Falling Innocently

Chapter 6 -Preparations

Chapter 6- Preparations

"Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “When the human being dies, his deeds come to an end except for three: ongoing charity, beneficial knowledge, or a righteous child who prays for him.”

Source: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1631

Grade: Sahih (authentic) according to Muslim"

After a date was set and agreed upon, the two houses were in a flurry of motion. They rushed around, made frantic calls and dashed between places, just to have things done the way it should be. An Imaam was called and asked to do the Nikkah.

At Waliya’s house, her mother was frantic and a ball of energy. It was slightly annoying, but that was to be expected. It was an Indian wedding after all. There were just too many preparations that needed to be done and with all the nosy and inquisitive neighbours in the area, it was a mission to get any work done.

“Waliya!” Nafeesa screamed for youngest child, tired already and yet there were still a mountain load of work to do.

“Jee,” she yelled and ran down the passage to her mother.

“Answer the door, please?” she sighed as she briefly looked up from the meat she was cleaning for supper. “Waliya, your scarf,” she reminded her daughter.

With a sheepish look at her mother, Waliya turned and grabbed the closest scarf strewn across the sofa. Wrapping it hastily around her head, she opened the door to reveal her future husband. She blushed and looked down, then stood back and motioned for him to come in. “Assalaamualaikum,” she greeted softly.

“Wa’alaikumusalaam, is your mother in?” he asked as he passed her and walked into her lounge area.

“Jee, just a minute,” she said and dashed off with blushing cheeks. Wallah, he is so handsome, she thought. Subhanallah, Allah has seriously blessed you.

“Mummy,” she said as she walked into the kitchen. “Aahil is here,” she said and ducked her head, trying to hide her blazing cheeks.

Her mother just chuckled. “Wallah, you are too innocent, my daughter,” she said and patted her shoulder as she washed her hands and walked out.

Waliya stayed behind in the kitchen, eager to know what they were going to talk about, but she was way too shy to go back into the room with Aahil in it. Her nervous were getting the better of her. She paced the kitchen up and down and back and forth, before deciding to just use her energy for better things, like start cooking the meat that her mother had cleaned. She pulled out the little manual twister used for cutting onions and peeled, quartered and then chopped the onion in the twister. After heating the oil and ensuring it was hot enough, she threw the onions in and let it fry for a while. Slowly, slowly, once it turned golden brown she added in her spices and things, let it flavour and cook in before she threw in the meat.

It was once the meal was nearly done, that actually noticed Aahil’s presence.  “That smells nice,” he commented and she jumped a mile high.

She smiled and touched her scarf, a habit when she was caught unaware, then spoke. “Uhm, Jazakallah,” she said and turned away, stirring the food and making sure it doesn’t burn. Once she was satisfied, she took it off the stove and placed it in the oven to keep warm. Grabbing yet another pot, she placed in on the stove with the least amount of water in it and let it boil while she filled the kettle.

All the while, she was aware of Aahil’s observant eyes on her. It unnerved her slightly, but she had no guts to tell him that. In fact, she was much like a jelly fish around him: spineless. “Your mother asked me to stay here while she just gets something her room. I don’t think she knew you would be here,” he spoke.