Our Space

Chapter 3

Sami looked down at his book though he wasn't finding it very interesting. But it was going to help him with his essay so Sami forced himself to read the words though nothing was processing. He was too aware of his surroundings. The common room in his university may not have been the best place to study but Sami couldn't be bothered to get up and go the library. While flicking through a few pages, he heard a girl behind him talking with a lot of passion.

"I know we all say it but some government policies really annoy me! I mean, aren't these rich people trying to exploit the weaker members of society affected by Michael Jackson's song?" Baffled by the girl's comment, Sami turned around just in time to see the girl moving her arms in a little dance singing, "They don't really care about us!"

Sami couldn't stop himself from laughing and the girl's friends surrounding her glanced his way and slowly the girl looked back too. Sami froze in embarrassment of being caught but that soon mixed with other emotions when the girl let out a gasp and muttered to her friend,

"Did he really just see me do that?" Her friend nodded apologetically. " Astaghfirullah!(1) I'm so mortified that I'm feeling lightheaded now. I think we should head off for Asr.(2)" Sami just about caught on to her words as he watched her walk away. She seemed crazy and Sami found it funny. She also seemed unique. From the things she was saying to the way she looked and even down to her voice!

And Sami was unable to decipher the reason why the scene kept playing in his head over and over for the rest of the day, until every second of it was embedded into his memory and he was able to repeat every word she uttered with great accuracy.

For a few days, the girl kept popping up in his thoughts. It was one of the first times Sami started to properly daydream about a real girl. He thought about how it would have been if she was to become his wife, though he didn't intend on getting on contact with any girl's wali(3) for a proposal yet. He didn't even have his own place! Though, a thought entered his mind and he concluded such daydreams would be his next step in reaching his goal. He started thinking up ways to propose which he believed prepare him and help in building up courage to actually propose to a girl when the time came.

The thought of that specific girl only lasted a few days. Slowly, the image of her faded and along with it, the strange daydreams he had about her. She just remained a person in an amusing memory at the back of Sami's head. However, this opened up a new part of Sami's mind. He realised that any one of the practising girls he saw daily could become his future spouse. He always thought of his wife as someone unknown and far away, to be meet in the future. But of course, she could be walking past him every day!

And now Sami was finding himself having a new interest in... well, any girl who looked practising. Though Sami tried really hard to keep his gaze lowered, as he always did, he was feeling a sense of guilt. Was this bad for a Muslim man? Was his desire for a wife causing indecent sinful thought? He also wondered whether if his interests were normal. Sami had a difficult time categorising what society deemed normal and often felt as if he didn't fit in with what most people claimed normal was. He decided to phone up his happily married friend and find out.

"Asalamu'alaykum, Muhammad," Sami said after Muhammad picked up.

"Wa'alaykumsalaam bro, it's been a long time! How have you been?"

"Alhamdulillah," Was Sami's reply. He didn't know what to respond. How had he been? "Dude, you've completely disappeared! You alright?"

"Better than ever, Alhamdulillah! Probably why I've disappeared," He replied and Sami could detect the joy in his voice.

"I can't believe you've replaced a brother with a wife! Are you sure you even remember my name?"

"It was er... something like Samuel, wasn't it?"