The Halaal Way

CHAPTER TWENTY

Narrated Anas (RA): Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "From among the portents of the Hour are (the following):
1. Religious knowledge will be taken away (by the death of Religious learned men).
2. (Religious) ignorance will prevail.
3. Drinking of Alcoholic drinks (will be very common).
4. There will be prevalence of open illegal sexual intercourse.

(Sahih al-Bukhari 80, Book 3, Hadith 22)

The chilling breeze of december penetrated the thin fabric she was wearing, grazing her skin with a cold touch, causing goosebumps to make an appearance uninvited.

She took off the camisole she was wearing and picked the atamfa A-shaped gown that was lying on the bed. Slipping into the gown was easy, but pulling up the zipper seemed the difficult. She couldn't quite pinpoint the problem as she struggled to zip up her dress.

A faint knock came on the door and even before she opened her mouth to grant the intruder permission to come in, the door was pushed open. Her lips automatically spread into a smile as she stared at him through the mirror that was in front of her. Only one man had the liberty to enter her room like that. Her husband, her Kamal.

He took slow steps towards her, his lips returning her smile. He held her shoulders tenderly when he was just a step behind her.

"Hey Pretty woman" He said in a voice that was a little above a whisper. Nihlah nibbled on her lower lip as she tried to force back the smile that was making out its way in full force. There was something about the way he always said that statement. It always came out with a hint of possessiveness and full of love and care that it always sent waves of electric currents dancing through her heart.

"Hey handsome, can you help with my dress? I can't pull up the zip" She said and his hands moved down to examine the zipper.

"An unwanted fabric got in its way" He explained as he carefully pulled out the fabric from the zipper. Then he zipped up the dress.

"Done" He said as he gazed at her through the mirror. She turned around to face him and before he knew it, their lips met in a quick peck.

"Thank you" She said with a mischievous smile and stepped aside in an attempt to run away from his hold, but before she could even take two steps, he caught her arms and held them firm.

"Just a peck? That's stingy of you Mrs Kamal"

Nihlah let out a soft chuckle.

"Did you just belittle my kind gesture? Well, you just helped with zipping my dress. I could have done it myself you know" She rolled her eyes, though her lips held a mischievous smile.

"And oh, Mr Kamal, you should learn to appreciate the little gestures. They actually matter the most" She said in what was supposed to sound like a stern voice and it was Kamal's turn to chuckle.

"You always have something to say, don't you?" He pulled her nose gently.

"I rest my case" He said and both of them chuckled.

She wore her hijab and tied her niqab securely over her face and after grabbing her purse, they headed out.

It was around past 5pm in the evening and they were going to Moh's house. The group of friends had organized a small get together to bond with one another. It was something they did once in a while, especially when any one among them got married.
Hamid was first, then Kaybee, then Kamal and then Moh. Hamid and Kaybee had held that small get together few months after their marriage. For Kamal, he didn't get to do it because of how complicated his early marriage days were, then came Nihlah's accident. Now Moh had beaten him to it because Nihlah was just recovering and he couldn't allow her undergo the stress of hosting three couples.