I Am Worthy.

Chapter Two

"I heard what happened today. Mahira told me". Sa'ad said to Haniya.

"Yes. Mahira was in so much pain. She cried so much but Mother showed no mercy".

Sa'ad let out a sigh as he buried his tired head in between his thighs. Just then, they both heard Minal screaming out his name from afar.

"I have to go", he said as he stood up but Haniya quickly grabbed his wrist from behind.

"Please..." a tear rolled down her cheek.

"What is it"?

"I do not mind if you have no regard for me, but please, send my daughters to school".

"I promise you that I will spend my last Kobo on their education", Sa'ad said.

He heard his name again, this time louder and nearer. He kissed his son who was fast asleep on Haniya's thighs and exited the bedroom.

Minal was in front of the door.

"How many times have I warned you not to go into that bedroom without my permission?

So you have grown so big that you do not listen to your mother anymore right? Have you forgotten the Islamic rights of a mother upon her son?

Do you want to go to hell? She has already made the mistake of bearing two daughters, now that she has a son, she can not get pregnant again!

I do not want a third granddaughter. Enough of the disgrace"!

Minal continued to ask questions back to back and scold Sa'ad without allowing him to speak.

She always does that to get him to give in to her whims and caprices.

Childhood and marriage for her were filled with a lot of gaslighting and emotional blackmail.

She was always made to feel inferior because she was a female. She did not have any identity in her house just like her mother did not.

She only lived her childhood days learning how to become a wife.

At the age of twelve, she was married off to her husband who was twenty years older than she was.

She had to endure painful marriage consummations, painful pregnancies, and miscarriages; which led her to be tagged as a witch as she continued to lose her pregnancies.

Meanwhile, the hard labour and poor treatment she experienced at the hands of her in-laws and husband were the cause of her miscarriages.

She also experienced health challenges like VVF, UTI, urinary incontinence, and others but her in-laws were very wealthy so they took care of every health challenge she came down with.

When she was finally matured enough to comfortably bear pregnancies, she bore four female children. This made her receive ridicule from everyone including her husband.

When it was discovered that she was pregnant for her fifth child, she was threatened to be thrown out of the house if she birthed a female child.

It was a huge disgrace in society to be thrown out of one's matrimonial home. It was also a huge disgrace to be a single mother irrespective of what circumstance led to the condition. It was also a huge disgrace to be a mother of only daughters.

Women who bore only daughters were seen as bearers of bad news. The stigma becomes worst when they are single mothers of only daughters.

Becoming a single mother was not an option because she had nowhere to go. Her father would not accept her.

Therefore, she prayed hard and fasted hard during her pregnancy. At nine months, she delivered a baby boy.

She cherished him so much because she believed he was sent to her as a saviour. She worshipped her son and vowed to be by his side all his life.

Her daughters were not treated badly by their father, but not as good as her only son was treated. Her daughters never saw the four walls of a school classroom but they were taught the English language at home.

Eventually, they all got married off one by one. Their father made sure he married them into good families. He had soft spots for them and could not stand them being maltreated.

Minal always wondered why her husband could not develop such a soft spot for the person through which he had his daughters.

Her son, Sa'ad, was given the best treatment anyone could ever get, and eventually, he was sent abroad to school. There, he understood that there was a difference between culture and religion.

He understood that the way women were treated with demeanour back home had no backup from Islam. Rather, Islam holds women in high esteem.

Thus, he unlearned his culture, learned Islam and relearned how to be a human being.

After his return from school, his dad passed away shortly, so he moved his mother out of the family house he grew up in, into a big house he built for himself and his future family.

He requested a wife from the religious body in his community and Haniya was presented to him.

A shy, gentle, well-mannered, and beautiful young lady. After about six months of chaperoned courtship, a ceremony was held in honour of their wedding and the marriage contract was signed.

Minal's past continued to haunt her and in an attempt to get rid of the bad memories she had, which she still wondered how she managed to survive; she became aggressive and channelled her aggression towards Haniya, her daughter-in-law.

Sa'ad knew what was right and what was wrong, so he tried to protect his wife from his mother but she succeeded in manipulating him using religion.

Plus, Minal was aware that Sa'ad had much weakness for her due to his extreme love, so she used it to her advantage.

Minal made sure Sa'ad's love and attention went to her first and most before anyone else. It became a sin for him to show affection to his wife or to get attracted to her.

Whenever Haniya dressed gorgeously, Minal would force her to go back to dressing warily after reigning curses on her. She was not ready to let her son live his life without her.

Moreso, she was ready to do all that it would take her to keep her son all to herself. One would think she was trying to make up for all the years of loveless marriage she endured with her husband.