Musings.

A/N: The Aayaat of this chapter will be part of the story, as it struck me so hard, that I really wished to share my thoughts regarding these Aayaat, through Bilaal. Every Aayah of the Quraan is a lesson and a message, no doubt, but some Aayaat make your hair stand and Surah Al Jaathiya is one of them. In Sha Allah for most of the story I am going to use Aayaat from this specific Surah. I feel that it fits well with the story.

* * *

ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَٰكَ عَلَىٰ شَرِيعَةٍ مِّنَ ٱلْأَمْرِ فَٱتَّبِعْهَا وَلَا تَتَّبِعْ أَهْوَآءَ ٱلَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ

Then We put you upon the (right) Way of Religion: so you should follow this (Way), and follow not the desires of those who know not.

إِنَّهُمْ لَن يُغْنُوا۟ عَنكَ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ شَيْـًٔا ۚ وَإِنَّ ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَآءُ بَعْضٍ ۖ وَٱللَّهُ وَلِىُّ ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ

They will be of no use to you in the sight of Allah: it is only Wrong-doers (that stand as) protectors, one to another: but Allah is the Protector of the Righteous.

هَٰذَا بَصَٰٓئِرُ لِلنَّاسِ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّقَوْمٍ يُوقِنُونَ

These are clear evidences to men and a Guidance and Mercy to those of assured Faith.

Inner peace, love, awe and fear, an array of mixed emotions is what he felt when he recited these Aayaat. The Book of Allah is so amazing, it is the only book that can cause various emotions to erupt within you all at once. He had never felt this way when reading any other book.

SubhanAllah, it is truly so amazing that when he had read a book in the past, when he came across a good part, he would experience only the emotion of happiness, when he came across an exciting part, he would only be thrilled, when he came across an unpleasant part, he would only experience the emotion of anger, when he came across a sad part, he would only experience the emotion of disappointment, but when it came to the pure words of the Quraan, not only did he experience various emotions all at once, but each emotion he felt was on a whole different level.

When he recited regarding the rewards for performing good deeds and how pleased Allah Ta'allah is with worship etc, despite being a sinful servant, those verses filled him with so much of hope and so much of joy that he felt his heart would burst with happiness and he wished he could worship Allah SWT for eternity.

When he recited regarding the gardens and countless bounties of Jannah, he became so ectstatic that he yearned for a sneak peek of Jannah. When he recited regarding the power of Allah, his heart would be filled with fear, but love at the same time and he would be left awestruck and bewildered.

When he came across the punishments of the previous nations, it created a firm desire in him to abandon their ways and to never follow in their footsteps. When he read about the punishments in the hereafter it created fear in his heart, not fear that caused him to hate his Creator, rather fear that caused him to try and stay away from what displeased his Creator, fear that made him understand the importance of staying away from evil and fear that made him understand the supremeity and power of his Lord.

The Aayaat made him ponder, Allah had shown him the right path, granted him knowledge and wisdom, he was capable of understanding what was right and wrong, yet how much of that Knowldge did he put to use? Allah has clearly stated in the Quraan that the right way should be followed and not the way of those who do not know, yet it is heart breaking and extremely sad that we don't follow the correct way.
We have no excuse, everything is simple to understand and is clear cut with no ambiguity, yet we still follow the deviated path.

How many youth there are that prefer to adopt the dressing of the latest trends and fashions, not caring that it is indecent or absolutely foolish looking. How many there are that want to adopt the swag look and not the Sunnah look. How many there are that will willingly shave off their beards, adopt funky two legnth hair styles, discard their modest clothing, change modest hijaab into an immodest fashion statement, claim that it is okay for women to leave the safety of their homes without their mahrams in the name of ' extra activities', 'keeping fit' ,' being active', all this just to 'fit' into society. When in actual fact men and women are following the ways of kufaar and being freely exposed to non mahrams.

Allah SWT clearly says in the Aayah that the wrong doers will be of no use for you in the sight of Allah, the wrong doers will try to protect one another, but Alas! Only Almighty Allah's protection for the righteous ones will be of benefit. If we follow the ways of deviated people, how will we gain Allah's protection on the day of qiyaama?

He never understood why men would adopt such ways of dressing when the Sunnah apparel made a person look neat, tidy and elegant and besides that, a person would be rewarded for dressing the way Nabi صلى ألله عليه و سلم ordered us to dress and Allah becomes pleased when a person dresses this way. He never understood why girls needed to leave their home to stay fit , when excercise could be done at home. Aaisha رضى الله عنها and Nabi صلى ألله عليه و سلم raced with each other, but it was done in privacy where she was not exposed to non mahrams.

Basheera had once shown him a post on instagram of a woman who had written as a caption something that upset him greatly. She had written, all those women who avoid going to the gym with the excuse of it not being proper or not being modest, are just being lazy to stay fit. When he had heard that, he had shook his head in disapproval.

This is what the world had come to, one thing was to go out and gym in the presence of non mahram men, but it was totally unacceptable to point fingers at those who chose not to leave their homes and work out infront of other men who could freely watch them moving and shaking their bodies while working out.

It is immodest, impermissible and unbecoming of a Muslim woman to leave the safety of her home to 'keep fit', to change modest hijaab to a fashion statement, to adopt the ways of kufaar women and claim that it is allowed in the modern world.

Islaamic laws remain the same, modesty should remain intact, whether it be in an Islaamic country or not, be it in the past, simple world, or in the present modified world, or the future advanced world, Hayaa will always be required from every Muslim.

We do not have to do impermissible things to 'fit in', Allah has created us and guided us to Islaam not to fit into society, but to stand out and we should be proud of our deen, we should wear haaya like an exquisite crown, we should carry ourselves with dignity and honour, for we are the Ummah of Nabi صلى ألله عليه و سلم and we should be proud of who we are.

He closed the Quraan gently, placing it on the top shelf of his cupboard, he removed his thobe and topee. With his t-shirt and sweat pants, he walked out of the house, inhaling the crisp, fresh air. He loved jogging around the house and walking bare feet in the garden after fajjar, the atmosphere after fajjar was always so crisp and fresh and he enjoyed those early morning walks and jogs immensely.

After he had completed his jog, he walked into the house, drenched in sweat and desperately in need of a shower. He entered the kitchen for a glass of water and was surprised to see Basheera sitting on the step outside the kitchen door, her hand curled around a cup of steaming hot coffee, a few wisps of her hair escaped her messy bun, framing her face, a deep frown was etched on her face, a look of extreme pain and longing evident in her eyes, she sat deep in thought, not noticing his presence.

She was hardly ever awake after Fajjar, due to being a habitual late sleeper.Unlike him who loved early morning walks and watching the sun rise, she loved her bed and would rather reside in dream land at this time. She would only ever be awake after Fajjar if she was forced to, due to important work or if something was troubling her and from the look on her face he knew it was the latter.

He could never see her distressed, it pained him and since their father passed away he became even more overprotective and caring towards her, for he knew very well that she was their father's princess and the coolness of his eyes and during his final days , directly and indirectly he had told him many times to give his sister special treatment, love attention and care as she needed it the most.

Even though she always put on a tough exterior, she was really still a broken, scared little girl on the inside, who found it very difficult to cope with what had transpired in the past. If it had not been for her Imaan, she would have been in a severe depression.

He had no idea what troubled her now, but he would not be at peace until he knew what it was. He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, poured himself some water, then sat on the step beside her.

She turned to him, passing him a weak smile, she replied to his greeting, then took a long sip of coffee, trying to avoid her brother's concerned gaze, that silently searched the reason for the sadness brimming in her eyes.

She just wanted to be left alone, but not wanting to seem rude, she remained silent, turning her face back towards the rising sun. It was a beautiful sight to witness and if she wasn't such a late sleeper and lazy to stay up till the sun rose, she would enjoy this mesmerizing sight every day.

Now she understood why her brother liked mornings, it was a serene and peaceful atmosphere, but much like an owl, she was more of a stay awake at night person.

He lightly bumped her shoulder with his own, asking her what was it that troubled her. She tried her best to keep her emotions under control, yet that one question and his concern filled eyes caused the dam of tears to break free from her saddened eyes. She leaned against his shoulder and cried her heart out, as he wound his arm around her back, silently comforting her.

Once she had cried till she could no more, her sobs turned into light sniffles, she wiped away the last of her tears, resting her head on his shoulder, she shut her eyes, taking a deep breath.

It was already four years since her death, yet her pain and longing only seemed to increase with every year, people were wrong when they said that time would heal, time never did heal her, it only made her grieve and long more for the company of her beloved twin sister.

She inhaled a gulp of fresh air, calming herself down, it was the decree of Allah, Nazeera was never meant to live on this earth longer than eighteen years.

She no more resided on this earth, yet their memories created together still lingered in her mind, she was no longer there to flash her mesmerising smile, yet her smile was still vivid in her mind, her twinkling laughter could no more be heard, yet she could still hear it faintly in her dreams, her warm hugs could no more be felt and that was what she missed and longed for the most. It broke her every day, and she never forgot her for even a second, but she had to be strong for In Sha Allah they would reunite in Jannah one day.

"It's the 28th of January today."

She spoke, her voice barely a whisper. If he hadn't been so close, he would have never heard what she uttered.

A lone tear escaped her eye, as she swallowed the lump in her throat, preventing the flow of more tears.

His grip around her tightened, it was the day his beloved sister had passed away. He was always closer to Nazeera , she was more like him, they had very similar personalities and even looked alike.

Basheera and Nazeera were not identical twins, infact she resembled him alot and those who didn't know them, always assumed that Bilaal and Nazeera were twins. The death of his sister broke him as much as it broke Basheera, but he managed to cope with it in a better way than she did.

After her death, the two of them had become closer and after their father's death, they had become even closer. Now they sought comfort in one another whenever their loss would inflict a strong pain upon their hearts, but they both knew well that Allah SWT had His reasons and His will should never be questioned, they knew that she had suffered in silence for two whole years and only after she had passed away a diary had been found amongst her belongings explaining what she had endured behind closed doors, while they were absolutely ignorant of what she was going through.

The world was sometimes cruel and harsh to the most kind and soft hearted people and she was a victim of cruelty for no fault or mistake committed from her part, but never once did her lips utter a complaint against what had transpired in her life, never once did they see a look of displeasure on her face, nor an emotion of sadness in her eyes. She hid her emotions so well and kept her inner turmoil to herself, she endured every hardship most patiently, never giving them a hint of what her life had become until she was finally granted death, which was a gift for her and she was finally put to rest in her final abode.

They prayed to Allah and hoped that her final abode would be one of ease, comfort, happiness and goodness.

They often blamed themselves for not being able to detect a trace of sadness in her eyes, yet deep down they knew it was difficult to figure out, as she was always seen with a radiant smile and for some strange reason she still had the sparkle in her eyes. Perhaps her eyes shone with happiness because she knew she would be rewarded immensely in the hereafter for all her troubles.

She didn't have to endure the grief that she did, yet she chose to remain where she was, hoping and praying that the next day would be a better day. She was a sparkle of light and full of life, even though she was dying on the inside and she would forever be loved and never forgetten.