CLASSICAL MUSLIMAH

CLASSICAL MUSLIMAH: 11

Gbazango, Abuja, Nigeria.
Friday, 2nd March, 2018.

Nana Asma'u shouted Adam's name and he came in rushing, panting.

"Take this, go and collect my phone from wajan charji. Be fast." He collected the crumpled one hundred naira note and ran off.

Nana Asma'u had been trying to reach out to Abulkhair to confirm if really, what she saw on social media was true. She knew there was no way it could be a lie. She had seen it on numerous famous pages; Arewa family weddings, Northern blog, wedding street among others. There was even a YouTube channel for it and an Instagram account too.

But Nana Asma'u needed confirmation from the groom to be himself. She needed to know, was it true? Was it a lie? She needed to know. She knew that even if he lied to her, at that point, she would believe him. She was that desperate. She knew she didn't want to hear the truth. She only wanted to hear that it was all a lie, as her heart wasn't going to be able to bear the heartbreak of hearing the love of her life say he was getting married to someone else that was not her.

"Adda gashi {take}." Nana Asma'u collected it and went straight to her contacts. She didn't have to search as he was on her speed dial.

Nana Asma'u had already called him more than fifty times in the past one week. She was calling him again, the same response. He didn't pick her calls. Only God knew the number of messages she had left him. She left another one saying he should please pick her calls before bursting into tears.

"Why are you disturbing me with your cries this early morning?" Hansatu glared at her daughter, hands akimbo.

"Mama, Abulkhair isn't picking my calls, he's not replying my messages. Mama did he find out about the sa rana?"Hansatu hissed and snatched the phone from Nana Asma'u's grip.

"You are getting married in the next two weeks. I forbid you from seeing or talking to any other man apart from Nuhu. Now I'm going to collect this phone and keep it." Hansatu walked away and Nana Asma'u burst into more tears. Why could no one understand her? Why was the universe against her?

Nana Asma'u was still crying when the beautician that bad been preparing her for marriage came in.

"Hush Hush, why is the amarya crying?" The Kanuri woman asked as she dropped her small hand bag.

"Nothing. Let me change." Nana Asma'u said and was about to stand up when the woman stopped her.

"Look, you can tell me anything. It's obvious you don't want this marriage. So tell me, what's wrong?" Nana Asma'u took a deep breath. What's the harm in telling the woman her problems? It was not like her mother would beat her for it or anything.

So Nana Asma'u told her everything. She didn't remove a single thing from the whole story and throughout, the woman only gave facial expressions, she didn't cut her off, neither did she say a word even when she urged her to. Nana Asma'u sure had to give it to the woman, she was a great listener.

"Now tell me, why don't you love Nuhu?" The woman asked tilting her head to the side.

"He's not my type. Nuhu won't be able to take care of me, what if we have children? He doesn't have a job. He doesn't have the right western or Islamic knowledge to hold up marriage talk less of knowing his rights and responsibilities. I'm not only thinking about myself, I'm also thinking about my children.

"If unfortunately we have children and then one day they ask him a question regarding Islam, I can bet my whole life he wouldn't be able to answer it. Same goes for Western education. He's not fit to be a husband. And he's also childish. I'm not saying I'm better than him but marriage... Marriage is no child's play. It's a legal binding between two people of opposite genders who have agreed to take up the responsibility of each other and offsprings to come.