Tudung Labuh

Call me maybe?

"Wow..", said Islah, not sounding surprised or enthusiastic about the statement. "So, you're... ok?" she asked carefully.

Lisa laughed a little, sounded forced, and shook her head.

We all know how ready she was to get married. We all were into it too! And since the wedding is so close, i can imagine how hard it must've been to be in her position. We all started consoling her, and giving her words and verses from the Quran and some scholars. Even though i wasn't the one hurting, but it hurt me so much to see my friend being so shattered. And to think Aiman was one of those guys who would always make the right decisions and stuff. This whole ordeal taught me that:
1. Not everyone is as they seem. Even the religious ones.
2. We all make bad decisions. It doesn't mean we're bad people.
3. We should not expect a person to be perfect/good all the time. Allah tests His soldiers differently.

Honestly, it would've been easy to hate Aiman, but i couldn't because i knew him for a long time. He was the one who changed Lisa and indirectly changed us all. He encouraged Lisa to go to masjids, even taught us some sunnah which we practise till this day, and a lot more. But yeah, so he made a mistake. And he had to break my friend's heart to fix the problem.

But then.. We are Allah's servant. His slaves.
We weren't supposed to invest our feelings on people more than Him. And He is the Best Planner.
It was Lisa who would be the first to wake up in the middle of the night to perform tahajjud prayers. And because she woke up, and i'm a light sleeper, i would wake up too and also perform tahajjud prayers. Sometimes all four of us would do it together. So i know she is dependent on Allah, and surely she knows that Allah has better plans for her.

"Don't worry girls. I'm really ok. He said he'll call my parents and will meet them this weekend. He said he'll return all the money spent too. In a way.. I am very grateful that he's doing all this because i really don't have the heart to tell my parents. He's really a good person through and through..." and then fresh tears fell, "but what can i do? Allah is saying that he's not for me so, he's not for me. That's it. I know i should be more accepting, but it's so hard!"

And we went into consoling her again, reminding her that she is human and it is ok to feel hopeless.
"Allah isn't doing this to punish you, Lisa. Don't ever think that you deserve this. Perhaps your true soulmate is waaaayy better than him! Just you wait!" Jemima said.

"Hehe.. I know.. I just.. I don't know. I need patience. And you guys. Thank you soooo much.. For being with me, and for not.. making me angry at him.." Lisa finished with a smile to us. We all went in for a group hug and suddenly all of us were in tears. Girls. Hehe!

Seriously, that girl. She always amazes me.

_________________

"Assalamualaikum mother!" i shouted from the front door of my parent's house.

"Waalaikumussalam!! I'm in the kitchen!!" she shouted back.

I put all my bags in the living room, took off my tudung and went into the kitchen. Mom as usual, was cooking up a storm. I could smell the belacan, the cili, the beef soup, and the clicking of the timer. She must be expecting someone.

"Ummm... Ummi, i know you miss me and i miss you too, really. But this is too much!" i said.

"Oh pleaseeeee! This is not for you! This is for my friends. They're coming later. Help me with that please.", she said pointing at the beef soup.

"What am i supposed to do?", i asked. She gave me her instructions, and i only heard "salt...blablabla...taste...blablabla...stock...blablabla..there". I hate to disappoint her with my abysmal cooking skills which i still did not develop even when living 'independently', so i pretended to understand her and just hope and pray that i did right.