𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒓𝒆𝒋𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒔, 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆, 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓, 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓!
𝑴𝒂𝒚 𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒉 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒄𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆, 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒅𝒐𝒎.
EID! EID! Eid Mubarakh, it has officially been announced and Ramadan has ended. Ya Salam Ramadan may Allah grant us the chance to meet you again. Subhanallah how time flies, especially these last couple of days. Balancing everything and trying to keep on track of things can be challenging.
Packing for the holiday, making sure we done majority of our shopping so we don't have to rush around later on. We'll be leaving in less then five days. Alhamdulilah everything is ready just have a few toiletries to pick up.
Amaal rang a couple days ago to inform me that the 'cupcake delight' event has been re-scheduled and pushed forward to the day of Eid. She is also going on a vacation to Holland to attend her sister's baby shower but to also stay for the birth.
Subhanallah the preparation into organising and decorating the venue has been so stressful. How much confetti, party poppers, flowers and decor does one buy. This would be my first outing on Eid day in a long time and I'm excited. This was a great way for us to get together before we have to spend the summer separately.
Alhamdulilah everything is ready for tomorrow but I just want to double check to see if the cupcakes are ready. I phone Amaal and she picks up immediately. "Assalamualikum Habiti, Eid Mubarakh how are you doing?" "Walaikumsalam Aqilah, Eid Mubarakh to you too. I'm good alhamdulilah, just really tired", she says exhaustedly. "Oh you poor thing, you have been baking all day". "Yes, baking can be really stressful, and the first batch did not rise properly. So I had to make another two just in case." "How much did you make because last time they all finished it, did you make extra?", I ask.
"Well Huda order the milkshakes and she really wanted a donut wall in place because the cupcakes tend to run out fast. Last time people were taking extra to take home", she says in annoyance. "Like subhanallah some people did not get any," I say remembering the events of last year. "Yeah so I decided to make 100 and put some in the gift bags."
"Manshallah that's a clever idea, do you know how many people are coming". " Roughly 40 people, and all the tickets have been given out already but since I moved the date for tomorrow it might be that more people turn up unexpectedly." " So can they pay for theirs at the entrance". "Yes they can but I don't want it to turn into a hug gather because it will be too much." "Hopefully it doesn't get too crowded in'sha'allah".
"Anyways what are you up to?", Amaal asks. "Nothing really I'm just here putting on a face mask and then I'll take a shower in'sha'allah", I reply whilst wiping a bit of the mask that dropped on my lip. "Same I need to make myself decent as well, I'll see you at the salah tomorrow in'sha'allah",she said excitedly. "Okay girl, see you then in'sha'allah".
#RINGING #RINGING
I stir as I hear my alarm and decided to get up a bit before fajr so that I can pray the two Sunnah rakats. The adhan for fajr is called and after praying I decided to read my daily duas. Once I have finished i rememberer that I completely forgot to put up the decorations for Eid up. I quietly recite the Eid takbir to myself. It is sunnah to read the takbir before the Eid prayer.
"𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒉𝒖 𝑨𝒌𝒃𝒂𝒓, 𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒉𝒖 𝑨𝒌𝒃𝒂𝒓. 𝑳𝒂 𝑰𝒍𝒂𝒂𝒉𝒂 𝑰𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒉𝒖 𝑾𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒉𝒖 𝑨𝒌𝒃𝒂𝒓, 𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒉𝒖 𝑨𝒌𝒃𝒂𝒓 𝒘𝒂 𝑳𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒉𝒊𝒍 𝑯𝒂𝒎𝒅"
"Shamsa can you please come down and help me put up this banner up!", I shout as I begin to make my way downstairs. "Hold on I need to iron my dress, ask Habiba!", she yells. I pop my head in her room, she really was ironing. Such a strange sight, because she hardly irons but when she does manshallah the girl can spend a lifetime going over the same spot. "Oh please iron my jilbab, by the way have you seen my black shawl.", I ask. "No I haven't and bring it over otherwise I'll forget."
"Habiba can you please come down, I don't want the banner to look wonky." "I'm coming, bring the chair", she replies. As we finish putting the last touches to the decoration, the look comes together. The golden and black balloons with the sparkling string of fairy lights complements the room nicely. Everything in place we plump the cushions of the sofa and put oud in the room to give it a nice aroma.
I look down at the clock and notice we have just under one hour before the prayer begins. "Hurry Habiba we don't have long till the salah starts", I say panicking as I race up the stairs to our room. I quickly put my dress on that I prepared last night and my navy scarf as I think it would best suit the look. Not that anyone would see my outfit but it's nice to dress up for yourself once in a while.
As I am applying some kohl to my eyes I hear my phone ringing. It is Shayla my friend from university. "Asalaamulikum Eid Mubarakh, habiti how's everything going?", I ask. "Waliakumasalaam habiti and Eid Mubarakh to you too. I'm good alhamdulilah just wondering if you were coming to the salah". "Of course I'm going, are you coming?" " Yeah I am but my parents and my little brother decided to go to the other masjid to meet up with my cousins. Plus it starts a little bit earlier than our masjid and I wasn't going to make it", she explains.
" Oh so how are going to come then." " I was ringing to see if you were going, I was hoping that if you haven't left I'll just swing by your place in'sha'allah and we can go from there". " Sure habiti come, we'll go together just come by 7:30 as salah starts at 8:00 o'clock", I tell her. "Okay girl see you in'sha'allah," and with that she puts the phone down.
Me and Shayla have been friends for almost two years now, she is a sweet and trusted friend of mine. She too wears the jilbab so seeing another jilbabi at uni we just gravitated towards each other. We didn't realise we live so close to one another, subhanallah so strange how we don't know of the persons existence till your paths are crossed. Alhamdulilah our friendship has been going strong since then and I admire her in many ways. Her quite and composed demeanour, also her level of self control. She's very reserved but very funny with a good sense of humour.
"Girls hurry up, we need to get going, otherwise there'll be no spaces left", warns Nasreen. It is now coming to half seven and just as think to call Shayla I hear a knock on the door. "Who's that", says Shamsa. "It's Shayla she's coming with us because her family has gone to a different mosque," I explain after seeing their puzzled expressions. Oops I forgot to mention that small information early.
I open the door and see a beaming Shayla looking really pretty. "Manshallah girl you look so pretty, loving the bag," I say looking at the tiny gold butterfly brochure. "Why thank you, you don't look so bad either", she says as she hugs me. We set off and soon we are swarmed by other people enroute towards the masjid. All I can see is a sea of white and black figures moving in unison all chanting the takbir. Subhanallah I'm mesmerised and feel a sense of belonging as we praise our creator Allah (swt) as one.
We soon arrive at the masjid and alhamdulilah there is still some space left. As we enter the women's section we take off our shoes. Just then Nasreen spots her friend Aunty Zainab and we go along to convey our Salam. "Asalaamumikum habiti Eid Mubarakh, the girls are looking really pretty manshallah". We each say our Salam and that's when Nasreen tried to be funny at our expense. "Zanaib you should've seen how long they took to get ready you would think they had husbands waiting for them," chuckles Nasreen. She decides to stay with Aunty Zainab and we move to find somewhere to sit as there was no space on that row.
I ring Amaal and almost immediately she answers. "Amaal where are you I can't see you", I say whilst looking around. "I see you Aqilah keep walking towards the back I'm by the pillar with the green ballon attached to it". Leave it to Amaal to give the worst directions, there are a number of pillars with green balloons. As I continue to scan the crowd I finally spot her waving her hand in the air and we make our way towards her.
"Amaal salamalikum you look fantastic," i say hugging her. "Walaikum Salaam and so do you, Eid Mubarakh", she says grinning. She then reaches to hug Shayla, they both know each other as we all hanged out a couple of times. When the three of us get together you know we are going to be having fun. As we talk amongst ourselves somehow the conversation ended up turning to second wives. Shayla was telling us of a story were a couple were married but the husband secretly married a second wife without telling the first wife. This later caused problems in their marriage and they divorced.
" Subhanallah there is nothing wrong with getting married again if that's what you want. Just don't hide it", says Amaal in disgust. "Maybe he was afraid of the first wife's reaction so he thought it best to avoid a fight", Shayla tries to reason. "Yes but that didn't mean he had to lie or be deceitful", I say. "Aqilah you can't say that you don't know if they talked about this prior to him getting married. Anyways it's made halal for them so what's the big deal".
"Shayla really, the big deal is don't lie or cover it up. If it's halal why not tell the person who has been you better half of the blessing that's entered your life?",I question. "Personally I wouldn't want to be a second wife, just saying", states Amaal. "That's fine but there are many single mothers in dire need as their spouse could have died or they separated and have no one to help them. Would you deny a struggling mother the chance to live comfortably like yourself", says Shayla.
"Subhanallah Shayla I never thought of it like that, of course my husband could marry to help that mother and those orphan children. Just let me know is all I ask.", I explain. "Same just let me know before hand so we can come to a mutal decision," agrees Amaal.
We all stand to pray as the salah is about to start. Once we finished we make our way toward to shoe rack to collect our shoes. As we make our way outside we convey Salam to the people both stranger and people we know. So many aunties asking you questions about uni and when are going to get married. Honestly I'm not that old I don't know why they're worried , I'm not thirty yet. Not that there is anything wrong with being thirty and not married.
We wait for a bit for the crowd to die down. We each in turn say our farewell to Amaal but we'll be seeing her later on in'sha'allah. Me and Shayla meet up with Shamsa and Habiba, we head back home. Nasreen decided to get a lift home so she can start making dinner early as she was going over to Aunty Zainab's in the afternoon for a get together with their other friends.
We drop off Shayla home and as we are walking back, Shamsa's phone pings, 'Can you please get some chilli and tomatoes from the corner shop', it's a text message from Nasreen. "We need to stop by the shops,", she informs us. "Hurry up guys I'm practically starving", whines Habiba. "You're always starving", I tell her. We go to the shop and purchase the items and go home.
As soon as walk in the aroma of waffles hits my nose and my mouth brings to water. I quickly get changed out of my jilbab and plate myself a some of the waffles and scrambled eggs. Alhamdulilah that was delicious and it really was filling. After stuffing my face, I went upstairs to FaceTime with Naseeba as I got ready for the event.
"Hey Salam girl, Eid Mubarakh!!", she shrieks. "Waalaikumsalam to you too, how's everything," I say as I apply foundation to my face. "Oh you just getting ready now," she asks. "Yes we're going to head to the venue early just to set up the cupcakes and make sure everything in place before the guests arrive."
"What time is it starting, do you know what kind of look you are going for", asks Naseeba. "Actually I have no idea what to do, I just do a simple nude look in'sha'allah, but it starts at 4 o'clock, so I should have plenty of time. Anyways enough about me how's your day been."
"Omg Aqilah it was nice alhamdulilah, went to prayer, came back and had breakfast with the family. We then went out for a meal." "Manshallah I loved your Abaya it's so pretty and your makeup was on point girl", I say. "Guess what I went to this party that my friends cousin was throwing and there ended up being a fight," she says eagerly.
"What!!," I say as my eyes are ready pop of my head. "Yes they were arguing and next thing you know they're pulling each other's hair and hijabs are flying," she laughs recounting the incident. "Why on earth were they fight", I say. "Apparently it was over some guy they were both talking to at the same time". "See that's why relationships outside of marriage is haram, you get attached and then they hurt you".
We continue talking on the phone for a bit more as I finish getting ready. Habiba and Shamsa were almost ready as well so, I put on my red and white abaya that I bought the other day. The theme is white but when I seen this abaya I had to have it. It was so simple, yet really pretty with the detailed lace red arms, it instantly caught my attention. I pause to look at myself in the mirror and alhamdulilah I like how the look came together.
We call an Uber and meet Amaal at the venue. As we walk into the hall I stand there and just gaze at the twinkling fairy lights stringed from the ceiling creating a tent shape. Subhanallah the place looked exquisite with the white roses in bouquets on each table complementing the red lit up candles. The decoration turned out fantastic and I'm so glad that our hard work paid off alhamdulilah.
We begin to lay out the cupcakes on a display table surrounded by a wall of donuts, putting the last finishing touches I feel both nervous and excited at the same time. Each year is different and you get to meet people of all kinds. But this year might become the biggest turn out every because of the date.
Soon enough people start to arrive and we help them to there seats, only ten extra people can in. I spot Shayla amongst the other girls coming in. Everyone looks so beautiful manshallah with the red and white. I guess I'm not the only one who didn't follow the theme. I quickly say salam to her before sitting in my seat. Huda gets up to make a quick announce about the course of this event. It's about women empowerment and how we should be the first amongst ourselves as both women and muslims to support each.
"Us women are the teachers to the next generation of the Ummah. Therefore we must set good examples by showing those that discredit us that we are strong. They may make fun of our hijabs or Jilbab or even our niqabi sisters. But you know what we say nothing because our actions speak louder. We do what has been said in the Quran and that's it. Let us not forget how temporary this dunya is and how we can be here one day and gone the next. Let's finish on a lighter note, I just want to wish all Eid Mubarakh and I hope you enjoy yourself this evening. Soon the tea and cupcake will be served, so enjoy and thank you for coming", says Huda.
We all cheer and clap but I'm just in awe of her poetic speech. As I ponder over her words I realise how thankful I am to be a Muslim. Alhamdulilah Allah azzawajal for choosing this perfect religion for me and I feel blessed. The hotel staff being to serve milkshake with the cupcake to the guest, there was also a tea option available as well. Mini sandwiches are being handed out on little white saucers.
How time flys when you are having fun. The moment we have all been waiting for has arrived. The raffle ticket prize draw was about to being. The anticipation can be felt in the room. The winner would always win a mystery prize. Last year one girl won a bag of high end makeup. Containing Gucci foundation, Chanel highlighter, Mac lipsticks and many more.
The room fell silent as Amaal began to pick a ticket out of the box and all eyes were fixed on her. "Are you ready guys, here we go, number 72!!", she yells. "Me, it's me!!", a girl shrieks from the back, as she practically jumps up and down. Her friends all congratulate her as she makes her way to the front. She is handed her present, a brand new iPad and she looks delighted.
With good food and conversation I was sad to see it come to an end. Shayla left early on and so I didn't even realise she went. But I seen her text message from earlier letting me know she couldn't stay as guests were coming over and her mum needed her home. I make my way over to Amal and Huda standing at the entrance, hug them both as I say my goodbyes to them.
"Don't forget to send me pictures of the wedding", says Amaal. "You too, I'm not the only one going for a special occasion, your going to be a Aunty", I say. " I know I can't wait in'sha'allah everything goes well and I'll definitely send you the pictures." "Okay Salam girl you take care", I say hugging onto her tightly practically cutting of her airways. She hugs me back too and we part ways , I'll miss that girl. She makes me laugh so much.
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Asalaamualikum everybody reading this, Eid Mubarakh . 💗💗💗
I wish nothing but the best and hope you have a blessed day. Please don't forget to like comment and share this story. It would mean a lot to me and I hope you enjoy reading this.☺️