Epilogue: Part One: Zaynah in Zeal

Bismilllahir Rahmaanir Raheem

Once in a while, we need to hear something awesome. Something inspiring. We need to have our hopes rebuilt, and our spirits lifted. We need to be assured that somewhere… beyond the injustice that we see every day, and beyond the obvious flaws that this world so brutally displays… there is some hope out there.

So let me be the one to tell you something amazing. Something you’ve either forgotten, or think you’ve never heard before, but have probably been waiting to hear for a very long time.

Sometimes you just need to be reminded.

Anything is possible.

By Allah, anything. Nothing is beyond Allah. Nothing. As long as you seek the aid of Allah Ta’ala with conviction and a heart full of sincerity, the way out will somehow become the easiest path.

Even when it seems like all the doors have been shut off, somehow, they’ll all open. It’s because there’s a greater power… and He is Al Fattah… The opener. He can open even the tightest of shut doors. He is Al Haadi. He will guide you straight to the exit, even when it’s hopeless. Even when you think it can’t be fixed, He is Al-Jabbaar. He fixes what is cracked, severed or even completely broken.

By Allah, when you call to Him, He will never ignore your plea.

He will respond, because that is His promise. And His promise is never empty. Whatever ambition you have in life… whatever hope… With Allah in mind and having faith in Him, nothing is too far-fetched. Nothing is hopeless.

“Don’t be scared,” I said to Nabeela. “Allah knows what’s in your heart. Even when you don’t. You focus on Allah. He will focus on Allah. And Allah will bring you’ll together.”

“But how is it possible?” Nabeela had asked me that day, uncertain of where she was headed… of where her destiny lay. Our family had all kinds of reservations. They weren’t as easy as Abbi was. They couldn’t look past the faults and flaws. They couldn’t look past the modern family and silly issues that were so outdated.

“If Allah Subhana Wa Ta’ala can provide even the one who doesn’t believe in him… and even respond to them… Do you think Allah will not respond to you, a righteous Mu’min?”

And of course, Nabeela shook her head, because her head was filled with anxiety and uncertainty. Their was so much of uncertainty about going ahead, that she couldn’t imagine it all happening. She was too young. He was married before. She was unsure. His past was questionable. The list went on and on.

My cousin’s cheeked flushed slightly as she spoke, and I watched her, amazed at how much she had changed in just a few years. Her chubby arms and cheeks had slimmed down, and she looked completely different. Her features were striking and her cheekbones were visible, without the plump cheeks that were once there.  Her darkly framed eyes shone with hope as she spoke. She was looking like the lovely girl I had always known, only now she was all grown up.

I wish I could just offer her a jelly baby, and everything would just be okay. If only we could just put our every worry aside and place our faith in the one who controls it all. If only we could just forget about the concerns of this world and leave it to our Rabb. And yes, maybe it was easy for me to talk because everything for me was falling into place, but I just needed to let it be known. Sometimes when you say something to someone, the reality of it sinks in for you.

My Allah Ta’ala had been so kind to me. I had been living in this world of complete confusion, and remembering everything now was like a bright light shining on my life.

The past… the future… the present.

Sometimes we don’t realize how perfectly Allah Ta’ala plans everything… the right things at the exact right time, And of course, for me… I knew the minute I remembered my past, everything for me would change. The way I felt. The way I had hurt. And for sure, the way I looked at everyone around me.

I couldn’t believe how much I had missed out on, and I was just so glad that I didn’t have to miss anymore. My mind travelled back to my own past now, so glad I could recall it. When I remembered making my own decision… the one that changed and inspired my life, I could feel the warmth spread from within. When he offered me that pack of jelly babies, when I thought that maybe I had completely messed up, I couldn’t believe my luck.

Waseem. He had proven to be the rare diamond… some valuable rock I had somehow discovered, and I had no idea how. As he grew in Deen, he now shone through to illuminate both our lives. He had done so much more than I expected, for the sake of Deen. He had traveled far to try and spread it, and he had taken out so much of his time, making great sacrifices by staying in discomfort, when he had always had such a pampered life. Allah knew those sacrifices, He had taken so many more risks than any other person I had known, not to prove anything to me… but for the pleasure of Allah.

“Even if you don’t want me now,” he had finally said to me, when everything was a blur and when I was unsure of my past. When I had said horrible things and had been so confused. “Just give me your time when we’ve reached there, okay? It’s only Jannah where I want to be with you. I want to be the one to tell you that we finally made it.”

I had sucked in my breath because it was such an overwhelming thing to say. Such a ‘me’ thing to get me with. It was yet another sign that Allah had shown me. And even after everything had blown over and I had gotten back to normal, Waseem had proven to be the best garment for me, just like a spouse should.

“They (your wives) are your garment and you are a garment for them” (Noble Quran 2:187)

And of course, just this ayat sums up the basic purpose and concept of marriage in Islam. And of course, for the couple, besides the fact that the husband and wife should be as close and intimate as a garment is, to each other, so that there should be no secrets between them, the task of the garment is also to protect the body from other dangers. From the danger of other people as well, and as a spouse should be, he covered my faults and mishaps so truly that he wouldn’t even want to hear of them, even from me. He made me feel like the best wife, even when I had been nothing of the sort when I had pushed him away. And I had no idea that it would be like that, when I had chose him.

I had chosen him, with no idea of what he would be to me. No idea that he would be the one to push me to be better. I chose Waseem, not because of what anyone had thought or said about him. I chose him, not even because of the immense amount of patience he had with me, even when I had tested his limits to the full degree.

I chose him simply because of his Deen. Because he had Taqwa. When someone fears Allah, then they will be aware that He is watching them at all times. He will be the best of people because he never forgets that his Lord is always there.  And that was all that mattered. It wasn’t that he would die for me. Rather, I needed someone who would live for me, make me better, and take me to Jannah with him.

“Just ask yourself,” I said to my couisn, knowing that she neede a deal-breaker. “Does he love Allah? Is he going to put Him before any other decision he would ever make, even if it’s you? Does he have the fear of Allah in his heart? If the answer is yes. then he’ll be good for you. ”

Now she knew what she would have to ask. She knew what she had to aim for. As her smile spread, my cousins face lit up as I left her that day, eager now for what may lay ahead….

---

As promised, the long awaited epilogue. Part one of three… the last will be on Monday, InshaAllah!

Don’t forget!

Let’s practice our SUNNAH InshaAllah! More Sunnah of eating:

*sitting*

We tend to stand and eat/drink. Let’s consciously make an effort to sit, even if it’s on the floor, while we are enjoying our food.

*Eating with three fingers.*

The Sunnah is to eat with three fingers;
eating with more than three fingers is a sign of greed and is bad manners,
because
there is no need for more than three in order to gather up a morsel.
If it is necessary to use more than three,
because
the food is light and cannot be gathered in three fingers, then he may use the fourth or fifth.

*See Fath al-Baari, 9/578*

Practice, share and earn multiple rewards in shaa Allah.

SubhaanAllah. Let’s try and observe the Sunnah Duaas of eating InshaAllah.

#RevivetheSunnahofEating

#RevivetheSunnahofDrinking

#Revive theSunnahofSpeakingGood

#RevivetheSunnahofSmiling

#RevivetheSunnahofMiswaak

#RevivetheSunnahofDu’aas

Tweet: @ajourneyjournal

 

• Amaze
• Hope
• Husband
• Islam
• Life
• Love
• Marriage
• Wife