"no distance remained
and their souls resustained
despite the odds and ends
they blossomed in pain
and that was the beauty
of a halaal love story - sulaymaan."

As a final step, Inaya put in a pearl earring in her ear and locked it in place.

As she stepped away from her dresser to take a look at herself, she twirled around and let her long glittery gown swirl. Her hair lay in a high ponytail and her cheeks glowed with a faint tint.

Smiling satisfactorily, she cleaned up her room up from all the mess she had created.

Faaris was to arrive in a few minutes. She wasn't exactly prepared or ready so the whole situation made her stomach drop with nervousness. It was alright if things didn't go as she had planned but if anything went wrong, she knew she'd burst into tears.

Dropping down on her bed, she rocked her legs back and forth in an effort to relax herself and not stutter her emotions out.

She had just about began to rehearse her sentences when the doorbell rang and she jumped to her feet, eyes wide open.

Taking in short and quick breaths through her abdomen she walked up and down the room in a frenzy, anticipating Faaris' entry.

She heard him greeting her mother and playing with Mahreen a little as she heard the delighted giggles echo.

As she stood facing the door —  heart pounding erratically in her chest — the door slowly creaked open and Faaris entered with a dramatic pose, his chest out and one of his brows raised slightly than the other.

Standing by the door frame — with his signature manly pose — Faaris' mouth dropped open when his eyes fell at Inaya.

"Assalaamualaikum."

Inaya whispered, self consciously dropping her gaze to her feet.

It had taken him long enough to have her look at him the way he did. Patiently he had waited for months together. Never had he raised his voice and lost his smile.

And she was just fulfilling her duties now. So she let him do as he wished.

"Walaikumusslaaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu hayaati."

He murmured and took slow steps towards her.

"You look so beautiful."

She smiled, meeting his eyes.

"Thank you."

He hummed and pulled her closer, wrapping her arms around her waist and swinging her slightly.

"What's the occasion Habibti? You don't dress up so easily now do you?"

He mocked with a playful grin and she rolled her eyes.

"Stop taunting me."

"Why?"

She frowned.

"Because that pisses me off."

"Aw, my innocent Inaya gets pissed too?"

She glared at him.

"Stop it!"

"Stop it!"

He immitated her voice and when she scoffed, he laughed aloud and rested his head over her shoulder.

"Love you."

Inaya hesitated a minute, mumbling her words.

"Hate you."

He let her go and winked. Walking around while removing his watch, coat and loosening his tie, he started out with what happened at his workplace.

Inaya watched him absently as he placed his accessories in their places while blabbering about his day. The smile on her face could have been rather silly but for her, she just couldn't keep it in.

He was that sort of man who couldn't be quiet without spilling his guts to anyone he considered trustworthy. Danish — her brother— might have been the only one until he....was there for him.

Once the tragedy occured, things were left upturned and Inaya recalled how majority of the times she found him and her mother — Mariam — involved in a light and serious conversation over afternoon tea.

He was a family man.

It was pretty likely that he had always dreamt of speaking to Inaya of his day's adventure because not a day went without him giving her a minute to minute speech.

Her smile widened as he tried to unbutton his shirt but a button at his collar seemed stuck in place. The childish pout with the confused frown made her throw her head back in a cute laugh.

Getting up from her position, she walked up to him and stood just opposite. As his face relaxed and fell over hers with a delicate smile, she smiled back with a few tears brimming in her eyes. Unaware of the reaction he had been inviting, he shivered as Inaya slowly wrapped her arms around his neck and stood on her toes.

"This is what its like to be in love."

She mumbled and Faaris frowned a little, his mind still not able to process the situation.

"Huh?"

He hesitantly wrapped his arms around her waist and they stood just like that. Still and silent.

It was peculiar how silence held more of the feelings than the emotions themselves. In those few minutes, she learnt so much from his sensitive touch, gentle smile and happy talks. A vision of pure love. Silence was the best gift Faaris ever gave her.

"Inaya, you okay? What's with the sudden hug?"

She sighed, a smile crawling over her lips as she reluctantly pulled away from her.

Looking deep into his eyes — which she hardly ever did — she grabbed his large hands into hers and sucked in her lips for a second.

"Inaya, you're scaring me."

Her anxiety disappeared and she giggled a little.

"Relax Faaris. I....just have a little surprise for you."

His eyes instantly brightened.

"Really? A surprise?"

He shrieked and Inaya nodded to his chidish grin.

"Yeah, you wanna know?"

He nodded and bit his lip to keep the excitement level on check.

"I....ordered a gift for you....— "

She trailed off, peeking at him through her lashes to see if he would come up with any predictions. She raised her brows and he shook his head.

"Well, what is it?"

She sighed.

"I....it's going to take nine months to arrive though.....—"

She smiled with a little hint of pink in her cheeks. Dropping her gaze to the floor and sneaking a glimpse at him every so often to register his reaction, she found his brows furrowed.

"Did you order it from overseas? Why would it take that long to arrive?"

He pouted sadly and Inaya's mouth opened wide in astonishment.

"Faaris!"

She squealed in disbelief and he shrugged.

"Hey, what? It's not my fault. I thought I was getting my gift today."

She slapped a palm to her forehead.

"You're such a ruiner."

She mumbled and looked up at him, ready to face the challenge. He looked so confused that she had broken into a smile before quickly getting a hang of the situation. 

"Faaris, Habibi, think of what gifts I can give you in nine months?"

His gaze roamed wildly across the room and she crossed her fingers with hope.

"An......organic farm?"

She sighed and hung her head low, pinching her temples in order to prevent the tears from falling down.

"It's okay. I'll tell you later on."

She sadly murmured and had turned around when she heard a pretty loud thump. Scared of that impactful jerk, she abruptly whirled around to find Faaris on his knees.

He looked up at her with a few years trickling down his face.

"Don't be sad. I was just playing."

He mumbled, his voice so soft that Inaya felt her heart race.

"What can I say more.....you've left nothing to be told. You're a lovely daughter, a dauting sister and a perfect wife. And now you're about to take down the role of being a mother. What more can I say?"

She burst into tears. Faaris got up on his feet and walked up to her, caressing her cheeks and tilting her face up to mean his.

"Hey, it's alright. Why would you be crying? You've done your best already. Out of all the blessings I could be given, you chose to gift me the position of a father. Of course, it's Allah's gift for you but you're a bearer of his creation."

She sniffed, holding her hand against his.

"Are you....happy?"

Hopefully, she asked, meeting his gaze briefly. The tension in her eyes was too silly for Faaris. That was how her love was. She worried for him always.

Faaris tilted his head to a side, his eyes brimming with tears.

"What do you think? Is that even supposed to asked? This is the biggest and the best gift I've ever received. And to think that it came from you."

He mumbled and brought her closer, their foreheads touching.

No distance remained.

And their souls resustained

Despite the odds and ends

They blossomed in pain

And that was the beauty

Of a halaal love story.

Gabriel stretched his legs out in front of him.

Feeling much content than ever, he smiled in the air.

The day before — unlike anything he'd ever experienced before — a voice murmured into his ear.

Read.

It had said and he had instantly shivered in his place. This voice — though not disturbing — had a varied form of effect on him.

He had heard it several times before. But he never gave it much thought. Lucy had often mentioned hearing something similar and ever since he opened his heart to Islam, he had felt it a lot of times.

In the light of recent events — where all he was doing was ponder over Hafsa and wonder about Islam — he didn't keep his mind open to that.

However for a few days now, he had started to feel those voices again.

And that is when he decided.

Decided to accept Islam.

Something in his heart told that it was time. And the prescribed time was never meant to be delayed.

He had done it conventionally after the prayer of Asr. So many brothers out there had guided him on the missing links he had no clue of while praying salaah.

Once done, they all had sat down with him till Maghrib to brief him on the must know rules for beginners.

He had returned home feeling peaceful, light hearted and spiritually content.

Presently, he had picked up his phone and had clicked over his WhatsApp icon. This huge step of his life needed to be shared with the most important person.

Hafsa.

Smiling just at the thought, he clicked over her name and the chat box opened up revealing their previous conversations that were dated to about a month back.

His fingers hovered hesitantly over the keyboard. What troubled him was she would probably not be much bothered by it.

But it was his duty to inform her since she was a major influencer in his life.

Sighing loudly, he typed down his revelation, a pleasant smile hovering over his lips.

Assalaamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.

Hey Hafsa. It's been extremely long since we last chatted. I sincerely hope you're doing well.

I beg your pardon as I am breaking my promise for not maintaining distance from you.

I promise that this is the only time I'll ever contact you.

My reason is so very crucial and necessary to be known to you that I cannot keep you in the dark.

Of course you're not aware of what's happening in my life, but I do hope you still remember how I've always loved Islam.

You might be quite unaware of one incident in my life which I always felt.

Ever since I opened up my mind and heart to Allah and his words, a lot of unusual occurrences took place. Of which one happened to be the whispering.

Whispering of the word "read"

Nothing too scary or frightening. But just the hushed and hoarse voice almost like a sick person's.

However, it wasn't just the one time. Continuing over for months, it stopped when I started to have hardly any time to ponder over my surroundings.

Then it started a few days ago. After so very long.

And I didn't — as I had done always — ignore it.

I accepted the voice.

And I've accepted the truth today.

I'm a Muslim now.

Alhumdulillah.

I took my shahadah and testified to Allah.

I haven't broke this news to anybody. Yet.

In all honesty, I'm not quite sure of what to do about it. Would you mind suggesting your opinion?

Should I let this remain a secret or reveal it to everyone?

So, um, I guess that was it.

Thank you so much for assisting me in this journey.

May Allah SWT bless you abundantly.

P.S. I've already learnt on how to pray salaah properly. And I've memorised the suratul Fatihah too :)

He pressed the send button and sat up straighter in bed, his back against the pillow.

Life was so much more better now.

When the light of truth had guided him.

« Assalaamualaikum Princesses ❤

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.

I love you guys so much for being with me even uptil now. It's strange how I have no words to thank you all.

Take care my loves and please stay safe.

Much love,
Me ;) »