The Light Of Enlightenment

Chapter 5

I dedicated this chapter to BloomInTheMoonlight :) A very good friend who always encourages me with her lovely words^_^ She is also a great writer! Check out her works, you'll not be disappointed:)

When they finally managed to bring their emotions under control, Wasifa was the first to speak, ‘’I still have a couple of things to say and I’d like it if you listened to me even if you don’t like my words’’.

Unable to form a sentence with her voice still thick with emotion, Katherine gave a nod of approval.

‘’My husband and child was practically my whole world. I didn’t have any sibling and my parents lived in another country. So their death left me devastated, alone and utterly lost. I gave up on life literally, eating, sleeping and most importantly, I gave up praying. Which I never missed once since I fell in love with Islam in my early teens. I was the prime example of a living, breathing human corpse. I questioned the Almighty day after day. Why He took everything away for me and what He was punishing me so cruelly for. I was so angry and lost inside that at one point I even thought of taking my own life.’’

Katherine let out a gasp at her words.

‘’Don’t worry, I never tried. By then they had caught the murderer and he was locked up in the cell until his case was presented before the court. I went to visit him one day. I wanted to hear from his own mouth why he so cold bloodedly took two innocent lives that day. Made me a widow and childless in the span of a night. And that was another impulsive mistake that I made. He wasn’t sorry for what he did. There wasn’t a tiny speck of remorse in his tone. Rather he was  proud even. He had a twisted sense of belief that somehow he did a great favor to the country by eliminating two ‘terrorists’ and given the chance, he would do it again.’’

After a little pause she started again, ‘’Hearing his words was like fuel to the fire that already burned within me. I was so blinded by the idea of vengeance that counting down the days of his trial was the only thing that got me through day after day. I wanted to inflict the same amount of pain he inflicted upon me, I wanted him to suffer the same way I was suffering. I created my own personal hell and then I let it lead my life. Each passing day I was taking another step towards the edge of darkness and letting it drag me in its bottom-less abyss.’’

‘’Then, as if sensing my distress, my mother came to my rescue during those dark days. Whom, I‘d like to believe the Lord personally sent, as my own guardian-angel. She didn’t give me any lectures, or advice or reprimand. She just followed me around everywhere I went, as a constant companion. Never leaving my side and letting me feel lonely. And during those long nights and early mornings she would sit with the Quran before me and recite verses so I would listen. She would recite the verses that contained the messages that The Almighty tested His servant’s devotion with trials and hardships so that He can separate the truest believers.’’

[And We shall certainly test you, until We know those of you who strive their utmost (for God) and who are the steadfast; and We shall test your reported mettle’’47:31]

‘’She would tell me that adversity and afflictions are actually heavenly mercy, because they give the believers a chance to earn good deeds by being patient and loyal and even the loss of loved ones is one such trial.’’

[You shall certainly be tried and tested in your possessions and in your lives, and you shall certainly hear much that will grieve you but if you patiently persevere and be pious then surely this will be of great resolution.’’41:35]

‘'One such verse that moved me the most was, I quote, ‘’and know that your worldly possessions and your children are but a test and it is with God, with whom, lies your highest reward.’’[8:28]