She Is My Hayaat

Final Author's Note

AsSalaamualaikum and Hello my lovely Wattpadians! :) And here we are, is it a goodbye or another hello?

It's been a year and a half since I started 'She Is My Hayaat', and though it's been a month since we completed the story, I'm still having a difficult time coming to terms with the fact that this story is officially 'over'. *wipes away tears* *sniffles* I like to think good characters and their stories never die or end. I say 'their stories' because I treat them as if they were real presences in one form of a world or another. Each one of my characters have their own tale, own story that make them who they are. I can tell you for sure that they all are based on reality and fiction alike. They're tangible, they're you, they're me, they're those whose stories don't get told quite often, and they're those who have lived a thousand and one breaths in one.

Nearly six years ago, this story came into my mind as if it were a shining star that had fell in my lap. But it was all in my head, and I never in a million years could have began to think that I would give this story life. I always laughed when people told me that I should write a novel, but now I can look back and smile at the once laughable moments. I can't even begin to explain the roller coaster ride it has been from believing that this was something I wanted to give existence to from making an account on Wattpad and hitting that publish button for the very first time. I still remember that chilly October night when I anxiously sat on my bed with my laptop in front of me, the cursor hovering over the publish button.

Alhamdullilah for everything!

I would have never thought that this story would come so far and attain this much love and support from so many people across the whole entire world. 860K+ reads and 55K+ votes later, we have been voted #1 in Spiritual numerous of times. Alhamdullilah times infinity! The love, support, and strength for this story has always left me speechless, and I can never thank every single one of you enough. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you all- who believed in me, my story, and all my characters.

Throughout the course of the story, I have had many speculations from the readers, and one of the biggest ones I have saved till now was the most scandalous of them all! Any guesses? Here, I'll save the theatrics and just tell you. :P Nouran and her not being a hijabi from the beginning of the book riled many readers, igniting a flame so deep that it lasted nearly dozens of replies to one single comment.

A lot of readers proceeded through the first few chapters of the story being confused about whether or not Nouran wore the hijab. Some however got through half the book without understanding that she wasn't a hijabi till her intense spiritual moment in which she grabbed the blessing with open arms. I will always be befuddled as to why some people didn't figure out that she wasn't a hijabi from the beginning, but it seemed as if a few people were only raising the question because they were pointing fingers to her faith.

So, I am just going to clarify a few things, ready are we? First of all for those who were confused and maybe still are, Nouran was never depicted as a hijabi from the very beginning. In fact, it was quite clear she wasn't when we had mentioned her taking her cap off after the surgery in chapter one and when she took off her winter hat in chapter two. Her open hair was mentioned quite a few times really. I hope this clears up the confusion. I think many of us like to go into all Spiritual stories and believe that the girl should be a hijabi regardless and all the Muslim characters should be 'perfect' Muslims.

But that's one thing I wanted to differ from all other Spiritual stories. Often times we find that perfection in them, but not many tell us the journey of how the characters got there. Nouran's journey from spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional was the whole reality of the story.