Assalamu alaikum warahmathullahi wabarakatuhu!
I know it's late and I haven't updated in a while. I feel really sorry for doing so but the reads and the enthusiasm of readers has dropped to such an extent that I've lost the inspiration to write this story. I have a lot of plans and ideas for this novel and I honestly don't know how I'm going to put them down in words when I'm unable feel the excitement of my readers. Leave a lot of comments dear readers, tell me what you think and tell me what you want. If your friends are waiting for the book to end so they could start reading it, urge them to start reading right away. Because in all honesty, I'm struggling to write here because of the lack of motivation. The next update depends upon you.
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...And whoever fears Allah - He shall find him a way out. And will provide for him from where he does not expect. And whoever relies upon Allah - then He is sufficient for him. Indeed, Allah will accomplish His purpose. Allah has already set for everything a (decreed) extent.
[ At Talaq : 2-3 ]
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Even as Zahra took fast steps with Taskeen in her arms to the blanket that had been spread under a tree, she could hear Eshaal laughing her heart out behind her. Zahra ignored her friend, choosing to concentrate on her child instead. Tenderly she sat the child down, adjusted her dress and produced a hanky from her bag to wipe her face when Eshaal collapsed dramatically on the spot beside her.
"I", she gasped clearly having difficulty to speak, "Ya Allah... I cannot...my ah...my stomach hurts. It's been so...ah so long since I laughed so hard."
"Glad to be of service to you ma'am."
"Good service, really. I commend you."
Zahra scowled at that and Eshaal immediately raised her hands in defence. "You cannot blame me though. He actually thought you were abducting my daughter!" She coughed in a poor attempt of disguising her laughter. "You - a person who doesn't find it in her heart to harm even cockroaches and spiders, and to think he thought of you capable of harming a soul, much less kidnapping a child! And you know what?" Eshaal bubbled. "That's not even the best part. You should have seen his face when he realised what was actually happening! Epic! I'm telling you, you should have seen his face."
Zahra looked away, too embarrassed to continue the conversation and Manha gave Eshaal a stern look. "You are annoying her now. She is already embarrassed as it is."
Eshaal sucked in her lips and pressed them together trying hard to maintain a straight face but failing miserably and snickering silently every few seconds. Because of the solitude the park provided at this time of the day, Eshaal had removed her niqaab and gloves when she had sat down on their picnic spot and after Ibrahim had left, Manha had pulled off hers too.
Even the kids after having first stared at Eshaal for the strange way she was behaving had gone back to examining and experimenting with the new toy Zahra had gotten them. Taskeen stuffed hers into her mouth while Ihsaan shook his, trying to figure out how he could dismantle it and put it back again.
The adults lapsed into comfortable silence, their souls connecting even without the use of words. It felt good to forget about the rest of the world once in a while and meet in a place which wasn't infested with people.
It felt good to forget about the complexities of life and just bask in its simplicity; to forget about their woes and just concentrate in their blessings; to pretend as if they were still teenagers pursuing their degrees without a care in the world and not knowing its true face. It felt good, good to be surrounded by people who complemented each other in their level of craziness. It helped in reminding them of the fact that they belonged; together. Nothing could rival the quality time spent with friends.
Squirrels scurried from tree to tree and birds chirped at a distance. A few yards away, a number of black and white coloured ducks gilded gracefully across the artificially created ponds, some even perched on the grass as they preened their feathers.
Even the two toddlers looked content, playing peacefully, the well behaved kids that they were. Ihsaan, Manha's son was about fourteen months old now and Taskeen eight. They both looked beautiful, and serene, their chubbiness still prevalent in their features. Zahra couldn't help but smile at them every time she glanced their way.
Soon enough the adults started conversing as the wind swished through the trees seeming to want to join them in their conversation.
Zahra was laughing at something Manha had said when Ihsaan started showing signs of getting restless. He waddled to Manha, gave her a wafer from his shirt pocket and started jumping lightly, urging her to open the wrapper for him. After tearing the cover, Manha had only handed it back when Ihsaan on his own accord, without anyone having to tell him anything settled beside Taskeen, gave her a piece of the wafer and kept one for himself. He later threw the wrapper inside their bag and not on the ground triggering a chorus of 'awww' from all around him.
"This cutie is exceptionally well behaved", Zahra commented brushing her hand softly across his cheek. He dimpled looking at her and she melted right then and there. "Man! Those dimples."
Manha smiled. "He takes after his father, character and features as well."
"I could see that Manha", Eshaal quipped. "He wouldn't be half of what he is had he taken after you."
Manha threw a twig at her in retort and Zahra laughed harder. Shaking her head as they continued to bicker, she turned to look at Ihsaan realising that what Manha had so easily put in words was actually true. The boy was indeed an exact replica of his father. The stark similarities were too hard to ignore. Ihsaan didn't seem to have any of the indigenous features that Manha possessed. As a matter of fact, he didn't seem to have inherited any of his mother's features and Manha seemed only too happy to see that her son had taken after her husband. Zahra thought that kind of selflessness came only from being so very in love with another human being. She smiled to herself at the thought and prayed that they stayed forever that way.
"He seems to be a good boy Masha'Allah." Eshaal complimented heartily. "My girl on the other hand, ufff she is just too much to handle."
"Stop being an oldie already and take a chill pill. It will become easier Insha'Allah."
"Easy for you to say, difficult for me to live. I'm truly finding it very hard to discipline her. Every time I tell her 'no', deny her something, all she has to do is smile innocently, bat those eyelashes and stretch her hands towards her uncle or her father. That's it! The girl gets what she wants. Period. They've spoilt her too much and I don't know how I'm going to stop them."
Taskeen peered up at them sensing that she was the topic of discussion.
Eshaal scooped Ihsaan into her arms and sat him down on her lap just to spite her daughter. "I'm taking this well behaved boy home. You go with those aunties. I don't want you." She tightened her arms around Ihsaan.
Taskeen's eyes flickered between Ihsaan and her mum. She then looked at her mother's hands around the boy. Her nostrils flared, her lips drew into a pout and she was whining and whimpering in no time.
Zahra's heart went out to the little one as she cried hiding her face behind her arms. She tried to console Taskeen and picked her up whispering sweet words to her and rubbing her back until she quitened. She kissed the child and shot her mother a dirty look. "Don't hurt this sweet baby again."
"See! This is what I'm telling you. She managed to turn my friends against me by just whining and making faces. Imagine what would be happening with her uncle and her father."
Her friends rolled their eyes at her dramatics and she stuck her tongue out at them. "Take her home. I'm sure you'd bring her back the very next day pleading with me to take her back. I think you might even offer me money for it." They teased back and forth for a while, breaking out into hysterical laughter and making the kids look at them in confusion.
Sometime later, Eshaal claimed to be hungry and dug into the sandwiches Manha had brought along.
"You made them?", she questioned, letting her head fall back as she relished the first bite. "It tastes heavenly!"
"Nope, Faheem did."
"Wow! I thought you got yourself a cool dude but girl! You've got yourself a cook too."
Manha snickered. "Hardly. You should take a peek at the kitchen after he finishes cooking."
"Doesn't matter", she shook the sandwich in front of Manha's eyes. "He can cook like a pro. Ya Allah this is just delicious!"
"Yes, he can Alhamdulillah", Manha admitted. "He makes it a point to help me in whatever way he can. You know when I first told him I was pregnant with Ihsaan", Manha began and immediately had the attention of both her friends, "I made him promise two things. The first one I'm not going to tell you what it is-"
"Oooooh."
"-but the second", Manha continued pretending to have not heard them, "is that the night duty would be his."
Eshaal gasped, her eyes widening. "Is it what I'm thinking it is?"
Manha laughed. "And how would I know what it is that you're thinking?"
"Tell. Me. Woman." Eshaal demanded.
"Yes, it is." Manha had a faraway look in her eyes. "Whenever the baby would wake up at night, it would be the father's duty to put the baby to sleep."
"Such a Manha thing to do!"
"Of course! If I don't have my daily dose of sleep, I'd be left feeling a zombie-"
"-and acting like one too."
Manha slapped Eshaal on her arm. "Sleep is what helps me remain sane. Amidst managing the house, tending to his parents, teaching at the centre, spending time with him, having you bite my ears off during my free time and a baby who demands my attention, the only ever me time I was and am able to have is when I sleep."
"I cannot believe you conned your husband."
"It isn't like I forced him into anything. It was he who forced me, demanded me precisely, to tell him what I wanted."
"So you asked him time for you to sleep?" Eshaal questioned incredulously.
"I think you forgot that she didn't tell us her first wish Eshaal", Zahra commented and Manha looked away smiling.
Eshaal smirked. "Someone is in looooovvvveee."
"Eshaal! You're a mother for Allah's sake."
"Well, so are you."
"But I'm not the one behaving like a kid here."
"I am but you are too."
"I'm not."
"You are too."
"I'm not."
"Kids!", Zahra hushed them."I didn't know I was the only adult present here."
"Very funny."
"I know I am Eshaal."
Eshaal frowned and then turned to look at Manha again. "I still cannot believe you framed him."
"It was he who demanded to know what I want, okay. I take care of his son the whole day. It wouldn't hurt if he wakes up at night to change diapers or get him his bottle. Besides, it isn't that I never wake up when Ihsaan needs me. Whenever he is sick or when something is wrong, I am the one who stays awake with him. Sometimes Faheem is so tired after his trips that he sleeps through all the crying and the nightly tantrums and I let him. I only ask of him to tend to his son whenever he can."
Eshaal hummed muttering something below her breath and they grew silent again watching the antics of the ducks in the pond.
It was only when Taskeen shifted in Zahra's arms did she notice that the child had fallen asleep. She laid her down on the blanket carefully so as to not wake her up in the process. Taskeen shifted again and Zahra froze waiting for a good few seconds before she freed herself of the little girl's hold. An aroused Taskeen was always grumpy and she didn't want to take any risks.
Once she sat down comfortably again, Zahra looked down at the angelic creature that was sleeping soundly feeling her heart brim with happiness. Taskeen seemed to have grown since the last time she had seen her. She was able to crawl with ease now and even stand with help. She was growing more and more into a mini Eshaal with her tantrums and doe like eyes. She looked so much like her mum and her...
Uncle.
Zahra fixed her gaze on Taskeen as Eshaal and Manha started to speak, her mind re-living the moments of embarrassment with Ibrahim. Not once but twice had she had an embarrassing encounter with him. The first time it had happened, she had hated it, not liking it one bit that a stranger had intruded upon a moment between her Creator and her. The irritation was only starting to fade when today had happened. She couldn't get it out of her mind that he had thought of her to be a kidnapper.
He didn't word it out but still...
Zahra let out a long breath and rubbed her forehead trying to overcome those irritating thoughts that were swarming in her head, mumbling silently to herself, "Not the first time anyway."
"What do you mean by it is not the first time?", Manha queried and Zahra's eyes flew open. She looked like a dear caught in headlights.
"Huh?"
"First time. You said it's not the first time. It isn't the first time for what?"
"Oh that...um", Zahra wracked her brains to figure out something, "Eshaal losing it isn't the first time."
"I know that dearie and I also know as well as you do that you cannot lie. Now spit it out."
Zahra huffed and proceeded to comb Taskeen's hair with her fingers. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Zahra." Both her friends yelled out in unison.
"Okay, fine. I have already had an embarrassing encounter with Eshaal's brother alright." She turned and pointed her finger at Eshaal. "And it was all your fault."
Eshaal's eyes widened at the accusation. "Mine?"
"Yes, yours. I was already having a rough week when I turned up at your dawah centre a few weeks ago expecting you to be there and you were nowhere to be found."
Eshaal was still clueless so Zahra sighed and continued. "I practically knew no one there! I had to go sit in a corner in a hall full of women who seemed to know each other. All alone. I couldn't even socialise since the program had already begun by the time I reached the place. I was there all by myself listening intently to whatever was being said, having no idea that a guy had chosen that particular day to revert."
"Oh oh." Eshaal caught on as to where this was going.
"He gets the mic and speaks his heart out, in his broken English nonetheless. In his broken English he shares the story of his life, how he had found the truth, how he was guided and then proceeds to take shahadah before I could even process it all!
"I broke down there, can you believe it? In a hall full of strangers, in a place I had never been to before, in an unknown locality all because of a guy who I had not even seen because he was apparently on the other side of the screen, I broke down!"
Zahra let out a shaky breath. Even Ihsaan had sensed something serious was going on for he had kept away his toy and was looking up at her with big innocent eyes. She smiled at him. "I broke down and sat there for a while weeping my heart out when the door opened without any indication and in stepped your brother!"
Eshaal's hand went to her mouth to hide her smirk and Manha fought with herself to not smile.
"He looked as horrified as much as I was irritated by his presence."
"No wonder he looked at you like that today."
Zahra got the first thing she could lay her hands on, which was a wrapper and threw it at Eshaal. "Your fault again. Could you have not come back earlier? He had to see me with your bag. He thought I was a thief."
"Nausea never indicates its arrival too you know. How was I supposed to know how long I had to remain in the rest room?"
"What I cannot understand", Manha began with a thoughtful look, "is the shocked look on his face. Him being shocked on seeing Zahra is reasonable but him being shocked on seeing me? I mean the guy looked like he didn't know we were meeting you here. Did he even know you were coming here to meet us?"
Eshaal smiled sheepishly. "It might have escaped my mind to inform him."
"Typical you."
"Hey! I'm not always like this okay. Let's just say Taskeen's father had succcesfully managed to rile me up and my mind hasn't functioned the entire day."
"Didn't your brother think of questioning why you wanted to come here too?"
"Er...let's just say things aren't going smoothly for him these days and he is riled up too."
"So his brain isn't working either?"
"Something like that."
They all laughed at that when the adhaan of the neighbourhood masjid sounded on the speaker. They sat up straight and stopped talking for a whole three minutes as a mark of respect until the adhaan ended and since the other two did not have to pray, Zahra alone got up at the end, calculated the qiblah direction and stood on her travelling prayer mat for her salaah.
It wasn't long until Eshaal poked Manha on her ribs. "I have a brilliant idea."
"And let me guess it involves two people - your brother and our Zahra."
Eshaal's mouth fell open. "How did you know?"
"You keep forgetting that I know you better than you know yourself sweetie."
Eshaal nodded her head. "So... do you think I should ask her about it?"
"Try it but be careful when you do."
"Yes boss", Eshaal mocked and right then Zahra finished her salaah and stood up. She looked at them as she folded the prayer mat.
"What's with that look on your faces? Looks suspicious."
Eshaal cleared her throat. "I actually wanted to ask you something."
"Shoot buddy."
"Erm... my brother has been er searching for a bride for a while now."
"And?", Zahra urged.
"Um...if you are interested eh...can I uh speak to him about you?"
"Look Eshaal", Zahra breathed. "I understand that you're concerned about your brother and all but you are not doing him any favour by talking to him about me."
"I'm not sure I understand."
"You really don't get it, do you?"
"Honestly, no. Enlighten me."
Zahra's gaze wandered before it came to rest on Eshaal again. "I come from a broken family Eshaal. There are so many unresolved issues within me. Only a crazy family would want to accept me."
"Well, guess what? I am crazy and so is my family. I don't see why there would be any issue of us accepting you."
Zahra's face scrunched up. "Eshaal please. Just because I look calm on the outside, it doesn't mean that there isn't a storm raging on inside me. Just because I speak little, doesn't mean that I am normal. I'm a living mess Eshaal. I come with a baggage I'm too tired to unwind and as a dutiful sister, the last thing you should be doing is pushing your brother towards someone like me. He would not be able to handle the mess."
Zahra walked away from them on the pretence of trying to catch Ihsaan and Eshaal's eyes filled with unshed tears followed her.
Manha wound her arm across Eshaal's shoulders and rubbed it soothingly.
"She--she's so sad." Eshaal sniffed. "I want to make her pain go away."
"Soon Insha'Allah. She would be happy one day soon."
Time that day flew like a bird on flight and before they knew, they were already all set to go home. Zahra left first saying she needed to get back inside the campus on time and they let her, knowing all too well what or who she was trying to escape.
It was only Eshaal and Manha waiting for their ride home pondering upon things when Eshaal cheered up again. "She might consider plotting my death when she comes to know what is going on in my mind." She flashed Manha an evil grin. "But I'm going to take a chance and go ahead with it anyway."
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Glossary:
💦Salaah : prayer.
💦Adhaan : call for prayer.
💦Qiblah : the direction Muslims face while praying i.e., the direction of Makkah.
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🎯 How have you been dearies? All good I hope 😊
🎯 I've noticed that you like reading chapters when all my girls are present. Did you enjoy this one too then?
🎯 Favourite part in the update?
🎯 What do you think is Manha's first wish? (The one she asked her husband but didn't disclose to her friends) 😉
🎯 What do you think is holding Zahra back from commitments?
🎯 What do you think is running in Eshaal's mind?
🎯 How soon do you think our protagonists are going to meet again? 😆
Comment and let me. Please don't just answer in your heads.
And ayshaarmish here sent these lovely fan arts!
Thank you sooo much dear 😘❤
See you all soon Insha'Allah. Assalamu alaikum warahmathullahi wabarakatuhu!