She woke up in the middle of a desert. There was vast, barren desert wherever she looked. The earth was so dry; there were huge cracks in it. The ground on which she sat was so hot, she could barely sit straight and kept changing her position. Beads of sweat appeared on her forehead and slowly she was drenched in sweat completely. Her clothes clung to her and it became difficult for her to breathe. She was barefoot she realized when she got up and frantically searched for a way out. She began running and tried hard to breath, but the air was so dry that she couldn't. Her throat was parched and her lips exactly like the earth she was running on. She began crying hysterically and tried to scream and yell but her throat burned with every little sound she managed to make. Suddenly, she remembered something, and stopped running. She looked up and called out, "Ya Allah, Ya Allah," with the very little strength that she could muster. Her voice was a mere whisper but gradually got louder and louder. Her tears were really warm and it stung where they fell on her dried lips, but she kept calling out, "Ya Allah help me please. I am helpless, alone, weak and tired. You are strong, Ya Allah, my only Helper. I have sinned Ya Allah but You are Merciful, Forgiving, The Most Loving. So Love me and Forgive me and Help me."

She began running again praying and crying frantically when her foot slipped and she fell. Her head struck with something and when she opened her eyes, she was awestruck. She found herself lying on the greenest grass she had ever seen and there was a small pond in front of her. She hurried towards it and began drinking desperately. After drinking her fill when she got up, her foot slipped and she fell again. She got up with a jerk, breathless and sweating. Her phone was beeping and she searched for it in her bag that she had thrown on the bed last night. It was a message from Zarak, apologizing for his behavior the other day. She couldn't give it much thought as there were million other things going on in her mind. She slowly kept the phone beside her pillow lost in thought. If it was some other day, she would have been really glad on receiving his apology. Today was a different day than usual. She felt different. She felt happy. She began thinking about the dream. Did it mean what she thinks it means?

Allah had saved her from the dry barren desert which meant that Allah did have hope for her, that her heart could change. She felt so happy and content inside like she was on the verge of something so new and exciting. She smiled gleefully but there were tears in her eyes. It was a new feeling for her. She cried and laughed at the same time. She was falling in love again, only this time it was stronger and purer. It crept slowly from her heart and enveloped her completely. Every other thing felt unimportant, useless. Her heart had indeed changed. Yesterday's events unfolded before her eyes like a sweet memory from the distant past.

She had decided to return Noor's book as soon as possible. She felt as though she was invading in someone else's privacy. The words in the book had really had her peeking into her own self. Did she really need to change herself? She had thought about her life deeply, her failures, achievements, family, happiness, grief. Something had stirred inside her and she felt like she needed a direction that she could follow, a manual that had instructions for her to read so that she could bring her life on the right track if it was going on a wrong path. She felt restless and she wanted answers.

She had gotten up and had decided to return the book before going to the class. She knocked on the door and Haleema opened it after a while. When Ameerah entered, she realized that Haleema had been praying. Haleema's mom was sleeping soundly. Ameerah sat down on the chair facing it towards the Musalla on which Haleema had been praying. Haleema sat down on the Musalla facing Ameerah.

"I came to return the book," Ameerah said.

"Oh! Did you finish reading it?" Haleema asked surprised.

"No, I read a few pages. Haleema, can I ask you something?" Ameerah hesitated a little before asking her.

"Yes, what is it?" She asked.

"How do you manage to do this every single day? Pray five times, have such steadfastness in your beliefs? How are you so perfect all the time?"

Haleema laughed lightly at this and answered, "Ameerah, who said I am perfect? I am so far from perfect and I am not that steadfast even. I have my days Ameerah. Some days it gets really difficult to pray. I have to drag myself to do it, force myself. I am so tired sometimes, I find myself thinking about a million reasons not to pray. And I do miss Salah sometimes. Yes, I regret it a lot later but that doesn't mean that I don't do it again the next time. No one's perfect Ameerah and no one can ever be."

Ameerah looked down gloomily and played with her fingers. "I am so disappointed in myself. The last time I prayed, I decided that I won't ever pray again because I didn't feel anything and it felt like a burden on me trying to concentrate, trying to make a connection, but there was no connection. There is no relationship between Allah and me. It's like there's no one on the other side and I feel stupid talking to myself. I have never felt this alone in my life. I feel like He has abandoned me, like He doesn't even care. Am I that big a sinner that He won't even listen?" Ameerah sniffed and Haleema realized that she had started crying. She held Ameerah's hand in hers and began talking.

"Ameerah you need to listen to me carefully. Whether you feel it or not, the truth remains that Allah is listening to you at all times. Even though you feel that He doesn't care, He does and you have to believe that really strongly. The moment you establish this in your heart that He is looking down at you all the times, everything becomes easy from there.

I know it's really hard when you rest your head on the ground in Sujood and you feel like The One you are prostrating to does not even care. I feel like that sometimes too. When I miss a prayer, and I am praying the next one, I do feel like He is not watching now because He is angry that I missed Salah. But even with the guilt inside me, I keep praying, because if He is angry with me I have to ask for Tauba.

And Ameerah, let me tell you something. You need to pray even if you don't feel like it, even if every inch of your body is telling you not to, you have to. You need to talk to Allah, apologize, ask for Tauba, even if you feel like no one is listening. You have to be steadfast even though you have a million questions and doubts. Only then will there be a connection. Allah says that if my servant takes one step towards me, I take ten steps towards him. If my servant comes walking to Me, I go running towards him. So Ameerah, do you not believe His words? Do you not think that a Lord that loves you seventy times more than a mother will abandon a servant that is trying so hard to turn back to Him, to follow the path that makes Him happy? He doesn't even leave the Kuffar alone, let alone those that want to establish a relationship with Him and obey Him. So Ameerah, do you want to obey Him?"

Ameerah nodded her head, tears leaving her eyes freely and happily. "I want to love Him with every inch of my heart and soul."

Haleema wiped her own eyes and got up to hand a brown colored shawl to Ameerah. "Well then, would you like to pray Dhuhr with me?"

Ameerah got up excitedly nodding her head and went to the washroom to make wudhu.

They prayed together and then Ameerah raised her hands to make Du'a. Again, nothing came to her mind but this time she wouldn't let go. She stared at her hands for a few minutes and then the tears slowly started falling. "Ya Allah, it's been a long time since I prayed to You or talked to you or asked You for anything, but now I can't live without You in my life anymore. I feel lonely and sad and depressed and I think it's because dad's left home, Zarak and I had a fight and mom's so sick. Now that most people that were in my life are far from me, You have reminded me of Yourself. You have shown me that there is no greater power than you, and only if I submit to You, I will be happy. There is no glamour, no charm left for me in the sins that I do Ya Allah, and I am ready to change myself for Your Deen. I want to love you and Your Nabi SAW more than anything in the world, so let me Ya Allah. Make every sin, sadness and failure get away from me and bring me closer to You each day. Don't let me go astray this time Ya Allah and please forgive all my sins Ya Allah please." She wiped her hands on her face and smiled. This went better than I thought, she whispered to herself. Thankyou, Ya Allah. Alhamdulillah.

She turned to face Haleema who was folding her prayer mat. "Thankyou so much Haleema for everything. You have been a great friend."

"Hey don't be silly. You are a really great friend yourself. Come on," she said and pulled Ameerah for a hug.

Ameerah left her house to take her classes, and the remaining day, she prayed all the remaining three Salah. She felt really good from within. She slept feeling really happy that day. Every sadness and grief was forgotten.

Ameerah smiled sleepily thinking about yesterday's events. She grabbed the phone to check the time. It was time for fajr. She got up to make Wudhu, and as she sat on the prayer mat making Du'a, Aabira peeked in to yell, "Dad's home," to her.

Dear Readers, Assalam u alaikum,

I am so so sorry for the late update. i've been really busy. Only a few more chapters of this story are left (probably 4) and inshaAllah i will try to update them as soon as possible. JazakAllah khayr for reading and appreciating. Do vote and comment and tell me what you think about it. I will really appreciate it. Thankyou all!