CORNERS

MARYAM SERIES : Chapter 4

It was 3 'o' clock in the afternoon, in the drawing room Maryam and Hannaan were begrudgingly involved in doing their homework that they had got from their online classes .And right across them in the hall Madiha was holding the stool on which Yusuf stood gallantly cleaning the ceiling fan.
Yusuf had always helped Madiha in household chores though earlier it was only limited to weekends and holidays and also availability of Sakina their househelp really didn't leave much work for him.But Corona changed everything.
As they finally cleaned all the ceiling fans of the house ,tired and parched Yusuf sat on the sofa near his children while Madiha sat across him after switching on the fan.

When Yusuf spoke ' Begum, never had I ever imagined that something called Corona would demote me from being husband to mulazim.Ab toh khauf iss baat ka hai ki office khule ar Mai wahan jakar laptop kholne ke bajaye table na saaf krne lagu' Saying this he started laughing alongside with Maryam while Hannaan who was busy in sharpening his pencil didn't heard what his father said but seeing Maryam and his dad laughing he too joined them.While Madiha narrowed her eyes on Yusuf to which he raised his both hands as if she was not narrowing her eyes but gun at him which eventually caused Madiha to smile at him.

Reclining on the sofa Madiha closed her eyes ruminating that first ashra(stage) of Ramadaan was already over and she couldn't help but feel her ibadah was not enough .But stopping herself to think about it, she started reciting Astaghfar when she heard her phone ringing. Giving the phone to Maryam as it was her friend's video conference call ,Madiha turned towards kitchen to prepare for iftaari and dinner continuing with her Astaghfar tasbeeh when Yusuf zoomed by her into the kitchen announcing loudly so that his children could also listen that in today's dinner he was going to cook his special Mutter paneer. Listening her favourite dish being cooked Maryam jumped with joy before she went on picking up the call.

While Hannaan scrunched his nose as Mutter reminded him of cutworm that he had found in a pea and had left it on her mother's favourite plant only to find that it had eaten half of the plant leaves resulting him getting scolded by his mother.Meanwhile Madiha didn't realized how her tasbeeh of Astaghfar had turned into that of Alhamdullilah as she looked at her husband preparing for his special dish.Maryam soon came rushing into the kitchen to show her three best friends Sumaiyya,Jyotsana and Mehwish the cake she had cooked in the morning alongside her mother.In her excitement to show them she fumbled with mobile hence along with cake her friend also saw his father cutting tomatoes.Fit of giggle erupted among her friends .

Maryam thinking that her cake is the cause of their laugh she moved out of kitchen so not to get embarrassed in front of her parents .But when she got to know the real cause ,her mind dived into a whirlpool of thoughts .Abruptly cutting the call Maryam came back to the kitchen thinking that uptill today her father helping her mother in household chores was norm to her but her friend's jokes made her realize that this was not a norm. She was feeling humiliated and angry but on her friends or her parents she didn't knew. Madiha turned to Maryam asking what her friends said about her cake but what Maryam said next even made Yusuf to turn. Why does Abbu help you in kitchen mamma ,my friend's father do not do anything like this they were laughing on Abbu .I didn't liked it at all.Maryam said with tears in her eyes .

Madiha was speechless .But Yusuf moved and squatted before Maryam and rubbed off her tears with his hands and smiled and asked ,Do you wanna know why I help your mamma? Maryam nodded in affirmative. Do you remember the story of Adam a.s and Hawa r.a that I told in nighttime stories? Maryam nodded yes .Hannaan also came into the kitchen and stood beside Madiha hugging her legs.So you would also have remember that Hawa r.a was created from Adam a.s ribs.But do you know why ?Yusuf asked .Maryam nodded in negative.Yusuf smiled and continued because ALLAH SWT wanted to teach us the position woman must hold in a man's life i.e neither inferior to him nor superior but right beside him as equal.Suppose you are participating in three legged race and you are only making an effort to move while your partner does nothing ,can you win the race or even move .Maryam said no. Yes exactly because in order to win both pair need to work and effort equally.

That's what ALLAH SWT says in Surah An-Naba ' Wakhalaqnakum Ajwazah' meaning ' WE created you in pair'. Because pair involves two things ,& one can't be complete without other for eg shoes ...can you walk properly if you wore only one shoe and nothing on the other.No you can't , because both shoes are needed to walk properly ..similar is the case with any other pair like socks ,scissors .This is why ALLAH SWT uses the word pair to remind us that both man and woman complete one another and hence must work and effort equally to have a blissful life.Our Prophet Muhammad( peace be upon him).Yusuf couldn't help but smile as soon as Maryam heard the name of Prophet she started mumbling Durood but most amusing was Hannaan's loud recitation of Durood ,a habit he had developed since the time Madiha made him to learn it so inorder to correct him and to see that he remember to recite Durood everytime he hears Prophet's name. Though how much amusing it was this habit often made people around him to recite Durood who forgot to do so.

He looked at his son with admiration and turned back to Maryam to continue.He was the closest and beloved creation to AR RAHMAN SWT and he also did household chores and helped her wives.He was the most kindest ,loving and respectful to his wives.So what I am doing is Sunnah & I even earn rewards for it ,so it might look I am helping your mother but actually I am helping myself in doing so. And don't you want your father to be also closer to ALLAH SWT .I do Abbu Maryam replied.So then I must do things that ALLAH SWT most beloved creation did .Maryam nodded vigorously .Understand this Maryam don't ever let the dictum of society dictate you but let your guidance be only ALLAH SWT' s words and character and life of our Prophet .Maryam hugged her father while apologising and Yusuf hugged her back giving a toothy grin to her wife who smiled back at him with full of admiration and respect .

As Maryam moved towards her mother to apologise to her too. Hannaan came to his father with an hilarious demand of wanting to get married. As much as amused they looked ,they were also intrigued to know why .And the answer was both amusing and heartwarming making all three mutter Masha ALLAH as he wanted to help his wife to earn rewards and be beloved to ALLAH SWT .Putting a stop on his son's super early wedding plans , Yusuf replied ,'In Sha ALLAH I will get you married but in future ..but you can earn rewards and be beloved to ALLAH SWT by helping your mother,sister and your poor father'.

Islam v/s Culture is a battle that suffocates and strangle our community. Our trading of what Islam really preaches to popular cultural norms have resulted in presenting a picture of Islam to us and other that is anything but Islam.So this Ramadaan let's aim to be the ambassador of equality that Islam preaches over being a trader..🍃

Bismillah

I could never ever do justice to the greatness and Rahma of AR RAHMAN SWT and the Quran ,the Noor HE sent down to us .A rookie attempt to talk about HIS infinite love for us. Hope AR RAHMAN SWT likes it.🌸

Do remember me and ummah in your precious duas

Faqat e Abd ,
Sadaf

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu🍃