Alnihayya

||C o l l a p s e||

(Sorry for ignoring all your comments on the previous chapter! I had work on the SECOND DAY OF EID)

This one is for amazing71
:)

F i f t y F o u r

"I went to the West and saw Islam but no Muslims. I came back to the east and saw Muslims but no Islam."

-Sheikh Muhammad Abduh-
☆

Mashal
"You are so clever zawjati! You were planning to sleep on the floor and get the reward of the sunnah alone so you could get to a higher level of jannah than me and marry someone else there?"

"Out of all the reasons a person could sleep on the floor, you thought of that?"
I smiled, my mind fooling me into thinking that the muddy, uneven floor I was asleep on, was in our room and that Zeyara was with me which was enough to make that floor softer, more comfortable than plush silk mattresses.

It was, however, the opening of my eyes that threw me off the silk into a bed of needles.

The headless, limbless body was still there, even though the terrorists had gone.
Everything smelled of blood and death.

I felt blood pool in my mouth from the tongue I had just bitten through in an attempt to not scream.
My body shook with fear as the hiccups and sobs escaped my mouth.
How could they use The Most Loving's name while doing that?
How could they call themselves Muslims, let alone say Allahu Akbar while doing something so vile?

Beside me, Zeyara had opened his eyes too. I wasn't sure if he had been awake to witness the sickening scene but seeing me tremble like that, he did the only thing he had left power of.
Extend his arm.
I Immediately accepted the offer, letting him wrap his good arm around me while the injured one lay at his side. I soaked myself into his comfort and this time, didn't refrain myself from crying. This was the first time I was considering that maybe baba was right. Maybe I should've stayed in Manchester and perhaps never have to see this.
No one should ever have to see this.

The door rattled, I shrunk more into my husband wanting to block out the cruel world and I could feel him go stiffer too. We were not ready for more torture. Neither physical, nor emotional.
Then again, Allah doesn't burden a soul beyond what it can bear.

The door opened and a troubled Sanan pranced towards us with a polythene bag in his hand.
A strange relief washed over his previously stressed face when he saw the corpse.
"Alhamdulillah." He mumbled beneath his breath, earning a disgusted glare from me.

"When I heard they slaughtered someone in here, I was thinking of...you. That's why." He tried explaining the reason behind him thanking God.

I was too shattered to reply and retorted to stay silent, still being in Zeyara's grasp which made me feel safe. Zeyara however, needed only Allah to make him feel safe. The type of strength of Iman, I wish I had.

"W-w who was h- he?" He asked Sanan with a stuttering difficulty.

"A US spy." Sanan shrugged. "This was nothing really. Last Eid al Adha they hung people from meat hooks and butchered them like sheep in a slaughtering house. The smell lingered for months."

I shuddered at the imagery, clenching Zeyara for support. This was just too much.

Sanan dragged the corpse out, leaving blood smeared on the floor and walls. I wish we were not wounded and could run away from the dreadful place. But neither was Zeyara in a position to walk, nor would my injured leg take me far.