benoni, she was impatient so she just sent a message to Aahil.
Salaams,
Hope you're okay.
Did you already board or something? Are you still waiting?
Have a safe flight & please let me know when you land
-Waliya
It wasn't even two minutes later when Waliya received a reply from Aahil. She grinned like a freak at her phone as she read his message. "Wa'alaikumusalaam Waliya, no I didn't board as yet. I am just sitting and reading some newspapers in the waiting area. I'll call you before I board, Aahil," Raihan read the message out loud over her shoulder.
She slapped his shoulder, but to her he was built like an ox so it barely registered on him. "You're not supposed to invade my privacy that way!" she said annoyed and pulled her phone to her chest, hiding it from his view and evil clutches. "You're so annoying Bhai," she mumbled as she got out of the car.
"Waliya, call us when you reach home," her mother told her for the thousandth time in the last five minutes.
"Jee mummy," she said smiling as she leaned her hand on the open doorframe to her car.
"And let Aahil know you're at home," her father insisted.
"Jee daddy," she said and then slid into the car. It was an hour that she had stayed at her parents' home, but all she wanted to do was go home and get under their covers while she read a book.
"I love you my child," her father said smiling sadly at her. "Drive safely," he added as she closed the door and drove off, waving her hand out the window.
As she drove, her mind was stuck on the fact that she was going to be staying alone in a flat in a somewhat strange place. She was frightened, but with Allah on her side, she knew she could face anything and everything. Deep down, she knew her fear was rational. She hadn't even met her neighbours! She didn't know who to trust or who to call in an emergency -besides of course the police and ambulance. What was she going to do?
Her head was aching with all the thoughts she had floating around about her safety and security, but then came an even bigger concern. Before she had any time to figure her concern out, her cell phone rang. She pulled over and unbuckled her safety belt so she could scratch around in her sweet filled bag for her cell phone. Once she found it she slid her finger across the screen and answered the call, without even bothering to check who the caller was.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Assalaamualaikum Waliya," Aahil greeted her smoothly. To her frazzled and distressed mind, it suddenly became a soothing balm. She calmed down and felt better -and he hadn't even heard her problem yet!
"Wa'alaikumusalaam," she greeted a little nervously and slightly breathless.
"Are you okay?" he asked her, hearing some sort of discomfort coming from her.
"Jee, I am Alhamdulillah," she said. "Have you boarded yet?"
"No, I am standing in the queue before they allow us to enter, so I decided to call you while I waited."
"How much longer until you leave?" Her voice was now breaking, since the thought of him leaving was suddenly becoming more and more concrete each second. It wasn't something she wanted to think about it, but it was the reality and she had to face it.
There was silence on his end as he spent the seconds just listening to her breathing. "Waliya, are you crying?" he asked alarmed.
"No," she said, but her voice was cracking. She was near tears, but she wasn't crying as yet.
"Liya," he said but drew out the last syllable even longer than he should have. "Please don't cry," he begged. "I don't want to hear you cry, it will break my heart," he said and his own voice had softened.
"Please," he added again. "Don't cry."
She giggled, but the ache still hurt her heart. "I can't turn my emotions on and off at your request," she laughed, but he could hear her sadness.
"I know," he sighed. "You're no computer," he teased.
"Unfortunately not," she laughed.
"Are you at home yet?" he asked her seriously. It was nearly time for Asr salaah and he would have liked her to be home long before Maghrib time.
"No," she sighed. "I pulled off to the side of the road to talk to you."
"Are you crazy?" he practically yelled. "Start your car and start driving right now," he ordered her.
"I can't use the phone and drive. It's against the law," she said, her lawyer side coming out.
"I don't give a damn! Waliya, do you not know how dangerous it is to be on the roads this time of the day? Start driving and get yourself home! Phone me when you are at home. I will keep my phone on until I hear from you!" he said angrily.
Waliya was stunned, so much so that she did as he ordered. "Jee, okay." Her voice was small and it was if she was trying to be inconspicuous. "I have to go, I'll call you In Shaa Allah," she said quietly.
"No, don't go yet," he said and she felt a smile curl itself onto her lips. Lately a lot of things have been happening unconsciously -she would smile for no reason at all, she would laugh by just the smallest of comments he would make. It was unnerving; to say the least, the way he made her feel. It was as if she was suddenly fourteen again and crushing on the school's hottest boy. There was no one way to describe what he made her feel. It was an array of feelings all in one moment in time.
Her heart leapt at the thought of him wanting to talk to her for a few more minutes, to try and drag out the inevitable end of the call, to try and delay the final good bye for the next eight or so hours. "I have to," she said despite her heart refusing. She didn't want to leave, but she had to. It was just the way life worked.
"Why?" he said and in her head, it painted a funny picture. She imagined him pouting slightly, pinkish tinted lips jutting out a bit more than his glossy black beard and scrunched up eyebrows behind his spectacles. He might have been the perfect picture of a man-child!
She laughed. There was no way she could deny herself the pleasure of laughing at the funny little picture in her overactive mind. "What's wrong?" he asked her immediately.
"Nothing," she answered automatically, but still her voice held the traces of laughter.
"Tell me please?"
She shook her head and drove off -doing what she really was opposed to doing: driving while speaking on the phone. "Tell me!" he said, but it sounded a lot more like a five year old throwing a tantrum. Once again she shook her head, and then remembered he couldn't see her.
"No, because it was nothing important," she answered and then decided it was probably time to cut the call. "Aahil, In Shaa Allah I'll let you know when I'm at home," she said. "Assalaamualaikum."
"Fine," he grumbled and she held in her laugh at the adorableness of the little man-child image in her head. "Wa'alaikumusalaam."
"I laughed because you were acting and sounding like a little man-child and in my head that's what I was trying to picture and it just looked funny so I laughed, okay salaam," she rushed out in one breathe and then cut the call before he could say anything else.
She allowed her phone to fall from her hands and into her lap so that she could concentrate on driving. Barely fifteen seconds later and her phone buzzed with a message. She had a feeling it was from a very displeased Aahil who was probably and most likely in all senses upset with her little confession, so she just ignored it and sped her way home.
Waliya was bushed and very tired. It was an eventful day for her and a very emotional one as well. She never expected that she would be this sad over Aahil leaving, but she was. For the life of her, she just couldn't understand why.
No one had ever appealed to her the way Aahil did. There was just something about him that remained an air of mystery to her. She was set on uncovering what it was about him that had her reacting in such a strange manner. It was unusual. Well, not only for her, but also in general she supposed. In all the love stories and every other type of novel she read, there was never such an instant connection -unless it had some sort of fantasy element in it. For example, her well read and well used Twilight saga novels had vampires and werewolves. Edward and Bella had that extra-ordinary love because well, Edward was a myth. There is no such thing as vampires and werewolves -no matter how much she wished for them when she was younger -they just didn't exist. They were an abomination.
Yet, getting back to her original thoughts, she pondered on what it was about Aahil that just made her react so differently towards him. What was it about him that pulled her in like a fisherman that hooked and reeled in the biggest catch of the day? What had made him special?
She couldn't name it and she gave up trying to find it, instead she went and took comfort in her least favourite Twilight novel -New Moon. She hoped that by reading it and trying to see what Bella went through when Edward left, would make sense to her now that she was in that same situation? Well, technically, it wasn't exactly the same situation given that Edward was a dazzling vampire -pardon the pun -and Aahil was just a regular man, a slave of Allah the Almighty. Would she be able to understand Bella's decisions? Would she now warm up to Bella's reactions? She wasn't certain. There was a reason she didn't like New Moon much -and having very few Edward scenes was one of the reasons, but not the only one. There were others, like Jacob suddenly turning into the big bad wolf who thinks he has some superpowers and can even compete with Edward! The absurdity of the thought was enough to make her laugh.
Then, as she curled up in her bed and tried to read, her thoughts ran back to Aahil. Over at least four hours or so had passed since his plane departed, which meant that he was -or should be -halfway through his flight. If only she fell asleep, then by the time she wakes up for fajr, he should be up. Or he should have at least landed. A couple of chapters into the book, she became annoyed with it and placed it neatly on her bedside table, despite how she wished she could throw it across the room and release all her anger on it.
Yet to release her pent up anger on the poor, innocent and unsuspecting book was very unfair of her. She could not find it in herself to damage her favourite set of books. It would be the most tragic thing to do to something she held so dear to her. Those were the books she read in her high school years, they held treasured memories to her.
Her musings were interrupted when her cell phone rang. "Hello?" she answered with little enthusiasm.
"Assalaamualaikum, my wife," Aahil greeted with enough cheer for the both of them.
"Wa'alaikumusalaam," she answered and then like some crack addict, she felt herself come to life by hearing his voice.
She felt awkward at her weird emotions. She was so confused at the way her emotions were all over the place. "How are you? What are you doing?" he asked her.
Waliya sat up and brushed the hair out of her eyes and then answered him. "I'm okay. Worn out, but good. How are you? I was just reading and then decided to put away the book," she answered.
"I'm good Shukr. What were you reading?" he asked.
"Promise you won't laugh?" she asked first.
He laughed and then promised her. "I promise I won't laugh, Liya."
"New Moon," she whispered and then placed a hand over her face in an idiotic attempt to hide herself away from an Aahil that could not even see her.
"Isn't that the book where he compares her to a meteor that shot across his sky and blinded him by her brilliancy?" he asked her instead.
She nodded excitedly, and then smacked herself in the face because of her stupidity -but to blame her, who would even imagine that her intelligent, hafiz of the Qur'aan and geeky Aahil would have read New Moon? No one. "Yep it is!" she squealed. "One vital question," she said in an excited voice that did nothing to hide her own joy.
"Shoot," he said.
"Team Edward or team Jacob?" she said in a voice that could rival those TV show hosts, when they ask the million dollar question.
He laughed, softly, and then gave her his answer that made her squeal. "Team Edward."
"I really, really can't believe it," she said.
He had smiled and wished that he could have been there with her already. "Liya. Connect to Skype please. I need to see you," he told her.
"Okay," she said and then greeted him before cutting the call. She walked barefoot across the short distance to the lounge to grab her laptop and then back to her room to Skype with Aahil. By the time she went online, she found that he had already sent her a request. Once she accepted it, the screen lit up with the fact that he was calling. She pressed a few more buttons and within seconds she was staring at his face.
Well, it was a barely visible version of his face, but none the less, it was his face. A genuine and broad smile broke out on his face, but it mirrored the one on her face. She was practically glowing with excitement. "Sugar rush?" he teased her as she fiddled with her hair.
Oh gosh! Her hair! She forgot to even neaten it up before accepting his call. Ducking herself out of the line of the camera, she pulled back the shorter pieces of her hair in the front and combed it back with her hands and then twisted her long pieces of hair around her finger and then curled it into a bun that was secured by a deep purple band. When she came back into the line of the camera, she found Aahil laughing silently, trying not to disturb his neighbour. "You know, I liked your hair better when it was an actual representation of what you look like when you wake up," he told her.
She flushed a deep red and then remembered that at any time, his neighbour could wake up and see her in the state that is only reserved for her husband. "I need to get a scarf," she muttered to him and then added, "I'll be right back." She ran off and grabbed her long scarf and pinned it in record time, in pure eagerness to see Aahil.
"Back again?" he asked her with a teasing smile.
She nodded like an excited puppy. "For good, I think. Unless I get hungry," she muttered. "Anyway," she said trying to get back onto track. "I needed this scarf because what would I have done if your neighbour woke up?"
He rolled his eyes at her jokingly, but he was pleased with her thinking. It wasn't that he hadn't thought of it, it was just that he had hoped the guy next to him would sleep for the next few hours. "Hide under the duvets?" he offered unhelpfully.
"No," she said with a straight face, void of every emotion except slight annoyance.
"That reminds me," Aahil said. "Do you think that Twilight is an accurate depiction of a love story?"
She shook her head. "It depends on what you mean. As a love story that we should follow and look up to? Or as something that it just meant for enjoyment? Because Twilight is a love story, just not an accurate one. Disregard the fantasy element, and you have the hot jerk falling for the wallflower and plain Jane in the school. Love story. It is just not as epic as with all the other elements."
"Are you saying that you regard it as an ideal love story?" he asked, his voice bordering on serious.
"Of course not!" she said as if she were offended by the mere thought of Twilight being the ideal love story. "My ideal love story is the Prophet {S.A.W} and Aaisha {R.A} because there are so many little anecdotes about the cuteness and love in their relationship. There was a little thing I read once where they had code names when talking about their love. I do not know the exact wording, but the story goes to the effect of Aaisha {R.A} asking the Prophet {S.A.W} how strong the knot was? And he's {S.A.W} reply is that the knot was still as strong as ever. They had given their love the code name of a knot being tied on a string. By her asking how tight the knot was, meant she wanted to know if he {S.A.W} still loved her as before," Waliya ranted angrily.
To that, Aahil simply smiled, ecstatic and overjoyed at her answer. "You have blown me away and I am pleased by that fact. I would wish you would just read books that promoted the purity of a Halaal love. A love that is bound by Allah himself and not contaminated by the filth of this temporary world," Aahil said with a soft voice -he was advising her not commanding her. "Waliya," he said with a kindness that surpassed most. "Think about the sweetness of a love story that was done correctly and by the Book. Would it not be even more alluring? Would the story not seem that much more appealing to you?"
She nodded.
"And with Allah as my witness, Waliya," he said in a fervent voice. "I had hoped and I prayed that our Nikkah and the rest of our marriage life would remain pure and sustain the purity that we started it with. I hope one day In Shaa Allah that our love story can be as pure as that of the Prophet {S.A.W} and any one of his wives. I hope that I have not tainted the purity I wished to obtain in any manner," he said, but the last line came out slightly insecure.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she listened to him. "You have done that and more," she whispered as a tear fell. He made her emotional. Finally, she realised why she missed him so much. He was half of her heart. Without Aahil by her side for the next six months, she was only half a heart. Nothing would seem as bright now.
"Alhamdulillah for having you to lead me in this Dunya, so that we may enter Jannah together, In Shaa Allah," she said with more appreciation than ever. She now looked at him in a new light, and she liked this light.
"Ameen," he said and felt his heart lurch at the thought of seeing her cry. He was just as torn by leaving her alone. He didn't want to do it, but he had to do it. Priorities mattered. Waliya matter to him long before she could even realise it. Going for this trip to Dubai meant that he would be able to get that senior position he has always wanted and after that he would be content with life, Alhamdulilah. Then he would have his wife he had always wanted and a well paying job, shukr.
"Can I listen to the nasheed now?" she asked him, bringing him back to the present moment.
Restarting his brain took but a minute, and he grinned that she even remembered. "When we cut this," he said.
She rolled her eyes. "Why do I have to wait so long?" she questioned.
"Because patience is beautiful and to have patience makes you even more beautiful," he told her.
She slumped and a slight pout jutted out.
"Now who looks like the little man child?" he questioned with a laugh.
She blushed furiously and when she tried to hide from the camera, he called her on it. "No, no," he laughed. "You can't hide. I heard what you said, Mrs Khan," he teased her.
"I'm sorry," she apologised, still blushing furiously. "But I really couldn't help it. It was just that the image that formed in my head could not fit in with the big and strong Aahil I know."
"Uh huh, and what image was that?" he questioned, enjoying her innocent blush and her behaviours. She was far too cute for him to even comprehend. She amazed him every day with something new.
"Nothing, just you having a cute pout and a frown," she said. "Like an adorable five year old."
He frowned. "I am not adorable. That's such a feminine word," he said with a grimace.
She laughed. "No, it's not. But okay, I won't call you any feminine words," she promised.
"Good," he said happily. Then he grew more serious, and annoyingly yawned before he could get out what he wanted to tell her. "I miss you, you know."
She blushed and she wanted to say that she felt the same way, but Aahil yawned again. Perhaps, she thought, tonight was not the night to tell him. "You should sleep," she advised.
"I'm not tired," he said, but yawned again.
"Uh huh," she said again. "That's the third time you've yawned. I'll phone you later,"
"In Shaa Allah," he sighed. "Assalaamualaikum."
"Wa'alaikumusalaam," she echoed and the cut the call eager to listen to the nasheed Aahil sent to her. The sweet words at first made her blush, but then slowly it warmed her heart enough that she fell easily asleep.