Tricky Teen Girl: A Whisper of Peace [Ramadan Story]

Proud to be a Muslim

In the name of Allah the Most Merciful
I love Muhammad Mustafa (pbuh) than the whole wide world
Making partners with Allah is the greatest sin
I shall never ever worship anybody but Him
For my guidance I recite the holy Quran
Everyday I fast in the month of Ramadan
When I meet my brothers and sisters each day "As salaam u alaikum" (peace be upon you) is what I say
From my money I give some to those in need to be grateful to Allah and to cure my greed
I always follow the Quran and the Prophet's way
Insha Allah I shall go for Hajj one day
Many Messengers came to guide us along to enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong
All the Prophets that were sent came to preach one thing "There is no other gods but the King of kings"
Before I go to sleep I read the dua "Allaahumma bismika amootu wa ahyaa"
When I wake up in the morning I praise Allah "Al hamdu lillahillazee ah yaanaa"
I only love for my brother what I love for myself
Only Allah do I worship and ask Him for help
Everyday five times must I always pray
I am proud to be a Muslim now everyone say...
["Proud to be a Muslim", Kamal Uddin.]

During the next Bayyinah podcast listening session with Leena, I bring up the issue with her. Rather, I hit her around the head with it when she pauses the audio for the first break.
"Leena!" I cross my arms and raise my chin. "I didn't get The Sealed Nectar and it's all your fault because you gave it to Jasir and now I can't tick off my Seerah goal in my Ramadan Legacy app and--"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Leena raises her hands as well as her eyebrows. "I can't even begin to point out what's wrong with your statement--if that run-on sentence could be called a statement."
"Don't begin, then." I give her a forced smile. "What do I do about my Seerah goal now?"
"Listen to it." Leena gives me a genuine smile.
"Listen to what?" I frown slightly.
"The Seerah." Leena's smile broadens.
I look blankly at her for a few moments until the meaning of what she just said sinks in. "There's an audio for that too?"
Leena chuckles at my expression. "There's an audio for everything. Come to think of it, for one of my school presentations I found a sound bite of a dog saying 'I love you'."
"I am not even going to begin to imagine how or where you used the sound of Mishka the dog saying 'I love you' in a school presentation," I say, "but you were going to tell me about a Seerah clip."
"The dog has a name?" Leena looks interested.
"Seerah clip!" I snap my fingers under her nose.
She grins. "Let me run a Google search. I came across it one time but didn't really follow up..." She turns to the laptop and runs a search, tapping open a couple of new pages, her gaze intensifying with every click, until she's staring unblinkingly at the screen. I lean forward and tap her on the shoulder.
"I don't know whether it's appropriate to interrupt this intimate moment between you and the laptop," I stage-whisper, "but--"
"Oh, you." Leena waves a hand at me, not looking away from the screen.
"I have a name."
"So does the dog."
"Who's talking about dogs?" Jasir appears in the doorway. "Al-haram al-haram! Yalla yalla!"
"Go away," Leena and I say simultaneously. Jasir pulls a face at us and goes away shouting, "Al-haram al-haram!"
"What's haram?" Papa's voice comes from where he's napping in the master bedroom, as Jasir passes by making noise.
"Doggies!" Jasir's voice comes back.
"Oh, my fast just broke," Papa exclaims, "because you mentioned doggies! That's how haram they are!"
"Really?" Jasir's voice goes up a notch.
Leena and I laugh, joined in by a peal of laughter from Mama (I can't identify where she is in the house).
"You're fooling me again!" Jasir's "crybaby voice" is followed by an angry stampede into his room, ending with a low chuckle from Papa.
Leena and I look at each other. Tears of mirth are trickling down her face. I have a stitch in my side from laughing on an empty stomach.
"So," I say with emphasis: "Seerah...?"
"Yes. Um. Seerah. Yeah." Leena gestures towards the laptop screen. "There's not one, but two."
"Video clips?"
"Video clips! Not clips...audio series! One is 104 episodes long. The other is 110." She purses her lips upon seeing my mouth hanging open. "Inaya...?"
I gulp. "One hundred and...one hundred!" I take a deep breath. "That's some commitment to listening to an audio."
"Series," Leena adds.
"Series," I repeat after her.
"Well?" Leena looks at me expectantly.
"Let's go with the one that has 104," I say, nodding my head vigorously. Leena raises her eyebrows at me.
"I was going to go for that one, too," she says after a pause, "but only because it's complete. I mean, it's going on after the death of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the latest is about the caliphate of Hazrat Abu Bakr. The other one is still somewhere around the battle of Uhud--I assume it's in more detail--but we'll go with this one."
"Who's the speaker?"
"Dr. Yasir Qadhi. The other one, the ongoing one, is by Shaykh Abdul Nasir Jangda."
"Hey!" I sit up straighter. "I've heard that name before...he's a Bayyinah teacher!"
Leena gives me a look. "And Dr. Yasir Qadhi is a PhD doctor who, while not a Bayyinah teacher, is recommended by Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan to listen to, if it makes any difference to you."
I perk up. "Really?"
Leena shakes her head at me, smiling. "Really, Inaya...yes."
"How do you know that?"
"You're not the only person in the world who listens to Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan reminders. Anyway. Let's begin!" She clicks her way through several menus, then looks at me to check whether I'm ready, only to find me staring at her fixedly with a blank expression. "What?"
"I'm just surprised." I study her face carefully. "I thought you only read heavy-duty Quranic explanation and stuff."
"And Islamic reminders aren't heavy duty? Where you at, bro? Now can we start?"
I overlook the "bro" in my hurry to say, "What about the Quranic explanation we were listening to?"
"Oh..." Leena looks at the other tab with the podcast, minimized beside the Seerah tab. "I got so excited, I forgot." She makes a determined face. "Let's listen to...ALL THE THINGS!" She raises one arm high and makes a manic expression.
"Don't tell me you just tried to copy a meme." I shake my head at her.
"I'm surprised you knew what I was doing."
"I'm surprised you even knew that meme."
"I'm surprised you even know what a meme is."
The laptop screen flickers as the power goes out and the uninterrupted power supply kicks in, but brightens back to normal almost immediately. Leena unplugs the charging lead.
"Ohhhhhh." Jasir's typical, drawn-out, over-emphasized power outage call rings out from his room, predictably. He has to turn off all the electricity-powered things in his room and join one of us in our rooms, so that the uninterrupted power supply doesn't run out too soon from powering too many rooms. We have a two-room rule when scheduled power outages (or "load shedding", as it is known) takes place: the family gathers in two rooms. Only one light and one fan shall run in each room. Gadgets charged before the power went out are allowed to be used. We all have carefully scheduled gadget-charging times.
Before either of us can properly react, Jasir thrusts the door open and barrels into the room, jumping onto the bed with a yell.
"Al-haram al-haram!"
I heave an exaggerated sigh. Leena places the laptop in a secure position before turning to Jasir.
"What are you two up to?" Jasir is hyper. "Are you doing"--a sharp intake of breath--"HARAM things?"
"Quite the opposite, really," Leena says patiently. As for me, I am at the opposite end of the room. I don't have the patience to deal with a hyper, fasting Jasir.
"What is it, then?" Jasir stops thrashing about excitedly and sits up to look at Leena properly.
Leena looks at me. "Should we tell him?"
I look back at both of my siblings and consider my answer.
***
Thoughts, comments?
If you liked it, please vote!