Chapter 18

She woke up feeling extremely moody and scared. The house was filled with friends and family. She had her last skin treatment before having her bath. The makeup artist was already waiting for her. She sat on her bed refusing to get up and get dressed. "Ameenah what's the meaning of this? It's past 11 and look at what you're doing? The wedding Nikkah is 1:30PM people will start coming any minute."

She hissed and looked away. She wasn't ready to move. "Look Ameenah don't get on my nerves, get up and get dressed, can't you see the makeup artist is waiting for you?"

"Ameenah your husband is calling." Manahel came in with her phone. She collected the phone and rejected the call before switching it off. "What the hell Ameenah?!" Aisha bayed at her. "I'm calling Aunty," she hissed and headed out. Her eyes drip with tears. Silently, the pearl-shaped tears rolling down her cheeks from wide luminous eyes. The makeup artist and her cousin stood still looking at her while she sobbed. She hugged her knees silently shedding tears.

Aunty came in tagged along with a four months pregnant Aisha. The sight of her daughter broke her heart into pieces. "Excuse us please," Aunty said and they all went out. Ameenah rushed to her mother and held her tight. "Please mama I beg you please don't let them take me away. I can't leave you here mama. I don't want to go anymore. I want to be with you."

Aunty moved them to the bed. They sat down. "Ameenah look at me," Aunty said raising Ameenah's face and cupped her face with her palms. "You will be okay without me. Bashir will take care of you I'm sure. He will make you feel at home."

"No I don't want that. Mama I don't want to go!" She lamented. "Ameenah I know exactly how you feel. I've been there and I had no mother beside me to console me. I was once in your shoes. Mine was an arranged marriage which turned out to be beautiful because I am proud to say that I have a beautiful daughter that I'm marrying off today to whom she chose and love. Before my mother died she had once told me; Marriage is like a beautiful rose which is accompanied by thorns. And beautiful destinations are achieved through challenges. I kept those words and used it. And now look, I'm happy with whom I am married to and Allah blessed us with a beautiful, obedient girl. I'm the happiest woman today because my daughter will get to complete half of her deen today. Now cheer up please, it's your day. Don't let anything ruin it. I'll always be here when you need me kinji koh? Enough with the tears now."

She gave her a very long hug till she stopped the tears. She smiled sadly, looking at her daughter. "I'm going to miss you too." She said. She made sure Ameenah has completely stopped crying. She called the makeup artist to do her magic. It was almost 1:30PM when they finished the makeup. She positioned herself in front of the bureau mirror and took inventory while Aisha helped her into her white princess ball gown.

Ameenah hardly bothered about makeup but when she saw how her other side of beauty was brought out she couldn't help but hug the makeup artist and thank her. Manahel helped her with her accessories. Her hands and legs beautifully designed with henna.

She turned on her phone. She knew he had been looking for her. She sat beautifully while the makeup artist took pictures of her. Aunty and Aunty sa'adah came in later on looking all gorgeous and beautiful in their unique laces. "Masha Allah Ameenah you look so beautiful. Just like a bride should look." Aunty Sa'adah complimented. She blushed, "Thank you Aunty."

"Your father just called and announced the knot has been tied." Aunty announced. She almost threw her heart out. Her heart did another back flip. Everyone in the room, friends and family congratulated her. Her aunts came in to congratulate her. His relatives also came from Katsina to congratulate her.

"May Allah bless you with endless happiness, may Allah fulfill your wishes, dreams and aspirations. May Allah respond to all your duas and May He reward you and your husband a home in Jannah." Aunty prayed for her and they all chorused. She gave her mother hug letting out the tears. She broke the hug and knelt down in front of her mother. "Thank you so much for the upbringing. So many moments that you sacrificed in life just to make me happy. For the moment to put a wonderful smile on my face. A mother like you is hard to find, the sanctity and love that I have with you. Your support and your guidance have surely a played a loving role in my success. Your teachings and your preaching have helped me to be a better person. Mama thank you, thank you, thank you very much for everything. There's nothing in this world I'll do to pay you back for the things you've done for me. Mama May every tear that has fallen from your eyes on my behalf become a river in Paradise."

Aunty tried holding back the tears. She smiled instead. "Ameenah, get up." She said helping her to get up. Everyone looked at them. They felt touched with Ameenah's word. "Stop crying okay? You're going to ruin your makeup and I know your husband will be here to see you any minute. I love you so much my baby girl. May Allah bless your marriage." She kissed her forehead. She ordered the makeup artist to fix the makeup.

He called just the minute she was expecting. "Salamu Alaikum My Wife. Alhamdulillah You're finally mine. May Allah strengthen the knot, keep us together forever and bless this marriage of ours." She couldn't stop smiling. Everyone around her minded their business and got ready. "Ameen ya rabbi." She answered. "I will be here in few minutes." He informed and they ended the call.

"Welcome aboard sis! You have joined the gang!" Aisha teased her. Ameenah rolled her eye. "Aww I'm so happy for you boo," she pouted and hugged her best friend. "Thank you. I'm so relieved we'll be living in the same town." They broke the hug. "Yes but that doesn't mean we'll meet everyday."

"I know everything please! You were there when I've been receiving nonstop lectures from Aunty and her sisters." She sighed. Her phone shrilled indicating a call from her husband. "Hey my love, we're outside." Her heart skipped a bit. She stuttered, "I... oh... okay." She quickly ended the call.

"Where your shoes missy my boo is outside too. I missed him." She said excitedly. She went out with her cousins and her best friend. Aisha ran to her husband's arms.

Their eyes met. When he looked at her it was as if every ounce of breath was taken from her lungs floating into the air. He smiled at her before walking towards his beautiful looking bride. His hand reaches for hers, he kissed her knuckle. "I have lived long enough to know that what we share I can't replicate with another. This love, this feeling, is just you and me. I could travel the world and the seven seas; I'd still have to come right back here if I wanted true love. It's not that nobody else wants me, or you, but that we were born to spark and run the same course. We are the protectors of one another, confidents and true friends. The trust I give you, that you give me, is what keeps us safe in this world, in this life. So whether this heart beats another day or another hundred years - it is yours."

Her heart welled up with so much joy and happiness. She started loving him all over again. She felt the urge to embrace him. As if he read her mind, he engulfed his bride in a hug. When letting go he kissed her forehead. "How do you feel?" He asked holding both her hands and looking down at her. She looked up and lowered her gaze, "I feel so happy our dream has finally come true. May Allah bless our new home."

"Ameen my love. We're going back to Abuja now for the reception. I love you so much," he cupped her face in his hand and kissed her softly on the lips. He let go to see her reaction. She blushed hard fiddling with her fingers. Her cousins were there taking videos and pictures of them. She turned to see them giggling and laughing. They said their final goodbye before she joined them. "What's funny?" She glared at them. They headed inside the house. "You guys look so so cute together." Manahel cooed.

She went further in to greet some of his relatives that came from katsina and Abuja. She's to be conveyed to Abuja by 3:30. She couldn't have herself to eat lunch knowing she'd soon leave her parents. She was heartbroken that she had to leave her mother. She sometimes wished they'll forget about the wedding and let her be.

She was forced to dance by her best friend and cousins. Exactly 3PM, Aunty called her to get ready for her matrimonial home. She got dressed in a unique top notch purple lace sewed into a beautiful skirt and blouse. She tried so hard to hold the tears but couldn't, every time she looked at her mother's eyes she feels the need to stay.

"Come with me, your father wants to see you before you leave." Aunty smiled at her daughter fixing her purple stoned chiffon veil. She held her hand and led them to her fathers bedroom. He was sitting on a single couch watching news when they came in.

"Ameenah," he called out, beaming at her. Her head was low. She sat down right beside him on the carpet. She placed her head on his knee, sobbing. "It's okay my dear. Enough with the tears." He patted her back. "Alhamdulillah the day I have been longing and praying to see has finally come; my daughter completing half of her deen. I ask Allah subḥānahu wa ta'āla (glorified and exalted be He) to make your wedding a blessed affair, and that He blesses you with happiness and goodness and righteous deeds for the remainder of your lives and that he admits you and your righteous offspring to Jannah alongside with you without accountability, Insha'Allah. I'm very happy that this moment has finally come for you. I hope that it's going to be everything that you expect it to be and more."

"I have a special advice for you my dear. Coming from the words of our Beloved Messenger ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) where he said at the end of a very lengthy hadith about the solar eclipse, narrated by Imam Bukhari [ra]a where the Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) said:

I was shown hell, and I have never seen anything more terrifying than it, (may Allah protect us from it) and I saw that the majority of its people are women, and so the companions asked, why? Oh, Messenger of Allah, He said:

Because of their ingratitude 'yakfurn al'asheer'.

It was said to him, are they ungrateful to Allah? He said: No, they are ungrateful to their husbands, and they are ungrateful for the good treatment they receive. If you are kind to one of them for a lifetime and then she sees only one undesirable thing in you, she will say: 'I have never seen anything good from you.'"

This hadith is to be understood in a specific way. In that, the Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) is making women aware of one of the characteristics that is a weakness or is a pitfall that many women find themselves in.

Certainly your husband and I can tell you about the many pitfalls that we as men have, and I'm certain we can find them in a number of Qur'anic verses and hadiths as well, for indeed the prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) is teaching us that which Allah has taught him, Allah as our Creator, knows our weaknesses and he knows those things we have a tough time handling. So here the Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) has cautioned women to be careful about this. Because many women do fall into this category or they fall into this behavior, they are pre-disposed to it, to a degree.

So the righteous women of the companions, upon hearing this advice of the Prophet, they made every effect to keep themselves out of that position, and any righteous woman who hears it today should have the same response. To say, what can I do so that I will not be part of this terrible group, with this terrible end?

So I encourage you that when you look at your husband, and if he bothers you, which I'm sure he will do, if he does something that you will not like, which I am sure he will do, then I encourage you, to remember at least two other good things that he has done.

Ameenah, we live in a world where the questions which are asked to the shuyookh are often from women complaining about husbands who do not pray, do not fast Ramadan, drink alcohol, smoke, and/or are addicted to pornography, may Allah protect us from these horrible things. Yet, these are some of the circumstances that so many Muslim, practicing, women face in their marriages.

So Alhamdulillah that Allah has blessed you with a man who is not going to do those things, though certainly, he is not going to be perfect. He is going to fail in other aspects so I encourage you to remember the good things that he has done for you. I expect that [your husband] will be concerned about your welfare, that he is going to be concerned about providing the best home and the best environment for you with the aim of you both attaining Paradise together, insha'Allah. So I hope this advice is of benefit to you, and that it's not too repetitious. May Allah bless you and your spouse, and may He unite both of you in goodness. I ask Allah ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) to admit us all into Jannatul Firdous without any accountability on the Day of Judgment together, with our wives, and our children, and their children, and our families. Ameen."

She couldn't help it but to hug her father. He let the tears fall as he held his daughter. "I'm going to miss you very much baba," she sobbed. He wiped his tears. She broke the hug. "I'm going to miss you too my girl. You'll always be my baby girl." He smiled and she returned a smile to him.

Aunty did her own, it was almost 4PM. She offered her Asr prayer before she was conveyed to her Matrimonial home at Maitama district, Abuja.