As soon as Ashabi left his house, he put a call through to Adnan and invited him to come see him alone.
“Is this evening okay sir?” Adnan asked
“I will surely appreciate it.” The Imam said and he did showed up that evening before Maghreb and they didn’t had any discussion until after Ishai..
“Alihamdulilah, I had spoken with her and she gave her consent. “ The Imam said.
“Ma Sha Allah.” Adnan said
“But I have some questions for you, as the appointed Wali for Ashabi and also because I care so much about these two girls from the first day, Ismail introduced them to me ... My first question is this , Why are you not married until now?” He asked him and Adnan sighed deeply.
“Alihamduliah... For several years, getting married had not been something that fancy me ... This is not because I don’t know the importance of marriage in Islam but because I was scared and perhaps also because I didnt really see someone that fancy me enough for marriage, year after year .. I also thought my crises might be the last one for me , the doctors predicted several years but I exceeded them all Alihamdulilah... Most times I wonder what would happen to that woman who might become a widow in her prime because of me and the kids that might become orphans because I left too early ... These were my fears until recently (he sighs ) knowing Yasmina and her sister changes a lot about me ... The more I get to know them, the more I could not control myself ... Perhaps I become too greedy... the desire to get married seem higher and there is no one I would rather have as a wife than her.” He explained.
“Alihamdulilah, I am glad for your honest and detailed answer.” He said , he was glad because he was able to understand from his reply that he is not planning to get married to her for pity , he likes her and also he understand his reason for getting married.
“We are here on this earth to serve Allah and accept all that He has destined. Yes, you are sickly but it is what Allah has destined... It does mean that would kill you ... How much more be the reason why you stay unmarried ... I lost my son at the age of twenty... May Allah forgive him and grant him Jannah.. Abdul Fattah has always been an active and healthy child, of all my children, he was the only one that can stay without falling sick for ten years...he was that healthy ... through out his first ten years, he fell sick twice and guess what? His third sickness took him at the age of twenty. We never saw it coming, so it does not really matter... As long as your spouse understand this about you... And accept you for who you are ... Don’t let your health stop you from not getting married.
“Even a sterile man can get married, as long as he didn’t hide this with his wife to be except if his sterile case is not certain. ... I am happy that you have decided to take this step.” The Imam said to him
“What is your plan about her education?” The Imam asked.
“Ins Sha Allah, that won’t stop ...
“Have you told your parents about this? I mean about her?” The man asked and he nodded. He didn’t want to let him know about their reactions just yet, so he went deeper.
“Na’am.” He said.
“But there is something I will like us to think about ... This is because of the future .. as you know these two girls are orphan even though according to them , they didn’t have a paternal uncle but they have a aunt .. also they have maternal family ... I think you should think of paying them a visit ... I am not saying I won’t be their wali... But I think it is ideal we search for them too...even if they don’t care .. let us do that. “ The Man said to him and Adnan nodded, he had also been thinking of having that discussion with Shade.
“Let us do everything as fast as we could ... How soon do you want the Nikkah to be?” The imam asked him and he sighed. His mind went to his parents again.
“As soon as possible.” He said to the Imam and he nodded.
He left the Masjid very late and he drove home, he tried his best to restrict his visit as much as he could since he sent his proposal ... But he knows he had to call her ... There are so many things to ask her.
She is after all smart and old enough to make decisions. As soon as he stepped into his living room, he knows for certain that she had come to his house ...
How she always come to his house to care for the house when he is not home always baffles him , she always makes sure he is not home since his admission at the hospital several weeks back it however being a while that she had come to do that in his house and he realized that she stopped coming since the day she met his mother and he wonder why.
He sighed deeply and strolled to the kitchen that had been tidied up and he silently pray that she prepared some dishes.. he was hungry and tired and thus he got himself a bread for dinner.
He moved to the warmer and met the Amala that she had prepared and eave a sigh of relief.
He served himself Dinner and after the food, he sat down to relax in his living room, he rested his head on the sofa and that was when his phone rang.
He checked who the caller was and realised that it was her. He let it ring for a while until it got disconnected and then he called her immediately.
They exchanged teslim and he apologized for not picking her calls when it rang.
“I know you would not pick it... But will call back.” She said to him from the other end.
“And Jazakallahu khayr for coming to assist in my house today ... But you know you don’t have to do any of these things.” He said to her.
“You are paying our fees ... Taking care of us... It is the little we can do.” She said to him
“Still yet, you don’t have to do all these.” He said to her.
“I should ...” She said and stopped.
“I have been wanting to call you but today is kind of hectic... I got home not long ago.” He said to her.
“Yes, I saw you drive to the Masjid this evening.” She said to him.
“Oh... Really? ...I am sorry I could not come in to say teslim... I thought it was late.” He said to her.
“No worries.” She said to him.
“And ... About the wedding Proposal ... Jazakallahu khayr for accepting it ... I really do appreciate.” He said , he didn’t know how best to put it.
Sometimes he thinks that he was taking too much advantage of her and that she might not reject it even if she wants to. The thought of it scared him.
What if she didn’t want to get married to me?
“Are you comfortable with the answer you gave ... You know you can always reject if you want to.” He found himself saying and there was a heavy silence from the other end.
“Yasmina... Are you there?” He asked her and heard her sigh.
“Is there something you want to say?” He asked her. .
“Yes... That was why I called ... I could not say it to the Imam or to anyone ...” She started and his heart was beating faster.
Does it mean that I will be rejected?
“Hummm.” She sighed.
“Would you still want to marry me if you hear about what I have done in the past ... ?” She asked him and sighed again.
And he sigh too, what could a Young lady of twenty one have done in the past ...
“How bad was it?” He asked her
“Very bad.” She said and he sighed again.
“Did you commit shirk?” He asked ,
“No...I didn’t observe Salah often in the village but I do now.” She said to him.
“Hmmm, did you kill someone?” He asked her.
“No.” She said to him.
“Did you commit Zina?” He asked her and she was quiet ... He was too... he didn’t expect it ...
“Yasmina....are you there?” He asked.
“Yes.” She answered and he heard her sniffed in her tears.
“Are you crying?” He asked
“No...” She said and sniffed in the tears again.
“Come on... Everyone has a past, but what is important is that we seek for complete forgiveness from Allah and not go towards that ugly past again.” He said.
“So to me, as long as you don’t go back there... we can let it go .. because your past does not matters.” He said to her.
“ Are you sure?” She asked.
“Na’am.” He said to her.
“And what if we never discuss it....again ... “ He asked.
“You don’t want to hear about it?” She asked.
“No, Zina are meant to be concealed.” He said to her and she was silent.
“What if it comes to haunt me in the future?” She asked him after a while.
“Let us cross the bridge when we get there.” He said to her
“Thank you for trusting me.” He said to her.
“Thanks ... “ She said.
“Is there anything else?” He asked her.
“No.” She said.
“Alright, ... Then let us call it a night then.” He said to her.
“Okay... Good night.” She said and hung up, perhaps he would call her at another day, she seem so bothered about what she had just told him.
©Umm Rumaysah