"The most attractive thing about you should have less to do with your face or body and more to do with your heart and how you treat people."
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The lightening and the thunder made the one standing in front of her lord, tremble with fear. It was a fine afternoon and she stood facing the qiblah, offering her Salah while there were two more naughty munchkins talking to each other.
"The shopkeeper uncle said that my specs will not break, it is very strong just like me." Isa said showing off his specs to Asmah.
"leally? Chow me." Asmah spoke surprisingly taking the specs from Isa's face in her hand.
She disappeared for a little while and then came back running with a hammer on her right hand while the specs on the other one.
Thak Thak Thak.
And before Rida could finish her Salah, Asmah finished the new specs of Isa.
"It is bloken. The chopkeeper lied." Asmah declared keeping the hands on her hips, curving her brows in seriousness.
"Ya Allah Asmah, come here." Rida gestured her to sit on her lap as she was still resting on the prayer mat.
Asmah threw the hammer and pieces nearby and ran with happiness to her khala and sat on her lap.
"Why did you broke Isa's specs?" Rida asked in a low tone while kissing the little ones forehead.
"The chopkeeper said it is strong as Itha. But Itha is not strong." Asmah exclaimed by moving her wrist round in the air and Rida couldn't suppress her giggle.
"Asmah." Hana entered along with Isa while face palming.
"Why did you break bhaiya's specs?" The mother questioned her daughter.
"The chokeeper lied, the specs was not strong." Asmah answered and ran away from the room hiding her evil smile.
The kids give her a hard time but not every other person has jannah lying underneath her feet except the mothers. Hana decided to spent the vacation in her father's house so she was here with her little family.
"Appi what unique thing did you eat when you were carrying her?" Rida interrogated while folding up her prayer mat.
"This girl gives me a hard time." Hana sighed and sat on the couch beside her.
"I love naughty kids." Rida stated while reclining on the same couch beside her sister.
"We'll see when you have one." Hana said looking from the corner of her eyes.
Only mothers know how much they struggle to bring up a child.
The winds were blowing violently and Hana mumbled some dua under her breath. Some people curse the wind without any knowledge. They do not know that it is forbidden to curse the wind because wind is one of Allah's creation and it does not blow or remain still or harm or benefit except by Allah's command, therefore vilifying it, amounts to vilifying him who sent it. Cursing wind may lead to the door of shirk and conflict with correct Tawheed.
On the authority of Ubayy Ibn Ka'ab (ra) it is reported that Allah's Messenger said:
"Do not malign the wind; if you see that which displeases you, say: "Oh, Allah ! We ask of You the good of this wind and the good that it is commanded to bring with it; and we seek refuge with You from the evil of this wind and the evil that it is commanded to bring with it." (Narrated by At-Tirmidhi, who graded it authentic)
There was silence for few minutes and Rida engulfed her mind with the thoughts of her dream. She had been denying every other proposal that was approaching her. It isn't easy to decline a good proposal which delights ones parents but she was waiting for the right one to propose her after such a long journey of making it halal. Hana called her twice but she was still busy to answer.
"What are you thinking so deeply?" Hana questioned looking into her deep eyes.
"About the proposals." Rida answered casually.
"How long will you wait for him? You know ammi is shooting a right guy for you." She inquired being the elder one.
"Hmm. Years ago he said he will send a proposal when I finish my studies."
"He better be fast coz mom is running faster than a bullet in hunting."
"Hmm." she mumbled and collapsed on her appi's lap while unlocking her cell phone.
"How many angels will carry the throne of Allah Subhana Wa ta'ala on the day of judgement." Questioned the admin of whatsapp quiz group to which Rida typed her answer quickly to be the first of them. The first one to convey the right answer was given the title of Queen in return gift of her right answer.
"Rida when you go to your friends house today then please drop this packet to Ayesha." Hana gave her a small packet kept beside her to which Rida hummed as she was busy replying people on whatsapp.
Soon the clouds brought the glad tidings of rain and Rida couldn't stop her legs from sprinting towards her garden. She took a deep breath to smell the aroma of the mud, and the smell of the first rain is her favourite would be an Understatement. She was girl who was in love with nature, in love with every natural thing which Allah designed for the benefit of his slaves. She quickly raised her hand to ask duas from her lord in this pouring hour, for duas are likely to be accepted during rain.
Sahl ibn Sa‘d said that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Two (du‘aa’s) are not rejected: du‘aa’ at the time of the call to prayer and du‘aa’ at the time of rain.”
Narrated by al-Haakim in al-Mustadrak (2534); at-Tabaraani in al-Mu‘jam al-Kabeer (5756); classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami‘ (3078)
After the dua she paced in and out to expose her body parts to the blessed water sent down from the heaven by her Lord. It is mustahabb to expose oneself to the rain and let some of it flow over one’s body, because of the proven report from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: When we were with the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) it rained. The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) lifted part of his garment so that the rain could fall on him. We said: O Messenger of Allah, why did you do that? He said: “Because it has just come from its Lord, may He be glorified and exalted.” Narrated by Muslim (898).
Some miles away, there was someone who was soaked in rain water before entering his sisters house.
"Assalamu alaikum guys." he greeted and Ayesha turned to find his brother all soaked in water.
"Mamu." khadija came running down with wet palm soaked with paint.
She was fond of painting and so every other day she would paint anywhere in the house out of her fondness ruining the walls of the house. Ahmad and Ayesha could have stopped her by saying 'no' to paint on walls but they chose a little different way. Saying 'no' to a child is easy but to allow them in a little different way isn't that tough too. Every child is born naughty and do stuffs which parents do not like but it is on the parents to handle them with grace. To initialize their power in the right place because every child hears the word 'no' and they are clueless what to do and what not to do. They think that if everything is forbidden then what are they even doing on earth? Since Khadija was fond of painting and she was still too small to make elegant drawings, Ahmad brought some paint colours to paint on walls choosing a side wall to paint on. They were painting their hands with colours and then printing them on the walls, every hand was of different size which made the wall look elegantly designed making Khadija one of the happiest child ever.
Ayesha bought few clothes for Abdullah to change and as he came back she stood with a towel to soak off water from his head which could give him cold.
"Where's your hubby." Abdullah interrogated while she was trying to dry his hair with towel and her heart jumped a bit at the mention of her hubby.
"He is at house duty, changing diapers." Ayesha shouted on top of her lungs which made Abdullah curious.
"I can hear you." A voice came from the other room which made Ayesha smirk and say under her breadth "mission accomplished."
"He went to change mariam's diaper plus to wash out paint from his hand. Khadijah was insisting that we print her hands too." She informed hanging the towel nearby to dry.
"Leave some space for the new member of the family who'll be arriving in a few months in sha Allah."
"He kicks every now and then, seems like he's really excited to see this world soon."
"How do you know it's a he?"
" I and Ahmad keeps on fighting for this, he wants a girl and I want a boy. But Allah knows best." She said and Ahmad entered with both her daughters, one walking by her side and the other hanging on his shoulder. The two men greeted each other and the chat continued. Abdullah brought some chocolates for khadija and handed it to her as he recalled it.
"And where's mine?" Ayesha investigated.
"You should eat healthy foods." Ahmad declared opening up the chocolate's wrapper for Khadija.
"Yeah whatever Mr. Doctor." she said rolling her eyes.
"I have brought a small one for you." Abdullah said withdrawing a little chocolate from his pocket.
"I love you." She said gripping the little chocolate from his hand.
"Will I get the same response if I do the same?" Ahmad asked smirking which made Ayesha turn red in front of her little brother.
The sweetness of a relation lasts long when it comes into existence because of Allah and it nurtures due to the love towards Allah. The seeds that grow love between them matters, if it is halal, the relations lasts longer with sweetness but if the seeds are haram then there's little sweetness in those relations. The haram seeds give rise to a tree which grows with lust and when those desires are fulfilled, it destroys the tree making it crumble to the ground.
"Take care of them." Ayesha said closing the door behind as she left for the appointment to the gynecologist with Ahmad. There were some complications that she was facing and she had to visit the doctor often.
Abdullah was good at being a caretaker of kids so Ayesha often used to ask him to babysit them whenever he was free else she would drop them at her mother's house with Shirana. It was just a matter of few more months when the new family member would join them.
Abdullah and the kids played around until it was time for some snacks, he poured some cornflakes for Khadija and fed Mariam with cerelac until he found out that it was time to change the diaper. He returned to find that Khadija did not finish her food which is quite common among the youngsters. He has experience in these things as he saw her mother handling Fatima and Ibrahim, the offsprings of Ahmish and Shirana.
He took a seat near Khadija and grasped the bowl kept in front of her. He started eating from it, showing Khadija his actions. A lot of parents makes mistake by narrating them what is right and what is wrong, the right is to be done by showing them by your actions about the rights and wrongs and then informing them at the right time. Children sometimes do not listen to you what someone says but they will always imitate people around them. So inform them but let them witness your actions too.
"You know Khadija, whom Allah does not like?" he said inserting a spoon in his mouth.
"Liars." she answered.
"Yes and you know who?" he paused to see her reaction and then continued "the wasters."
"Who al they mamu?" she questioned.
"They are who waste Allah's blessings like this." he stopped for a while showing the bowl and then taking a mouthful spoon from it and said "food is Allah's blessing."
"Leally?"
"Yes." he said and dropped a spoon in her mouth and she ate quietly without giving it a second thought.
"... eat and drink: But waste not by excess, for Allah.. " Abdullah said wriggling his eyebrows towards Khadija.
".. For Allah loves not the wasters." [7:31]. Someone spoke from behind and both turned back to find Rida standing.
"Lida appi." Khadija's excitement could be measured by her voice.
"Hey Khadija." she gave her a high five.
His heart skipped a beat when he heard her completing the Ayah which he had left incomplete. At this time he was least expecting for her to be here.
"I am sorry to come in that way, without knocking but I was knocking since long and no one responded so I was worried." She explained from under her niqab to which he nodded, keeping in mind the distance, which is kept between non mahrams.
After inquiring Khadija about her ammi, Rida found out that she wasn't home so she kept the packet aside on the table announcing that Hana has sent it to her making it audible to Abdullah. She soon left the place because Islam forbids a male and a female to be alone until there's a witnessing mahram between them. There was something more which brought Abdullah here and that was a talk with Ayesha for the proposal as she is almost done with her studies. His lips twitched into a slightly curved smile when he thought her to be with him after a long journey of making it halal.
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P. S. Answer the question mentioned in between the chapter and be the Queen of the chapter.