Between the Grapevines

20. 'Ishrun

"Allahu Akbar." The four men lowered their heads and lifted their hands to their shoulders before placing them over their chests. Farhan stood in front of Amer, Riyad, and Kader. A few steps behind them, Harakat stood on her own and bowed her head in prayer.

"Allahu Akbar," Farhan repeated. The words echoed quietly between the three of them. A sniffle came from the youngest boy as he lifted his hand to wipe his nose. Kader closed his eyes and murmured the second prayer. Riyad kept his gaze locked on the soil in front of him and never letting it move even an inch forward lest his eyes catch on the white clothed body of the man who'd accepted him with open arms after his release from prison. His lips whispered the all too familiar words of supplication.

"Allahu Akbar." Thunder rumbled overhead, rolling through the darkened heavens that peered down at their silent prayer. The skies overhead had filled with clouds and a somber darkness as if the stars could not bear the witness the departure of their beloved. A droplet of rain splashed on Riyad's ear then on the dirt ahead of him, preparing the earth to accept the body of the fighter who'd dedicated himself to the freedom of his people.

"Allahu Akbar," the final call rippled between them as they gave their last requests and wishes for their departed friend. Riyad's jaw clenched at the memories of Hamza that rolled through his mind with each prayer he asked of his Lord. He'd been a selfless, kind man who opened his heart to anyone before they even asked for it. He carried on his lips a smile because he knew it was a sunnah to meet people's gaze with compassion and joy regardless of the circumstances. His will had remained strong even after he'd lost his wife and child and now, Riyad thought, he'd been reunited with them.

Perhaps, as he lay stained with the dirt and blood that he would one day reveal to his Lord in testifying against his killers, Hamza was the luckiest of them. He'd been taken from this merciless, cruel world a martyr in the name of freedom and placed in the gardens of heaven with his family.

Farhan turned his head to the side, ending the prayer with a somber tone as if he himself hated what it would bring. Behind him, the others ended their prayers and wiped the sprinkling rain from their necks.

"Let's do this, ya rijal," Farhan cleared his throat.

They all moved toward Hamza's shrouded body, eyeing the grave they'd spent the long hours of the night digging for him. Riyad stepped past Hamza's body and dropped himself into the dug ground with Farhan while Amer and Kader lifted him off the ground. Amer stumbled under the weight, realizing for the first time how much heavier a soulless body was.

"Bismillah," Riyad breathed, reaching up as Amer dropped himself onto his knees to carefully turn over Hamza's legs to him. Kader took longer to slide Hamza's head and shoulders into Farhan's grasp, taking extra care to keep him off the ground. Together, Farhan and Riyad lowered their friend's body onto the dampened ground.

Riyad rose slowly once Hamza had been placed down, catching sight of the way Farhan kept his head lowered beside his companion's ears. "Ma' al-salamah, my friend," he whispered, pressing a kiss onto his head. "God has blessed me with your acquaintance and now has blessed you with his seven heavens. You deserve nothing less. Goodbye, Hamza."

The others helped them up. When Riyad was pulled out, his gaze momentarily slipped behind them to see the girl standing alone a short distance away. Harakat's eyes were locked on the grave. Her expression sat heavy and despaired, but she never said anything nor made any move closer to any of them. Riyad was reminded of the time he'd found her conversing with Hamza in the stables, how they'd seemed to understand each other more than he'd been able to.

As they shoveled the dirt onto Hamza's body, Amer's control on his sadness seemed to weaken until he'd begun crying again by the end. Kader patted him on the shoulder but offered no words of comfort.