The Perks of Having a Nikah (A Muslim Love Story) *BACK 2023*

05.

❝How can you disbelieve in Allah? Seeing that you were dead and He gave you life. Then He will give you death, then again will bring you to life (on the Day of Resurrection) and then unto Him you will return.❞ (Surah Baqarah)

"I saw him yesterday at Jumu'ah prayer." One girl says.

"Everything about him is so maa shaa Allaah." Says the second girl.

"You know Allaah took His time making him." The third girl says.

I stop myself from rolling my eyes and sit down in my usual seat towards the back of the room.

"Hey, Yasmeen." Each girl says to me.

"Hey Aidah, Maira, and Muna." I get up and hug each of them. "How are you guys?"

"Alhamdulillah." Muna says. She always was the one to talk most out of the three of them. The other two just nod and smile at me. "How's school?"

"Boring as usual. I'm just glad that it's Ramadan."

"I bet."

"Are you guys looking forward to Eid?"

"Definitely." Aidah says "I can't wait. September is the best month of the year when it comes down to Ramadan and Eid."

"Yeah, it is."

Just then, Fadwah walks into the masjid. "Assalaamu Alaykum." Peace be upon you.

"Wa alaykum salaam." We each reply.

We smile at each other and she comes to sit by me. We hug each other. "How are you?"

"I'm good. Kind of tired," She stifles a yawn. "But good, all the same. What about you?"

"Eh, life's okay. Could be better but, alhamdulillah."

"Oh my God, Muna, there he is." Maira says.

"Say subhaan Allaah, Maira! Has the Shaykh not taught you anything?" She rolls her eyes at her cousin, but looks outside regardless.

"Um, can you guys please close the door? Some of us have to actually hide our faces." I say, putting my niqab on over my face.

"Oh, sorry." All three girls step out and start gushing. What makes it worse is the fact that we can still hear their excited voices.

"What is it about this guy that all the sisters have been talking about? Even my mom was telling me about him." Fadwah turns to look at me after taking her niqab off again. She was beautiful. I remember the first time I had seen her, I felt a small pang of jealousy because she was so much prettier than I could ever be. But then again, Allaah made us all differently and we all were beautiful, even if some of us looked better than others.

Fadwah's eyes twinkled whenever she talked and her face looked smoothly soft with a natural beauty to it. She was slender and tall, but not tall enough to be considered huge.

"I don't even know. I haven't even seen him." Suddenly, her eyes look at mine mischievously. "What are you thinking?"

"Let's go outside and check." She grabs onto my hand.

"What? A'oothu billaah!"

"Oh come on, Yasmeen. A quick peek, and then we'll come back in." She stands up and I can't help but stand up, too.

"No. Are you crazy?"

"Maybe just a little bit." She walks to the shoes rack and grabs her flats. "You're not scared, are you?"

"Haven't you heard the saying, lower your gaze?" I look at her hysterically. Was she actually expecting me to go outside and look at some brothers. Like oh, hey, yeah, just outside enjoying the fresh air, while just coincidentally looking for a brother.