Assalaamu Alaikum" Nur greeted as she opened the door to the big duplex.
"Wa'alaikumusalaam" a female voice answered from inside.
Nur entered the house, nobody was in the sitting room, the sitting room is really huge, it was painted golden and lilac, the two colours on adjacent walls. The sofas were black with a touch of Gold, there was a white rug right in the middle of the room laying on the black and white tiles, a black and golden table stood elegantly on the rug and directly above it, hanging on the ceiling was a beautiful chandelier and on the far end of the room was a big standing fan and opposite it was an air conditioner.
"I just heard Nur's voice maybe you will listen to her, Nur, Nur," A voice called from the room.
" Ya Allah! not Humairah again, Yes umma." she answered
"Please talk sense into your sister's head, that girl will not be the cause of my death." Mrs Fatima said as she came face to face with her first daughter.
"Ok, umma, I will do just that after I pray Asr, I am already late as it is."
As she turned to go, Mrs Fatima extended a hand and held her daughter, Nur turned around to face her, her niqab still on her face.
"I'm so sorry dear, I didn't even allow you to remove your niqab nor did I ask how your day was. I watched your interview Ya Allah, my heart almost burst with pride, your Dad kept on calling
"Our daughter is on Tv , Our daughter is on Tv" as if I cannot see it. You know, Humairah kept on receiving congratulatory calls as if she is the one on TV, I just kept hearing
"Yeah, she's my sister, its in the genes" Mrs Fatima said, rolling her eyes playfully.
This was enough to ward off every fibre of fatigue from Nur, her family was proud of her that's all she needed
'Astagfirullah, ya Allah how could I have complained because they needed a little help, Astagfirullah.'she thought.
"Umma, don't mind that big headed girl, she just won't admit, I'm the best and I'm your Baby" she said a big, wide smile on her face as she made to hug her.
"No way, you stink, go and bathe and pray,then please knock some sense into that big headed's head." Mrs Fatima said as she kept her hands on Nur's. Though wrinkles were now evident around her orbits, she still was stunning with big brown eyes though tired now due to old age. Small nose and full small red lips, her black hair with touch of grey reaching her lower back, she stood tall and elegant as she motioned her first daughter to the room.
Nur laughed
"Torh Umma" she said between laughs.
After Nur took her bath, she recited her prayer, did her adhkaar then folded her praying mat and sat on the bed where her sister lay pressing Allah knows what on her phone.
"Mairah,Mairah, look at me." Nur called as she tapped her sister's legs
Humairah sat up to face her sister "Please Nur, I've heard enough lectures from Umma, please." she begged, raising her hand in a stop fashion.
"I'm not here to lecture you, I'm here to listen to you, to understand you as a friend and a sister, so talk to me with no worries of getting judged." Nur told her, hoping she sounded convincing enough.
"You have to promise to put yourself in my shoes." Humairah insisted.
"I promise." Nur replied eagerly
"You know about Imran right?" Humairah inquired
Oh no, not Imran again, that boy is the catalyst behind every rebellion Humairah has ever staged, apparently including the one she's still staging.
"I thought you guys were done, I thought you were done with haram relationships, you promised me that in exchange for my silence, remember? " Nur asked obviously baffled at the developments she missed.
"He apologized Nur, he went on his knees, I am telling you he truly regrets his actions." Humairah argued.
"This is the third time he's hurting you and this is the third time he's regretting it, how sweet." she said sarcasm dripping from her voice.
"Come on Nur we are humans, we are all prone to mistakes, anyway that's not the issue, he proposed and I accepted, we want to get married this year." she said enthusiastically.
"No way , that is not even possible, that man is an ill mannered woman beater, that is if we are leninient enough to ignore all his past atrocities and just how jobless he is, how could you think of marrying him, as if having a relationship itself wasn't disastrous enough, it was with him! and now marriage!! Are you planning to destroy your life...."
"Nur!!!" Humairah's scream cut her off.
"I know he is not the perfect guy, cut him some slack, we all have a past and we all lose our temper, please Nur, put yourself in my shoes, I'm in love with him, shouldn't I be able to make sacrifices for his sake, shouldn't I accept his flaws and give my all to change him?"
Humairah argued desperately.
"Mairah, you don't know what you are saying, you don't even know what love is, you are just blinded by your raging hormones obstructing every voice of reason, you are acting on impulse dear and anything you rush in you will definitely rush out losing more than you can ever recover. Mairah please don't destroy your life, you are just 22, please think about things with a clear head." Nur pleaded.
" I am thinking with a clear head" Humairah replied curtly.
"You are not, if not you will see that a relationship your parents don't approve of does not have their blessing, a relationship without your parents blessing doesn't have Allah's blessing, a relationship without Allah's blessing is doomed with no future and I hate to break it to you Humairah but this whole thing is wrong, because you started on the wrong foot, dating is haram and you know that but you still went ahead and did it all because of some stupid love, what good is a love that makes you go against your creator, your parents, your morals and your principles, tell me Humairah what good is it?" Nur chastised her, her voice louder than intended but she didn't care, she had to get her point across and looking at Humairah, it seems her effort wasn't totally in vain.
"But Nur, I'm in love with him and he is also very much in love with me." Humairah said throwing her hands in the air obviously too desperate to make her point.
"I have learnt from experience Humairah, that feeling called love, is not worth it if the person you are giving it to isn't worth it in the first place, for love it's the person, not the feeling." Nur's cold voice rang across the room mirroring the expression on her face.
"Experience?" Humairah asked confusion written on her face.
"Yes, experience and I'm going to tell you all about it now, then after that, any decision you take I won't oppose you because you have been well informed, after all, to be forewarned is to be forearmed." Nur replied.
Non English words and translation
Adhkaar- remembrance of Allah
Torrh - OK
Ummah- mother
Astagfirullah - I seek forgiveness from Allah (S.W.T)
Abba - father
Assalamu alaikum - peace be unto you
Wa'alaikumussalamm - peace be unto you too