I Love You, for the sake of Allah

Chapter 23

"Let's not control our children's life, Fathima"

Fathima roughly pulled her hands from Haroon's, looking at her husband in disbelief.

Did he just ask her to make a fraud's daughter, their daughter in law?

"What's wrong with you, Haroon? Are you even thinking straight?" She nearly yelled.

"Trust me, I thoroughly thought about it in the past three days. Now that we know things in detail, I think we should respect Haziq's choice and proceed with the proposal" Haroon was serene. The confusion, tension and pressure gone. He managed to sort it out like always. But his wife's case was nowhere similar.

"For God sake, Haroon. It's Adnan's daughter we're talking about"

"No. We're not talking about Adnan's daughter. It's about Raheem Ali's granddaughter" he said, referring to Mifra's maternal grandfather.

"As if it makes any difference" she rolled her eyes, taking deep breathes.

"It does. It definitely does. Mifra is raised by her mother and her grandmother. Not by Adnan"

"But she's the same blood as him"

"That's surely an unfortunate thing" Haroon shook his head and with a sigh, he added, "But I'm ready to look over it for my son's sake"

She gave him a look of disbelief. "You're not being you, Haroon. Please try to think straight. Don't take hasty decisions blinded by Haziq's love. I love him too but I don't want to do something which would cost us dearly in the future"

Making Fathima sit on the couch, Haroon sat closely beside her. They both facing each other.

"See, there are millions of people around the world who aren't in good terms with their parents or children. More than half of their's reason is that they did not respect each other's choices. Our son is respecting our opinion. He's neither forcing us to give in nor going against us. Did you not hear him last night?"

Fathima nodded in affirmation, her glassy eyes staring in space. Hearing Haziq the previous night, her heart did bloom with love and pride.

But did it melted enough to give in to his wish?

"He respects us and loves us more than anyone. If we did not approve of his choice, he will not hurt us by going against us. In the coming years, he might even get married to a girl of our choice. But all of this will leave a scar in his heart. His love and respect for us will not remain the same. He'll never forget how we caused him a heartbreak."

Fathima sighed, touching her forehead with her shivering fingers. Haroon's words sounded scary as well as painful. She does not wish to cause their son pain nor she wishes to lose his love and respect for them.

Scooting her closer, Haroon said, "My parents have been my best friends. Not because they gave in to my every demand. It's because they fulfilled the promise of understanding my perspectives instead of judging me. Remember, we decided to be the same with our kids?" He wait for Fathima to respond. But she remain quiet, making him continue,

"I did not like the career Nida chose but I let her go with it, wanting her live her life in her accord. And you were confused with Haziq's sudden interest in our religion as well. But you did not discourage him."

"That's altogether a different thing Haroon. It's about Haziq's entire life" she pleadingly looked up at him.

"Exactly. It's about Haziq's entire life. Let him decide what he wants and what he doesn't. Let's not take control of it. May God forbid, if anything goes wrong by us in taking decisions for him, we will not be able to forgive ourselves throughout our lives"