MARJAAN- COMPLETE HALF OF MY DEEN (#YourStoryIndia) (#ProjectWomenUp)

Chapter 10 -The decision

Narrated Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf:

"The Prophet (pbuh) went out to the place where the sadaqah was kept, then he faced the Qiblah and fell in prostration, remaining like that for a long time. Then he raised his head and said, "Jibreel came to me with good news, he said, 'Allah says to you, "Whoever sends blessings on you, I will send blessings on him, and whoever sends greetings of peace to you, I will send greetings of peace to him,"' so I prostrated in thankfulness to Allah." (Ahmad)

Amjad P.O.V

To say that I was euphoric was an understatement, I went complete
bonkers, as Farza would say. I ate, I slept, I laughed, and I dreamt
about Marjaan's candle every second that passed. I met her father and
her brother Ijaz at mosque and we exchanged pleasantries. But never
have I suspected Ijaz to be another Farza.

He started picking on me as
well, "Salaam, brudder-in-law", he dawdled everytime he saw me. Once I
even threw a crumpled piece of paper at him to make him stop. Crazy
Fellow would never stop! I thought. My friends too, were equally
talented to annoy.

During bike rides at the beach, I often wondered how it would be to
have Marjaan as my pillion rider. I've had only two women sit on my
bike before, Ummi and Farza. Soon she will be my halal wedded wife, I
hoped. While we sat down to chat, my friends noticed me zoning off
often, and they exchanged knowing glances, which I caught and gave an
embarrassing smile.

Alright, I had to channel my thoughts to other
areas, but eventually, all my attempts ended in vain.

I opted to stay indoors as much as I could, for two reasons. One I
will be missing home soon, and two, I didn't want to pass by her bus
stop as I would get lost in thoughts again. Just then Farza walked in
with Rayyu baby, in apparent hurry. I mentally prepared myself to face
another classic Marjaan parody she must have worked on, as she was a
natural at this.

"Amju can you please get me some money from the ATM machine? I totally
forgot and the electricity bill is due today"

"Of course, gimme your card."

Maybe passing by her bus stop is not a bad thing after all. She gave
me her card and her PIN number, and I slowly strolled to the ATM
machine. I came back, handed her the money and went to take a bath as
the heat was killing me. I must say, I almost got used to Ireland's
weather, while Farza rolled her eyes.

I got out in my faded old college tees and khaki three-fourths,
looking forward to raid the fridge. Farza was still there looking at
the TV screen,.

"Hey Farza, you didn't leave yet? I thought you were in a hurry."

"Yes Amju, I need to get going but I was waiting for you to come out
as I needed my card" she said with her eyes still glued to the screen.

"What card Farza?" I asked stupidly.

"My ATM card, silly! The one you just used before you rushed to take a
bath, Mr.Eskimo".

"Ooh. Hang on" I said emptying my wallet, but it wasn't there.

"Oh Allah I have forgotten to take it back from ATM machine! I'll go
get it right away!" I ran before she could say anything.

Her voice trailed me as I jumped down the porch "stupid beauty bath...
for an hour...card stolen "
I ran to the ATM machine, and to my horror there was no card. I was
dumbstruck I have never been so irresponsible in my life.

I got out and enquired the watchman about the number of visitors after
I left, this chap was really old and he was partially deaf, after
minutes of trying to communicate he told me to go to the bank and
block card.