Sisterly Yours

Chapter 1

Laila Kabir

From my corner of the bed, my eyes slowly traced the raindrops that fell on the window louvers. The sound of the ticking wall clock filled the room.

It was just four o'clock in the morning....

I snuggled closer into the cozy blanket that was draped around me. I loved moments like this... when I could just snuggle in and listen to the melody of roaring thunderstorms which I found unusually comforting.

Peace.

Serenity.

That was what I felt. I  loved to thank Allah for the blessings of the rain whenever I prayed. Speaking of prayers, I was forced to get out of my little comfort zone to pray Tahajjud and do my school homework after fifteen minutes of bearing Rubaydoh's ear piercing snores.

Subhanallah!

After praying, I read my favorite chapter in the Qur'an....Suratul Waqi'ah.

Then I proceeded to my study desk in order to tackle the 600 word essay that was due to be submitted on Monday. I also had some calculation problems to solve. During moments like this, I like to prepare a to do list in order to schedule my time. Rubaydoh found this pretty dumb and I still don't know why. Well, it wasn't her fault though, I thought. The word responsibility or priority never existed in her dictionary. She found homework lame and boring, chores felt like climbing to the top of a very tall mountain. I really hope this lazy mindset of hers disappears with time.

I hope.

*****************************

She was dressed in a lush silk garment. Her lips were painted in rogue and her kohl lined eyes twinkled with delight. The sunlight reflected the brilliant shine of her bangles. Her fair, creamy skin gleamed healthily.

She did it! She was finally here in the city and had fulfillied her lifelong dream of becoming a big city fashionista. Her silk dress draped down elegantly after her as she walked down the stairs, taking in the magnificent sight of people from  people from different walks of life coming in and out of her boutique.

She felt proud, satisfied and .... happy.

She proceeded down the stairs to interact with her customers when she suddenly felt a distant voice calling her....
She felt it was probably another crazy fan but the voice got closer.....

"Rubaydoh"!!

And closer.....

"Rubaydoh"!!

And closer....

"Rubaydoh"!!

And...

"Rubaydoh, wake up", I was literally waking my darling sister for about ten minutes now, to pray Fajr. She must be really having a weird dream in there because Safiyyah was already up and was already performing wudu'. But here she was practically snoring her senses away!

She finally got after another five minutes of waking up.

"Urrghhh", she groaned after sitting up and rubbing her temple in frustration. "What is your problem, Laila?? I was having the best dream ever!", she slumped back into the bed.

"Yeah, you were... obviously", I told her. "But my problem is..", I began in a calm voice," You have to get up and pray Fajr!"

"Yeah.. yeah, whatever", she rolled her eyes and finally got up from the bed and went to perform wudu'.

We all went into our mother's room and saw she was already up, lying on the prayer mat and making dua. The rain has subsided a bit but it was still chilly. Mother had a shawl wrapped around her.

"Assalamu 'alaykum, mother", we chorused together and to sit in front of her. Sofiyyah reclined into her laps.

"Wa 'alaykumumus salam, my darlings", she replied back smiling. She softly caressed Safiyyah's hair. "Did you all sleep well"?

"Yes, mother", I answered. "Speak for yourself", Rubaydoh muttered and we all gave her a questioning look.

"Anything wrong, Rubaydoh"?, Mother asked softly.

" Actually mother, she didn't want to.....", I began but was cut off by Rubaydoh.

" I presume she asked me, darling sister", she said, her eyes shooting daggers at me.

"Oh right", I kept quiet for my sake.

"Oh mother", she whined in an annoying childish voice I was used to.

Oh boy...

"I was having the most beautiful dream ever!!.... until your daughter here", she said giving me that smug look, "......decided to bring Alice back from Wonderland".

Ya Allah.....

"I was trying to get her up for Fajr", I simply defended myself.

"Your sister has a point here though, Rubaydoh", Mother said. "You're becoming very fond of waking up late for Fajr, it's a very bad habit that you need to change. It's the first prayer of the day, you know. Your sister's just looking out for you."

"Yeah, she is"

Mother sighed in defeat. We were all used to this side of Rubaydoh.

"You know what... let's just pray", Sofiyyah said and this sorta broke the tension that hung in the air.

As we finished praying, what came to my mind was the long to do list I had pictured mentally for the day. And by the look of things....

I was soo in for it...

_

So there you have it, everyone!,the first chapter!
I know it's kinda short but I'll try my best to make the upcoming chapters longer.

And for my non muslim readers..

*Qur'an: This is the holy book of muslims ( I think most people know this though 😅)

*Suratul Waqi'ah: The is a chapter in the Qur'an, chapter 56 to be precise 🤔. It translates to 'The Event'

*Dua simply means supplication.

* Wudu' translates to ablution. In other words, it means purification by water before praying.

I felt this glossary was necessary so to make the chapter easier to understand 🤷

Expect the next chapter soon..

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Stay tuned and stay blessed ✨

Toyeebah ✨