Changing Circles

The Final Circle

The day for the acquaintance party came. Everyone was present in all their morning classes. But by afternoon time, only half of them remained. Their teachers said that they were excused from their major subjects to give time in preparing for the night's event. Louise and the squad missed the class. She stopped asking Sitti to go with her since that day she declined. She was probably still displeased with her since she acted cold for the entire two weeks. Sitti on the other hand just acted civilly. She was tired.

The teacher for the last subject for that day also did not meet. Everyone was excited for the party, except Sitti and Shams who were excited to go home.

The party started at 6pm and ended by 11. It was held at a convention hall at the far east side of the city. Photos of their block mates and friends in the accounting department flooded her newsfeed. But alhamdulillah, she didn't feel any bit of envy to be in their places.

9pm came when a live video was shown on Facebook. Posts from friends who were at the party kept coming. Contrary to the lively posts expected from them, it was rather bad news. Fire broke out in the convention hall.

The party got halted as people ran outside to escape. Sadly, with the long curtains and alcohol that was reported to be present in the hall, the fire escalated quickly. There were students who got trapped. It even took a while for the firemen to come since the convention hall was far from the city. Five students were hospitalized with third-degree burns.

Sitti learned about all these happenings only after she prayed fajr and read the Qur'an the next morning. She was grief-stricken. Their group chat was loaded so she backread. Thankfully, none of her block mates were hurt.

Sitti sat weakly on her bed with her phone in her hand. She continued scrolling through her feed to get the latest news. She found the five students who were hospitalized. One of them was in critical condition. She found herself feeling cold, not because it was early in the morning or was it because of the aircon. She got scared. She started crying. She remembered the post that she read last time. What if she was there? And what if, instead of just being burnt, Sitti died?

It was on a weekend, and they had a three-hour class but it got canceled because of what happened last night. She didn't want to attend too. She wasn't on the scene, but it sure did affect her too.

The sun had already risen but she hadn't calmed down yet. She wanted to talk to someone, but it was still too early in the morning. She didn't want to disturb anybody. She was still in her prayer dress, so she stood up again and prayed Salah Ad-Duha. She needed comfort to envelope her.

She couldn't speak the words clearly as she was hiccupping from the cry that she just did. But alhamdulillah, as she turned her head for tasleem, she found herself at ease. She made dhikr and she believed it was the sincerest subhanallah, alhamdulillah and Allahu akbar that she ever did in her life. She was so happy that Allah saved her from a probable tragedy. She knew she sounded morbid but that was what she felt. She felt like she was close to dying badly but a rope was thrown at her, gripped her body and pulled her to a safe ground. And she knew it was Allah.

When Sitti and Louise met in class the following week, she made sure she asked how she was. Setting her grudge at Sitti aside, she told Sitti what happened. She told her how she was so scared because the fire broke out just two tables away from them. She showed her some of her bruises too which she got as they were running towards the exit. She was thankful that she was able to escape and be safe. Sitti was thankful that she was not there in the first place.

That incident during the acquaintance party was a lesson for all. But most especially for Sitti. With deeper reflection, she realized how she was saved by Allah through Shams.

If Shams didn't persist in preparing Sitti Sahoor last Ramadhan that eventually made her realize how nice she was, she doubt if they will really be friends. If Shams just left Sitti with her previous munafiq self, she will still be the same. If Shams didn't pull her to that symposium they first had, she will not be reminded of caring about her identity as a Muslim. If Shams didn't force her to sit with the MSA sisters though she felt out of place because she wasn't wearing the Hijab, she wouldn't be knowing the friends who were worth keeping. If Shams just threw at her the facts that music and partying are haram without effort, fully building a friendship with her first, she doubted if she ever listened to her. She might be at that party, oblivious to the sins she was committing, arriving to an end she will eternally regret. Alhamdulillah, Shams was there, her sister fillah.

She started to stay in the prayer room with her MSA sisters again as long as she needed. Louise stopped talking her out of it again. Perhaps, she finally understood. Or perhaps, she just got used to it. Or perhaps, she grew tired of Sitti. They remained as friends. But no longer the BFFs they once were. She knew it was her fault because she changed. But she did not regret changing because it was for the better. If Louise was indeed a true pal, she would accept Sitti for who she is and for whoever she wanted to be. She was once a negligent Muslim and now trying her best to be an obedient one. It came with a sacrifice. But Allah replaced it with someone better, Shams and her MSA sisters.

Sitti always thought that Louise was the friend she needed. So, they became best friends. As she was losing her, Allah gave her Shams, the friend she never thought of needing. How consistent Allah is!

"And it may be that you dislike a thing and it's good for you, and it may be that you love a thing while it is evil for you, and Allah knows, while you do not know." (Qur'an 2:216)