Chapter 28: Ramadhan Haps.

*

"The beauty of Ramadhan is such, 

That it brings happiness when it comes, 

Brings togetherness when it stays, 

Brings sadness when it leaves

and Leaves a longing in the heart

until the next time we meet"

-2am-

*

Ramadhan rolled by fast. The weather morphed into a beautiful one, which was not hot nor too cold, it was average. Soft winds blew and the sun shone in all its glory. First week of Ramadhan went by smoothly. Yazdan adapted to his new schedule, one which had people involved in it. Each morning, he would wake up extra early, offer Tahajjud then help Zaiha with Suhoor followed by having Suhoor. He would read Quraan while waiting for Fajr and after Fajr before getting ready for work by 7am. He broke his oath to not work while he is living with Yahyah when he received an offer he could not refuse. He was asked to work with Walkswill Hospital's board to plan their latest project, Walkswill Children's Hospital in Adelaide, Australia. He saw it as a good deed so he agreed to take a look at it and thus, his new project came about.

The entire week went in a spur since he was busy on video conferencing the team working on the project, jotting down pointers and making brief sketches. He is yet to see the landscape so he cannot finalize the drawings just yet.

In the afternoons, he would help Zaiha make savories and food (sometimes) for the mosque. They would drive to the mosque and open their fast before praying Isha prayer followed by Taraweeh, which is a special prayer offered in Ramadhan whereby the Imaam tries to finish the Quraan (in the salaat) during the 30 days of Ramadhan.

Yazdan tries to finish one Para/ Juz of the Quraan each day so that he can finish it in those 30 holy days. So far, he has been competent.

By the time it is the second week, Yazdan is familiar with the people around him. He is friends with Raeef and Abrar but he liked Laham the most. The man was a writer and boy did he write wonderful stories.

Like now, the boys were seated under the large tree outside the mosque, waiting for Asr. Yahyah was busy at work so he would miss out today. Yazdan was seated on the bench, with Raeef beside him. Abrar was on one of the chairs along with Laham, opposite them. They were talking about business and news when writing came up.

"You write, don't you Laham?" said Abrar and Laham smiled shyly before nodding. Yazdan smiled at him. So much like Sahl.

"Then. Do tell us something you've written" suggested Raeef and Laham shook his head.

"Oh come on dude. I would like to hear something" probed Abrar and Laham finally heaved a sigh.

"Alright. This is a poem though." The boys nodded and Yazdan leaned onto his hands to hear it. He was not a fan of poems but he sure was interested on what Laham would write.

"When my days were low,

And my heart was hollow,

You brought me peace,

And Guided my way.

When I was lost,

You found me.

When I was born,

You were there for me.

Oh Ummi.

I pray Allah blesses you.

Oh Ummi,

I pray Allah guides you.

Oh Ummi,

I pray you get the finest.

Oh Ummi,

I am doing fine.

Oh Ummi,

I know it was your time.

Oh Ummi,

I pray you remain under Allah's shade.

Oh Ummi,

I pray for you every day.

Oh Ummi,

My heart aches for that one day.

When I would meet my lord 

and hear Him say,

Your Ummi is waiting for you Habibti,

Please make your way.

Oh Ummi,

They may have hurt you.

But oh ummi,

Your last breath was in Sajdah.

Oh Ummi,

I pray Allah grants me that death too"

Yazdan stared at Laham wipe away the stray tears and let out a small laugh. It was forced and he saw right through it.

"My mother, she passed away in New Zealand after the Wellington shooting. She was one of the victims" Yazdan's eyes widened. He heard about it, Kayan even opted to attend their funerals. He didn't know Laham's mother was one of them. But then again, he didn't know Laham back then. How fast the world changes. One moment, you are smiling and the next, you are mourning for a loved one. Oh Allah, please do not let anything happen to my family. They are all I have. Yazdan's silent prayer bought about tears in his eyes. He really did have only his family.

"It is alright Laham. Allah has better plans" said Raeef and Laham smiled at them.

"I know."

-

Aanabia walked into the classroom labeled Year 11b. the students stood up in respect to her and she nodded at them to take a seat. She was hesitant at first to enter the room for today, she had done a Hijab. And so far, she liked it on her. She was dressed in a black long dress with peach Hijab and black converses. Her students smiled at her and she smiled back. The classroom was decorated with charts on the walls and a whiteboard in front. The windows were lined with bright yellow curtains which let the sun in.

"Good morning, Year 11" she said, walking over to the front table and putting her things down. The class chorused into good mornings.

"Happy Ramadhan, Miss. Sadaf! From all of us" the class captain stood up and wished her. Aanabia smiled at him and nodded.

"Thank you! Now starting today, I will be taking English Lit for you all. Your teacher is on leave. I hope you would co-operate with me" the class chorused a yes and Aanabia grinned. She looked around and found Zul busily writing something.

"Okay. First, take out a piece of paper and pen. Whatever pen you write with" she instructed and all of them followed. She walked around the room to see them do so.

"Write your names and student ID's along with the date on the top left corner" she added, still walking around. The desks were arranged in pairs on the sides and threes in the middle so that there are only three columns and four rows catering for the 28 students in class.

"Done?" she asked and the students called out a yes. She walked to the front of the class and smiled brightly.

"Today, we are doing something different. No reading, no analyzing. Today we will be writing instead" at this she heard groans from the students. She let out a laugh. "Don't whine just yet. I will give you a prompt and you have an hour and a half to write a short story on it. You will be graded on it, by the way. Ah you can work with the people you are sitting with, but you have to submit your own paper. Ideas can be shared, not copied. Clear?" she said and some nodded while others called out a yes. She smiled at them. Poor children. But they must learn to think outside the box.

"The prompt is: 'Forbidden love'" she grinned and the girls giggled while the boys whined.

"Chop chop. Time is running out" she said, talking a seat at the table in front. She took a red pen and began grading the essays of Year 13. I can't believe they are seniors! How can they make such grammatical errors? She sighed.

Fifteen minutes of marking later, she stood up and decided to take a walk around the room. She watched some write hurriedly, some stare blankly at the paper, some discuss ideas while others like Zul, draw. It was mostly doodle.

"Why aren't you writing?" she asked him and he smiled slightly at her.

"I have nothing to write about"

"Think and write. You need the grades" she told him before moving on. The class was full today, she noted with a smile. Rare sights.

"Ma'am!" Aanabia looked around to see a few hands up. She walked around and helped them before going back to marking. She flipped through the pages until she came to her favorite student, Ian's paper. Huh. I thought he said he didn't do it. She decided to read it to see how it is. Rejected. She stared at the title. Rejected. Why would Ian write about that now? She took a seat and decided to read what he had conjured up in one day.

Five minutes later, she was rushing out of the room towards the Year 13 classroom. She knocked on the door and the maths teacher, Mr. Amist walked over to her. She asked to see Ian Somerwald. Ian walked out of the room with her towards main office. Aanabia asked the receptionist to send a free period teacher to her class while she talked to Ian about the upcoming Debate. It is Ramadhan, Aanabia. Why are you lying?

"Ian?" she said, gaining attention of her student effectively. Ian was a boy of 5'6 height, brown eyes and dark brown hair. he had a few freckles dusting his nose over the slightly tanned skin and that was about it.

"Yes Miss. Sadaf?"

"Your essay." Ian's eyes grew wide.

"You got it"

"Yes I did"

"But how? I threw it away and I told-"

"I know. It came to me and now you tell me. What is going on?"

"N-Nothing Miss. Sadaf"

"Ian. You are one of the toppers of Middleton. You know these kinds of behavior is not allowed, regardless of who or what you are" said Aanabia and Ian nodded, hanging his head down in shame.

"I know, Miss. Sadaf"

"Now tell me what is it that made you write Rejected?" Ian let out a small laugh at her question.

"This society is picky, Miss. Sadaf. They chose who they see as acceptable and reject others without much of a thought or concern. If you are different, you are rejected. There is a constant pressure for you to be perfect and society accepted. So what if we are not. So what if we are different, so what if I love someone who isn't willing to love me back? So what if I try to battle it out but never succeed? So what if-" Ian stopped dead and looked at Aanabia. Ah. So this is the story behind it.

"You are judging me right now, aren't you" he whispered and Aanabia smiled.

"I am the last person to judge you, Ian. Rest assured"

"I just don't know anymore"

"You are 17, Ian. You have your life ahead of you. Don't be so hard on yourself right now. This is the time to be happy. Find happiness and have fun. You will discover yourself as you go on with your life. There is no rush, no pressure. What you are, who you are, why you are, all these questions will be answered when the time is right." Aanabia explained and Ian sighed, taking a seat on the bench. He placed his head in his hands and Aanabia let out a small laugh.

"I bored you?"

"Tell me things get better, Miss. Sadaf"

"Things do get better, Ian. Don't give up. I am telling you, this is just a phase. You will get over this to much bigger issues and you will have to deal with them. This is just a bump on the road compared to what will come in the future. So relax. You are smart and hard working. You got this. Relax"

"Thank you. Miss Sadaf" Ian smiled up at her. Aanabia smiled at him before checking her watch.

"You have 15 minutes to finish Math class. You should wash up before going up" she told him and he nodded at her.

"I will see you in English Period" with that, Aanabia walked upstairs to Year 11b, the essay of Ian Somerwald still clenched into her hands. 

****

These chapters were Ramadhan chapters but since Ramadhan is over, bear with me. Hahha. I love you guys. 

So updates, probably every Tuesday and Thursday, or Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Depends. :) (This offer is only valid till 8th July after which I would be successfully in school again) 

| R - C - V |

xx, 

-aalihha.