The client had still not seen her message on Whatsapp. It had been forty-eight hours now and she was getting genuinely worried. 

"Why the hell is he not responding to me? " 

She thought with helplessness. 

University bus horn averted her attention from the mobile and she ran to sit on the bus. After getting her favourite seat, she opened YouTube and searched for her answer. 

After watching two to three videos, she realized that she had dealt with the direct client in the wrong way. It was her first time and she had messed up the whole thing. She should have taken some advance money from the client. 

Uff! 

Frustration and anger built in her being and tears started gathering in her orbs. As she was in a public place, she had to swallow her tears. Switching off the mobile and throwing it in her bag, she fixed her gaze on the running trees and houses. 

"I don't understand why scammers exist in the world? " 

Again anger built in her nerves which she was continuously struggling to calm down. 

"With every difficulty, there is an ease" 

Amazing ayah of the Quran flashed in her mind and calmness settled in her veins. 

"There should be a great lesson and ease for me in it. It was a small project, but it taught me how to deal with direct clients. In the future, I can take and deal with long-term direct projects without getting scammed now. It's okay, Saba!" 

These thoughts were replacing her anger with gratitude, taking her out of frustration and depression. 

At last, University came and she took out her mobile to call her friends. 

"Waiting for you in F4." A message from Iqra came and she ran toward the class. 

"Assalam o Alaikum Children! Welcome to Poetry class. I hope you are doing well." Clad in a pants shirt with a tie, Dr Ajmal Khan entered the classroom. With the teacher's entrance, silence fell there. 

"Walaikum Assalam. Alhamdulillah." Different murmurs from class came. 

"So, my children, today we have to discuss an amazing poet whose history and biography had a lot of lessons for us. Before that, do you have any questions regarding the previous lecture?"

A university staff member came into the classroom with a cup of coffee. Dr Ajmal thanked him with a smile and took the coffee from him. After that, he expectedly looked toward his class for questions. Saba and the other two to three students asked him questions while the other class remained in their activities. 

Dr Ajmal answered the questions before thanking the students. In between, he kept on taking the sips of his coffee. 

"So, let's start with today's lecture. Today we have to talk about Mahmoud Darwish. He is a Palestinian poet and his poem's main themes are resistance, struggle, suffering and celebrating Palestinian poetry. Before we read his poems, I want to discuss the Palestine and Israel issue with you. Do you know anything about them? " 

Some class members raised their hands and Sir started listening to their answers. 

"Have you heard about Natasha?" Fiza whispered into Saba's ear. 

With her whisper, fearful and teary orbs came in front of her inner eyes. Sadness encapsulated her heart at this. 

"Yeah. I have seen the ruckus of her boyfriends myself." She whispered back and swiftly straightened herself as Sir's gaze landed on them. 

"Thank you for your replies. You all know pretty well. But let me add some more to it." Sir replied while opening the slides on multimedia. 

"Palestine is the city of Prophets. Jews, Christians and Muslims have a special association with this country. All of their Prophets have housed this city. But unfortunately, this city is now bathing in blood, the blood of Palestinians." 

Pin drop silence was in the class. Fiza's question skipped from Saba's mind and all her focus remained on the topic.

"Gaza has become the world's largest prisoner. There, Palestinians are caged and living horrible lives. They don't enjoy equal rights and they are getting killed by the Israeli army."

"Their children are either getting killed or the army makes them prisoners for trivial mischief. In prison, they are brutally treated. They are beaten, killed or not given proper food."

Tears gathered in Saba's orbs at this. 

"Who can brutally treat innocent children? "

"Palestinian hospitals and schools are different from Israeli inhabitants, and their schools and hospitals are without any facilities. Palestinian Ambulance has to pass through a lot of Army check-posts which cause acute pain to the Palestinian patient, and in many cases, his death takes place."

Saba's eyes rounded and her heartbeat sped up at this horrible information. 

"In such a situation, Mahmoud Darwish wrote poems and novels for his Palestinian people. Take a break of five minutes and then we will start his poems." 

Dr Ajmal sat on his chair, took the last sips of his coffee and took out some papers from his bag. 

Meanwhile, different whispers started echoing in the classroom. 

"I was not talking about the ruckus, I was talking about Natasha's murder." 

Saba's head turned toward Fiza's direction and a loud "What" erupted from her mouth.

 Sir gazed at her but ignored it. 

"Shh, Saba. Don't do this. We will discuss it afterwards." Fiza said. 

But Saba! 

She was unable to hear anything and understand anything. 

Fearful and teary orbs were roaming in her mind. 

After ten minutes of mindlessly sitting in the class, she stood from her chair and left it. 

She ran toward that part of the garden where Natasha's boyfriends were fighting with each other. 

Sitting on the ground, gazing all around the students, tears fell from her orbs. 

Though she was not near to Natasha, her fearful orbs and the feelings in them caused a soft corner in her heart. 

"Saba? Why have you left the class? " 

Iqra sat near her and inquired with tensed expressions. 

"How Natasha was murdered? " She asked while swallowing her tears. 

Iqra took a deep sigh at her question.

"Dude, her brothers came to know about her boyfriends due to their fight. So they killed her. It is an honour killing." Iqra replied at which anger encapsulated her being. 

"They should be punished for it! Allah hasn't given them any right to kill her. There is no concept of honour killing in Islam, then how they can do it?" Anger was rippling in her orbs and the voice.

"I know, I know! But, what could we do? They were arrested by police but Natasha's parents forgive their sons. They were guardians of Natasha and had full right to forgive her killers." 

Bitterness was also in Iqra's tone at which anger shot in her nerves. 

"How will they answer to Allah? "

"Ahh!! Capitalist and masculine mindset has given the illusion that they have committed a noble action. Let their sons kill their shameless daughter and then forgive them to protect them. What a toxic mentality!" 

Helplessness and anger were in Iqra's tone. Grief, anger and helplessness encapsulated Saba's being, making her heart heavy. 

…………………..

"A student has been murdered in an honour killing." 

"Yeah, I have heard of it. What a pathetic piece her brothers were! " 

"True! And girls should take care of themselves. Society is cruel and she has to be careful in this society."

"How is it possible, Sahir? Our society has cruel rules for females. Pakistan is not a safe country for females."

"Here, let me clear a misconception of yours. Females are oppressed everywhere, whether they are Asian, Western or African. In every corner of the world and in every era of our history, females are declared inferior human beings. In the East, they are oppressed in the name of restrictions and honour, and in the West, they are oppressed because they are being used like tissue paper. Violence and rape is common all around the world and present since ancient times. And to avoid it, we have Islamic teachings. Islam has given protection to females. If our society follows Islam, then it can become a haven for females." Sahir tried to clear the confusion of his colleague. 

"Yeah, but if you will see in our society, honour killing sometimes becomes imperative for a family. If their daughter is found doing something bad, they have to kill her so that their other daughters can have a respectful place in society. If they do not kill their daughter, they will be declared as shameless and will lose their honour." 

Sahir shook his head in disappointment while the pain gripped his heart. 

"In the Quran, Allah has addressed the punishment of bad women and men in Surah Noor. There, first of all, He has cleared that both genders should be given equal punishment. If females can be killed in honour killing and it will increase the so-called respect of a family, then boys should also be honour killed. After all, they are equally involved in the act." Sahir said in a taunting tone.

"But, in the Quran, Allah hasn't asked us to do honour killing. It is forbidden in Islam. In Surah Noor, Allah has said that if unmarried males and females are found doing zina, beat them 100 times. And then, do their Nikkah with each other. Yes! Allah hasn't said of honour killing or making it a matter of respect, He has simply declared it as a social crime and has told the punishment. After this punishment, no one is allowed to taunt or harm the male and female." Sahir added.

"And before this all, Islam allowed that if a male and female love each other, they should tell their adults about it, and adults had the responsibility of marrying them together. It will stop them from indulging in any wrong act without marriage. So, if children really love each other, they should tell their parents and parents should marry them. Love marriages are allowed in Islam." 

Sahir gulped water from his glass and glanced at the thoughtful expressions of his colleague. He tried his best to explain the matter to him.

"Excuse me, I have a lecture now." Sahir said with an apologetic smile to which the colleague replied "Yeah sure" with a smile. 

As he left the office, he saw a boy and girl sitting together with their hands interlocked. Anger and demise encapsulated his being while passing them. 

"You are my love" were words he heard while passing them. 

"If she is your love, then tell your parents and make a decent relationship with her." He murmured to himself and took a deep sigh at the downfall of the youngster's moral values. 

…………………….

With a heavy heart, she entered her house where her mother was impatiently waiting for her. 

"After three days, it is your cousin's marriage and you still haven't completed your shopping." 

"Do it yourself, Amma! I have no interest in it." She murmured and locked herself in her room. Her mother sensed something was wrong, but she didn't ask her. She wanted her daughter to tell the issue herself. 

In her room, she laid down on the bed and let the tears flow from her eyes. The day had gone absurd and she got really tired. 

"That's why Allah has declared a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship haram! And has emphasized that if two people are loyal and love each other, do their Nikkah. But we stubborn people don't understand the wisdom behind His orders." 

Natasha's orbs came in front of her eyes and grief enveloped her whole being.

…………………