All Of Me - (Islamic fiction, Z.M. Sequel)

Chapter 43

  "AL Salam Alykum W Rahmat Allah," The Imam said in the microphone, seconds later the whole Mosque chanted the same sentence in a beautiful melodic way finishing their Taraweh. The whole mosque erupted with small talk and sounds of movement as every woman or girl got to their feet to either chat with friends or moved in the direction of the doors to get home.

It's the first night of Taraweh. It's the first night I had ever gone to the neighborhood mosque and it was my first time praying Taraweh. To say I was feeling blessed was an underestimation. I was happy in the inside. It was like my soul was flying around my chest. The feeling of serenity you get when you stand between the hands of the lord just giving your all into praying and hearing the melodic sound of the Imam recruiting the ayat of Qur'an is just so beautiful.

"Allah accept from you, In Sha' Allah." A girl next to me said with a smile spread on her face. She looked around my age, she had dark brown eyes and a bronze skin. She wore hijab just like all girls and women in the mosque. The way she wrapped her scarf and the way she presented herself just gave me an Arab vibe. I could be wrong but she awfully reminded me of my cousins back home.

Turning my head to the side, I smiled politely and was about to reply to her when I noticed Mahinoor, Seif's younger sister, with her. "Noor, Hey." I smiled widely, genuinely happy that I saw her.

"Hey," She smiled shyly biting her lip, "You still remember me?" She asked in a low voice.

"Of course, I do. How are you? Ramadan Mubarak." I spoke with such fondness in my voice.

"Ramadan Mubarak," her smile grew wider within seconds yet she was a bit shy to show her happiness.

"Ehm," The girl that was with Noor cleared her throat awkwardly before she started talking plastering the same smile on her face, "When Mahi saw you she gushed and started talking really fast. She was so shy to come talk to you so I thought I should be the one to approach you. Thought you were a celebrity from the way she talked."

I laughed a quiet laugh that sounded more like a weird sigh than a laugh. Looking at Noor whose face was as red as a tomato, she was glaring at that girl for a split of a second before hiding behind her shyness when she noticed my attention on her once again.

"I'm Maha, by the way." The girl extended her hand for me to shake. That friendly smile never leaving her face the whole time.

"Maggie," I smiled a polite smile back at her.

Hearing a faint noise of a phone ringing, Maha quickly searched through her purse fondling through her stuff to find the ringing phone. Once she had found it, she answered talking in Arabic for less than a minute. I stood awkwardly waiting for her to finish, once she did, she turned her attention to us again, "Mom is telling us to bring yogurt for Suhor." She said putting her phone back in her purse.

Noor nodded then looked at me with a smile, "Would you like to walk with us? The market place is just around the corner from your place."

"You know where I live?" I chuckled lightly.

"Seif told me you live right next to the café place you study at." She bit her lip in shyness. No doubt feeling guilty for knowing such a detail about me without my own consent. She was much like her older brother in that way. They both are incredibly sensitive which makes it harder to make them loosen up or get close to them.

"It's okay. It's not a secret or anything." I brushed it off in an attempt to make her more relaxed about it, "C'mon then. We don't want to miss suhor."

We went to put our shoes on by the door of the Mosque. There weren't that many people standing at the doorway now. They must've left while we chatted.