Masjid Lovers

Chapter 2: The Confrontation

           *TFFFFFT* Another fart erupted from my buttcrack. It was the 3rd time since I tried praying dhuhr, and I kept breaking my wudhu. O Allah why is this happening to me? I thought to myself. I really should stop having a can of beans for suhoor.

I finished my dhuhr prayer after the third try and went to my desk to study for my biology finals. I plan on becoming a pharmacist when I grow up.

Having lived in a family full of doctors, I didn't have much a choice at what my future job was going to be. I had to ace the test if I were to ever meet my parents expectations. I am the only child of a Palestinian mom and an Egyptian dad. They moved to America after both getting accepted to Ivy League colleges after being raised in poor families. With hard work and determination, they surpassed all the hardships and became very successful. Although, my mother who was outstanding in chemistry, wasn't doing very well in English and was having difficulties adapting to the American life. Luckily my father was there to offer his help and guidance. They later became close, and the rest is history.

*BZZZZZZTT* I received a Facebook notification on my phone. Islamic Society of Frederick (ISF) tagged you in a photo. I quickly unlocked my phone to view it. It was an off guard photo of us breaking our fasts last night. I zoomed into myself and funnily enough, there I was, shoving hummus into my mouth. I skimmed through the comments reading predominantly of "MashaAllah" and "InshaAllah I'm coming tomorrow!" and came across a very familiar face as the profile picture. Monji Ben Sadek Ben Ali Ben Abdul Fatah Hamza Abou Karim was the name.

I immediately shuddered. Was this the man that spotted me relieving my gas during Maghrib? Or was it his twin? Brother? Cousin? I didn't know. I clicked on his profile to see who he was. To my demise, it ended up being him, the very man I abhorred. Although, he was kind of cute... ASTAGHFIRULLAH.

As a child of Allah, I should not be having these lustful thoughts, I should keep my mind halal and very pure. I mean, how was I going to get married with a record of dirty (astaghfirullah) thoughts?

I shook the thoughts out of my head and exited out of his page, not before looking through his posted photos. He seemed to be a mama's boy, which every Muslim girl should look for in a man. I stalked his profile even more. He had brown hair, which was styled in the most halal way possible, with olive toned skin and hazel eyes. He also had some stubble. It seemed like he was keeping it at a minimum. In short: he was an attractive man. But I had no plans or intention to get to know him in any way. He made me feel humiliated in the Masjid last night at Maghrib, by singling me out, and I had no desire to sympathize with him.. I didn't even know him! After catching myself staring at his photo again, I immediately logged off and got back to studying.

Like my professor would always say, "chemistry is an ocean" and it's best I start swimming.

______

There was going to be a potluck tonight at the ISF so I decided to cook Kanafeh. I got up from my couch and walked to my kitchen. I gathered all my ingredients together. I started by preheating my oven to 350 degrees F. I placed the kaitafi in a large bowl and poured melted butter over top. Then, I worked the butter through the threads until all the Kaitaifi was coated and very moist. Mashallah this beautiful dessert was instantly mouth watering.

After finishing by distributing and adding heavy cream and mozzarella cheese over the kataifi to create an even layer of cheese on the top, I placed the Kanafeh in the oven to let it bake for 30 to 45 minutes.

*BZZZZTT* Surprisingly another facebook notification popped up on my phone. It was Monji Ben Sadek Ben Ali Ben Abdul Fatah Hamza Abou Karim requesting to follow me. I did not know whether to accept him or not because he was the first guy I would ever accept on any social media. I decided to stay neutral and neither accept nor deny the request.