Yusuf’s POV
Javed and I hadn’t spoken properly since I got married. It didn’t trouble me much until I left for my honeymoon with Safia. I had gone to his room for a farewell and he looked completely uninterested. He didn’t even reply to me and kind of shut the door on my face. That opened my eyes up to how the rest of my family was reacting to me leaving.
When I had gone to Safia’s house, everyone hugged her and said a goodbye personally. They even came to me and said their goodbyes. And here was my family, not at all bothered that I was going away for nearly two weeks. All except Maryam. Even she seemed to be more upset over Safia leaving rather than me. I felt a tinge of jealousy towards Safia. Everyone loved her, including me. Yet I felt my own family seemed bothered by my presence.
“Okay, you’re clearly not listening so I’ll just be quiet.” Safia said as we sat on the plane on our way to Istanbul.
“Sorry, what is it that you were saying?”
“Never mind, the moment’s gone.” I apologized, as I went through all the films in the little TV in front of me. “I don’t mean to put a dampener on things, but you seem unhappy. What’s wrong?” Safia asked. I couldn’t tell her what was wrong. It was silly. Besides, Safia didn’t like negativity from other people. She liked to be happy and optimistic.
“Nothing.” I replied glumly. I leaned over Safia to get a view of the earth beneath us, hoping she would drop the topic.
“Just tell me!” She said narrowing her eyes at me.
“My wife is more concerned about her studies than me.” I said pointing to the book in her hands.
“Excuse me, this is for entertainment as well as education.” I took the book out of her hands and shut it, making sure to fold the page she was on first.
“This is our time. You can study when we get back. I’ll help you best I can, just forget it for a little while.”
“Okay.” She said pouting.
“Cheer up.” I said poking her cheeks, something which I had started to do often.
“You’re the one who’s sad. You cheer up.” She said pulling my beard.
“Ow! If you want to pull my beard, pull it all together. When you pull only a few strands, it hurts more.”
“Thank you for teaching me how to pull beards.” She said pulling at a few strands. I grabbed her hand and pretended to bite it when the air hostess slowed down as she walked past us. She looked at us as if asking if everything was okay. Safia grinned back at her and the air hostess continued walking.
“I was the one being abused so why did she look worried for you? Besides, who bites their wives?”
“You do.” She said yanking away her hand. Then Safia became thoughtful.
“What are you thinking?”
“Remember the friend I told you about? The revert who moved to Germany?” I nodded. Safia seemed to have a very close bond with that friend. “Her fiancé bit her two days before everything ended.”
“A serious bite?” I asked horrified.
“Yeah, they were having a fight.”
“So he bit her? How? Why?”
“Well, they were having a verbal argument, then it got physical and she slapped him. Then somehow he bit her on her arm. But she was still prepared to stay with him. But then everything got really bad and ended, thankfully.”
“But why would he bite her? That’s so weird! And haraam.”
“I know. I’m glad that’s over. She regrets it all now. But I think all that she went through made her a stronger Muslim. Even before she met that dude, she wasn’t very practicing. But now she’s amazing. I look up to her so much. She’s so inspiring.”
“Still can’t believe a man would bite a woman. Who does he think he is? A vampire?” It was absolutely disgusting that a man would do something like that.
“Let’s talk about something else please.” Not knowing what to say, I started to poke her cheeks again. “Will you stop doing that!”
“But you’re so cute.” Safia blushed. I began to talk about Istanbul and that brightened Safia's mood and had her feeling enthusiastic again.
I didn’t usually like plane journeys, I found them boring. But it was so much fun with Safia. We didn’t even watch the little TV in front of us. We were enough for one another.
When we finally got to our hotel, I collapsed on the bed feeling worn out.
“When can we go to the Aya Sofya?” That was one of the top things on Safia’s ‘to do’ list.
“Surely you're not thinking about going today?”
“But it’s only noon and we have the whole day in front of us!” She complained. “Let’s do something! When can we go to the Suleymaniye Mosque?” That was the other top thing on her ‘to do’ list.
“We can go tomorrow. Let's settle down first.”
“I want to go now. Did you know that the Suleymania Mosque was built by the order of the Ottoman ruler Sultan Suleyman? I’m watching the Turkish series they made about him.” She began to talk about the series and all the knowledge she had about the mosque. I listened trying to look as interested as I could. I knew most of these things anyway but Safia liked to teach people so I pretended I was learning something new. “Wow, my honeymoon is going to be educational.” She said once she was finished.
“Still thinking about university? At least you’re not worried about your exams anymore. See, everything works out for the best. Now let me relax for a little while.” But Safia wouldn’t let me.
“Please get up! Let’s go somewhere. Let’s go out to eat!”
“Aren’t you tired?”
“I was but then all of that tiredness went away in the taxi. Istanbul looks so amazing! I’m too excited to be tired. Come on! Let’s go somewhere!” Feeling defeated, I got up and went to refresh myself in the bathroom. Safia went in after I came out. “Wow! It’s so beautiful!” She said as she looked around the bathroom.
“Then why don’t you spend the day in there while I just sleep?”
“Stop being such a grump!” When Safia came out, we prayed before we headed off to explore the place.
We stopped by a small café to have lunch. Safia still wasn’t comfortable eating around me. I knew that because her family teased her for it. Hamza told me that he and Safia once competed against each other to see who could eat the most slices of pizza. Safia won. But when she was with me, she didn’t eat much. I awaited the day Safia could be completely comfortable around me.
As Safia sipped her tea, she dropped a little on her cardigan. She muttered something under her breath as she began to wipe herself with a napkin. She was avoiding eye contact with me.
“Do you need any help?” She put her elbows on the table and dropped her head in her hands.
“I need a miracle. I’m always so clumsy and stupid. I don’t know how you put up with me.”
“Not this again!” I had to try explain to Safia before that everything that she was embarrassed about didn’t affect me one bit. I decided to tell her again. Maybe the wonderful atmosphere of Istanbul could help me get my message across to her. “Finish your tea and let’s go for a walk.”
We found a nearby lake and walked next to it, holding hands. I was already relishing in the fact that Safia and I were together alone. It felt good to be away from home for a while.
“I have to tell you something Safia and I need you to believe me, okay?” I began, preparing myself to say all that was in my mind without offending her. She was very sensitive and easily took things out of context.
“Okay.” She said suspiciously.
“I know everyone says you get stressed a lot and everyone teases you for it. But instead of teasing you, I want to help you. This isn’t good. When you’re happy, everything feels so great but then as soon as something so small happens, you become awkward and silent. There’s no need for that. Your mood affects me so much. Be carefree, act however you want with me. I won't judge you or think badly of you. I like you a lot, no matter what you do.” Safia looked flattered but I could tell she was still unconvinced by my speech. I took a deep breath and continued.
“Let’s just say, as an example, I…” I tried to think of an embarrassing situation. “Let’s just say I slip on a banana peel and end up in that lake. Would you like me less?” I wasn’t sure of what answer she would give me. I was hoping she would say no otherwise my whole argument would be ruined.
“No, I’d probably panic and realize I liked you more because I was panicking."
“Really? I want to fall in that lake now.” I said and she lightly pushed me, giggling. “But do you understand what I’m saying? You don’t need to be worried about anything when you’re with me.”
“I understand.” She said nodding.
We walked and talked, pausing a couple of times at local mosques for prayer. As the day dragged on, I saw Safia feeling more relaxed and content. We watched the sun set and went to a nearby restaurant to eat dinner. By the time we got back to the hotel, we were both exhausted.
I thought sleep would overtake me immediately. Instead, I couldn’t help but think about how incredible the day spent alone with Safia was. I turned my body to looking at her sleeping face. She had some drool coming out the side of her mouth and I smiled as I got some tissue to wipe it. Safia was far from perfect, but she was mine and she was special. I fell asleep gazing at her, feeling completely at peace.
The alarm went off for Fajr and I woke up stretching my limbs. Safia was still fast asleep. It became a routine that I would wake up and get ready first. Then I would wake Safia up before leaving to go to the mosque. I slowly took the covers off myself and stood up. Immediately I fell back down. My ankle hurt again. Frustrated, I stood up with more force. I gasped feeling the shooting pain and fell back on the bed causing a light thump. Safia got up.
“What happened?” She croaked. She cleared her throat. “Did you fall?”
“Nothing happened.” I said. For the first time, I was truly fearful for my health. The pain had never been this much. I took a deep breath and stood again. Wincing, I put my hand against the wall for support, taking all my weight off my ankle. I tried to walk towards the bathroom and lost my balance, falling on the bed once more.
“Yusuf!” Safia grabbed my arm. My heart rate increased with anxiety.
“I can’t even stand, let alone walk.” I said looking up at an alarmed Safia. What was wrong with me?
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Author's note:
First of all, thank you to every single one of you reading this. I heard some mothers and daughters are reading this together, that's so beautiful!
I gather from some comments that a few people are taking the story too literally. This story is not exactly what a Muslim must go through for marriage. Islam is a lot more flexible. There are other ways to get married and live a married life.
I love that I've inspired people, it's so rewarding to hear that! But I just wanted to say, don't use this story as a guideline for your life. If you would like a guideline, turn to the Qur'an. The ultimate and best guide for life.
The story has not ended, don't worry about an ending yet. There's still some things coming up.
Lastly, this story is not based on anyone's life, it is something I made up.
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