“And if the Unbelievers seek your help, then help them, and escort them to safety. So long as they are true to you, be true to them. Surely, Allah loves righteousness.” (Quran 9:6)
Aman looks at me with a fearful look. I look down, pretending to be fascinated with the table.
"It's not Alina's fault! It's mine!" Aman exclaims. I look up at him and then he looks at me. "I was the one who asked her to be in this relationship. She didn't initiate it at all. It was all me. If you're looking for someone to blame, then blame me!" The whole house is silent. It lasts a few seconds, but it feels like hours. I look down at the table again wishing I could escape and go back to the mansion with the safety of my parents and my friends. I feel tears welling up in my eyes, but I hold them back. I love Aman, but I wish my parents could know.
"Alina, Aman, please look at me." his dad says. We both look up at him. I can't read his face. He doesn't look mad, but he doesn't look happy either. I'm so scared.
"Dad, please don't blame her for anything. Blame me." Aman says in a soft voice. It makes my heart melt because he sounds so sincere. He really does care for me.
"I'm not blaming anyone. The truth is that your mother and I were just like you two. We were together in this kind of relationship for a few months before your mother's parents knew me well enough. As soon as they knew me well enough, I asked them for her hand in marriage. Every day your mother and I ask Allah for forgiveness. The point is that now we're happily married, alhamdulilah. That's what matters. We understand what you two are going through. Aman, Alina's parents will get to know you and as soon as they know you, go ask for Alina's hand in marriage. And Alina, you're the best thing that has happened to my son. He's so much happier with you. I thank Allah for sending you to him. What you're doing with your life is amazing. You have a lot of courage to deal with ignorant people who may hurt you for simply being Muslim. I pray for you every day to not get hurt from these horrible people. I pray that people will be more open to Islam and be kinder to Muslims after hearing your story and seeing how amazing you are. You're everything I've ever wanted in a daughter-in-law. I approve of the marriage between you two." his dad explains. By this point, my face is wet with tears. Aman is holding my hand from across the table.
"T-t-thank you for a-a-all of that." I barely manage to say to him through my tears. That's the nicest thing anyone has ever told me in my whole life. Words can't even describe how I feel right now.
I feel Aman's mom rub her hand on my back.
"It's pure truth." his dad says to me smiling. I smile back at him.
I ask where the bathroom is so I can wipe off the makeup that's on my cheeks. Aman gets up and tells me to follow him. We go down the hall and turn to the right. We go in the bathroom without closing the door. I clean my makeup off my cheek and wipe my hands on a towel. After, Aman wraps his arms around my waist. I put my hands on top of his. We look in the mirror for a while just smiling and admiring ourselves as a couple. Aman is my future husband. I'm quite happy with it. He's shown me that he truly cares about me. He was willing to take the blame to save me. He's told me things that happened in his life that he hasn't told other people.
"I love you." he says. I open my mouth in surprise. This is the first time he's ever told me he's loved me.
"I love you too." I say. He turns me around and we kiss for the first time. It feels so sweet. I feel like Allah is protecting me by sending Aman to me. I feel like he's the man I've been looking for my entire life. Who knew this would ever happen? My life could've been so different if it weren't for Allah. He has protected my family and I. He's made us happy here in America. I have so many things to thank Him for. I feel like I'm at the height of my iman. I feel like sitting down and reading and studying the Quran to understand everything. I feel like doing more for Allah. I feel like becoming a hafizah. I feel like praying all night. And to think I felt all of this with a single kiss. To me, that's a sign that Aman is the one for me, in sha Allah.
My alarm wakes me up at eight a.m. on Monday morning. I woke up two hours earlier for Fajr, but I still feel groggy. I think about Francisco, Rosa, and Ashley. They're at school already probably feeling just as groggy as me. I miss it there so much, but I hope they're proud of me.
My alarm also wakes up Audrey, Tatiana, and Salma, which is what it was meant to do. All of us sigh at the same time.
"Come on guys, we should feel happy. Farrah Darell is mentoring us today!" I say with enthusiasm. Farrah is the most famous female singer in American history. She's made so many number one R&B hits and has an amazing voice. So many compare me to her, but I know my voice isn't as good as hers.
"You're right." Audrey says and smiles. Tatiana smiles too.
All of us get ready. While Farah's mentoring each of us, we'll be filmed.
We all go to the theater, but Salma stays with my parents.
When we walk into one of the rooms of the theater, we're greeted by Farrah Darell.
"Hi guys!" she says. She looks so beautiful with her brown hair and caramel skin. Even though she's African-American, she could pass as a Latina or even an Arab.
"Hi!" all of us say in unison.
"Today I'm here to mentor all of you. I'm happy to be working with you! My goal is to get all of you to sing the best you can on stage Wednesday night. I want you all to give over the top performances! I know you can do this! The first person I'll be mentoring is Mason Smith." Farrah explains. Mason walks up to her and they leave to a room near us to begin their mentoring session. The rest of us talk and go on our phones. We have no idea what order we're going in.
I get a call from Aman. I walk a little away from everyone and answer him.
"Hi, honey!" I say.
"Have you heard?!" he asks in a serious tone.
"Heard what?!" My smile fades.
"Part of San Francisco was blown up this morning!"
"What?! How much was blown up?!"
"A lot of houses of innocent people were and also some corporate buildings. The worst part is that the people who did this were Muslims." And that's when my heart jumps out of my body. Why did Muslims have to do this again?! I hate how some Muslims misunderstand what the Quran teaches. Plus, they make Islam look so bad. I wonder how many people were killed. They're poor families must be beyond heartbroken.
I think of the time when I would hear bombs and rockets going off in Palestine. People here are so lucky not to experience that, but today it happened.
I tell Aman I'll talk to him later since Farrah can call me in any second now.
I don't cry. I'm too shocked to cry. All I know is that some people out there will blame me for what happened just because I'm a Muslim. It'll be worse for my mom who wears the hijab.
Farrah calls me in to go with her an hour after that. Within that whole hour waiting, I've only been thinking about what happened.
"Hi, Alina!" she says to me and smiles once we're in the room alone. I do my best to say hi and smile back at her, but my smile doesn't last too long. Sometimes I can hide my feelings from people, but when they're too strong, then I can't.
"What's wrong?!" she asks me. All the sudden, I start crying. Great! This is the last thing I wanted to happen! I hear her say "Stop filming!" to the camera crew. She comes over and hugs me. I hug her back, letting the tears pour out. I want to tell her what's wrong, but I can't talk.
When I can talk, I tell her what Aman just told me and about how it'll make us Muslims look bad. I may be targeted for hate. I explain how Muslims have been the target for hate for so long and that Islam is a very peaceful religion, not what these so called "Muslims" think Islam is. I also feel bad for the families of the dead ones.
"Alina, it's going to be okay. I understand how you feel because America used to be totally racist towards African-Americans. People still have stereotypes for us to this day. It won't change anytime soon. Sometimes change is slow, unfortunately. What happened today was an act that very few people commited. Whoever blames the whole religion on it is ignorant. They've never met any Muslim in the world. I hate to say it, but you will be a target of hate, but with your status and power you'll be able to bring awareness to Islam and how it really is, which I can see you've been doing already. Just keep doing that. It's better that you speak up about the truth than not doing anything at all. You're in a good position for this. Believe in yourself and don't let the haters get you down. Remember that you know the truth about Islam. That's what matters in the end." She's right. I can't be a coward and give up. I have to speak the truth. Millions of people watch American Idol. I can use that to spread the truth about Islam.
"Thank you, Farrah. I'm so sorry that I cried right now. I literally found all of this out an hour ago." I explain to her.
"Don't apologize. It's good to cry instead of keeping it inside." she smiles. After a few minutes, I feel a lot better. We start the mentoring session.
"So, what song will you be singing for Wednesday?" she asks me. This week we have to choose any R&B song to sing.
"I'll be singing Trust by Keyshia Cole featuring Monica." I chose that song because I know that Aman has been through a lot of things in his life, especially with the two girls who broke his heart. I know that he has trust issues. Sometimes he gets weird when I talk to Francisco and to other guys, but I keep telling him I'll never leave him.
"Go ahead and sing it." she says. I sing it and she claps.
"That was amazing!" she exclaims. She gives me tips as to what to do better on some parts in the song. I thank her so much for the amazing advice.
"Alina?" she says as I walk out. I turn around.
"Yes?" I say.
"I want to give you my number in case you need any advice or want to talk. Please don't tell anyone else my number. I don't give it out to many people." she says.
"I won't! Oh my gosh, thank you!"
"You're welcome!" she hands me a piece of paper. I hug her and walk out the door. I can't believe I got Farrah's number!
I walk back to my room in the mansion. Salma is just staring at the wall on her bed.
"Have you heard?" she asks me. I instantly know what she's talking about. My smile turns into a frown. I've seem to have forgotten about it.
"I've heard." I say. My parents come up to the room shortly. They don't look happy either.
"Alina, we need to talk to you. Salma, you can stay." my dad says to me. He shuts the door. He and my mom sit on Tatiana's bed, which faces Salma's bed.
"First, have you heard about the attack that happened earlier?" he asks me.
"Naam." I say.
"We wanted to tell you that if you want to quit American Idol, then you can at anytime. I realize that you might be targeted for hate since some people will blame all Muslims for this crime. It's fine if you don't want to be targeted."
"It's okay, dad. I want to be on the show still. I need to use my position to spread the truth about Islam. Millions of people watch the show every week. They vote for me too since I always go on the show another week. It's better to tell the truth than to do nothing."
My dad smiles the widest I've ever seen him smile.
"That's my girl." he says.
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Assalamu alykoum guys! So, I added a cast list so you know which celebrities I talk about within the book. I'll remove celebrity names I put earlier in the story and change them to a made-up name, thenn put them into the cast. I hope you're enjoying the story :)