Islamic stories

MOM...

The sun was shining , the birds were chirping, the breeze was revitalising and all was well in Zainab's world. This feeling of contentment was new to her. It was something she had never experienced before. However she had a firm conviction that it was going to last.
Six years ago, in December of 2016, Zainab suffered a great loss. In one of those freak accidents that cannot be explained, her mom disappeared. No body knew what had happened. Had she been killed? Had she simply left? No body knew! She had just disappeared into thin air. At the age of three Zainub did not understand the implication of losing her mom. All she knew was that she missed her mom's warms arms, her soft comforting voice and her sweet smell...

Umar could not cope with a three year old. He needed help and he needed it desperately. When his mom suggested he marry his cousin Ahmed's widow, Umar did not think twice. She had a little girl of her own so she seemed like the perfect candidate. Anyway if his mother thought Zuleikha would make a suitable mom for Zainab then he was prepared to marry her. He had fallen in love and married Fatimah all those years ago and now that she was gone he doubted his heart had any more love to give. He lived in hope that one day she would return, but hope made a poor substitute of a mother!

Matters seemed to be going along rather smoothly. Zuleikh and her daughter Aamina settled in comfortably and Zainab also seemed to have quitened down. But the nightmare had indeed just began for Zainab. Zuleikha was a cruel, evil and wicked woman who totally abhorred children. When she married Umar's cousin Ahmed, she had been ecstatic because mumps in his teens had rendered him infertile. She never wanted any children so it was the perfect situation, but Allah is the best of planners and as fate would have it, Zuleikha conceived.

Motherhood , to her, was worse than life imprisonment. Little Aamina learnt early in life that the best and safest option was to stay well out of her mothers way. When Zuleikha married Umar, Aamina was already 6 years old which made her a good 3 years older then Zainab. At 6 Aamina was very mature. She made her own bed, her own school lunch, ironed her own cloths and even helped herself to all her meals. It was something she learned early in life because not to have done it meant earning the wrath of Cruella Deville, that is how she thought of her mom. Moving in with the new dad, as far as she was concerned, didn't alter life in the lest.

As Zainab came to know her stepmom, one thing was crystal clear. The woman had 2 personalities. One for when daddy was around and one for when he was not. Both these sides confused and terrified her. She didn't know how to behave in either condition. Zuleikha was all love and warmth in front of Umar and colder and harder then an Alaskan winter in his absence.  When Zainub didn't respond in front of Umar, Zuleikah made a point of telling him how naughty and unwilling Zainub was to accept her into their lives. She made it seem as if zainub was jealous of her and was just acting up and being stubborn.

Yet on the other hand when Zainub tried to be close to her, in Umar's absence , Zuleikah would bluntly ignore her, unless of course , if she did something wrong in her eyes. Then the beating Zainab received would leave her bruised and sore for days on end. Zuleikah was very cautious about where she hit. She never struck her where a bruised could be observed by anyone, especially Umar!

Zainab spent the days starving, and at supper, when in the presence of her dad, and overcome with hunger, she gobbled her meal greedily, Zuleikah would complain about what a glutton she was. She emphasised that Zainab ate too much the whole day and needed to be controlled, especially at night since she would go to bed with an upset tummy and make herself sick. Umar accepted all of this in good faith and stopped Zainab from eating also. Aamina watched all this with a detached air. A small part of her felt sorry for Zainab and urged her to stand up against her mom but a greater part of her was inclined towards self-preservation.

Months passed and Zainab, seeing that no one was going to intervene, retreated into herself. She became thin and withdrawn, with a constant fearful look in her eyes. Zuleikah was triumphant. She had managed to tame the brat. Now her position in Umar's life was secure. Her future was set. Zuleikah loved money. One of the reasons behind her agreeing to marry Umar. He was very rich!! But all his money could not bring his beloved Fatima back to him.

Then one day the telephone rang."Hello, yes. Umar here!....WHAT??....Definitely,! I'll be there in 5 minutes.!!"

Zuleika was greatly perturbed by the recent turn of events. It had indeed been Fatima, but she was suffering from amnesia. She did not recognize anybody, not even Zainab or Umar. At present Umar had moved her back home into one of the spare bedrooms. She had not been informed that this was her home and Umar her husband. All  she knew was that they claimed to be her family. Doctors advised that given time she would regain her memory. Zuleikah wished it never returned.

If it did what would happen to her? She had no illusion about who Umar loved. The only good to come out of all of this was that the girls were not constantly underfoot anymore. Fatimah was one of those extra maternal types, with bucket loads of patience. Giving attention to them seemed to take her mind of the fact that she remembered nothing of her past.

Things come to a head one evening when Umar returned home from work. The house was quite, Zuleikah was nowhere to be seen, and Fatimah was relaxing in the kitchen nursing a cup of Earl Grey tea. The brain is an amazing thing. She had forgotten her entire past, but she remembered she loved Earl Grey, hated the color pink, didn't particularly care for processed foods and pizza was her favorite. She even remembered how to cook!

Umar walked into the kitchen and there was his beloved wife. Pretty as a picture. Today he did not have the willpower to resist. He bent down and placed a kiss on her head inhaling the sweet, clean fragrance of her shampoo.

At first Fatimah was startled! What was Umar doing? What would Zuleikah say? They had been extremely kind towards her and... The fragrance of Umar's Itar assailed Fatimah's senses and it was like returning home. Memories began bombarding her, her wedding, Umar, her loving husband, the love they shared and Zainab, oh her darling baby girl!

Umar watched the flicker of emotions play in Fatima's eyes. It was as if a light had been switched on. Recognition, joy and happiness were etched on her features and then she hugged him. The embrace spoke more than words could have ever said. They spent almost an hour wrapped in each other, talking and enjoying their rediscovery when reality intruded in the form of Zuleika.

Taking in the scene in front of her, Zuleikha immediately realized what had transpired. Her entire world came crashing down and she fled, locking herself in Amina's room. It didn't take a genius to know who Umar would be spending the night with. Amina pretended to be asleep ignoring her mother's ranting and raving afraid of what would happen to her lest her mother realise she was awake. Late into the night, she heard the click of her bedroom door signaling Zuleikha's departure. It was only then that she gave into her much-needed slumber.

Zuleikha tip-toed towards the master bedroom. The door was ajar! "Aha!" she had been correct."They just couldn't wait, could they?" She whispered maliciously. Grabbing a suitcase, she flung all her clothing in, snapped the bag shut, and walked purposely towards the bedroom safe. Undoing the combination of the lock she withdrew all the jewelry, even all that belonged to Fatimah, and whatever cash Umar had kept there this evening. It amounted to over R50 000 in cash. Taking Umar's BMW keys, without glancing back, or even thinking about her only child, Amina, Zuleikah drove off into the night, never to be heard of again.

Umar had never intended to abandon Zuleikah. He had the means to keep two wife's in comfort. Zuleikah had not stayed around long enough to discuss matters, and taking all that she did , told Umar loud and clear that she really was not interested! He did not report her missing nor made mention of all that she'd taken. As far as he was concerned she was welcome to it all. His family had been restored to him and that's all that mattered. Zainab was smiling again, and even though Amina had been upset at the news of being abandoned, she seemed to be getting over it with Fatimah's tender loving care.

As for Zainub, even though Fatimah looked unfamiliar to her she had known form the day she'd returned that she was somebody special. The fact that she was her mother filled zainub with untold joy, and she was not unhappy about never seeing Zuleikah again...
Her whole world was once again beautiful!!!!

THE END!!

Written by:Ummi Ahmed🌸
Posted by: H.Doolly🌹

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