The Halaal Way

EPILOGUE

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (PBUH) said, "The upper hand is better than the lower one (i.e., the spending hand is better than the receiving hand); and begin (charity) with those who are under your care; and the best charity is that which given out of surplus; and he who asks (Allah) to help him abstain from the unlawful and the forbidden, Allah will fulfill his wish; and he who seeks self-sufficiency will be made selfsufficient by Allah". [Al-Bukhari].

Yasmeen trudged through the streets, her bag sagging from her shoulder. The sun above her was blazing, like Titans fiery wheel in the sky, its hot rays grazing her skin with a burning sensation. Her stomach made a rambling sound, reminding her that she ate nothing since after breakfast.

After having a hectic day at school, she concluded that she needed a cold bath and at least a two hour nap to restore back the energy she had used up at school. And in order to accomplish that, she would have to leave the school immediately after the last lecture, take an uber home and do all she had to do. But all that changed when she spotted her friend, the only friend she decided to keep since she started university, crying at the far end of the lecture hall. She had walked up to her and held her shoulder tenderly.

“What’s wrong Hafsa? Is it Mama’s health again?” She had asked, her voice laced with concern.

Hafsa was a girl she met at the masjid two weeks after she started attending the Uni. It so happened that she was performing ablution at around 9am in the morning with the intention of performing Salatud duha, with her bag kept beside her on the slab she was sitting on.

Unknown to her, a girl had been stalking her right from the ATM where she had made withdrawal of some cash. While she was engrossed in her ablution, the girl had sneaked up on her and was about to pull out her purse from the bag when Hafsa caught her in the act.

“Stop right there you theif!” Hafsa had exclaimed making Yasmeen turn around and the girl had freezed. Her hand was still inside Yasmeen’s bag so there was no way she could deny her ill intent. To cover up her shameful act, the girl had burst into tears.

“I’m so sorry. It’s just that I have a hungry, sick and old mother at home and I saw you withdraw some money at the ATM. I swear we’ve not had food in two days and she is dying. Please help me” The girl had said amid tears.

Yasmeen had pity written all over her face while Hafsa had given the girl a disdainful look. She knew all those types of girls that went around stealing from people and pretending to be in dire need when they were caught red handed so she wasn’t going to buy that story. Besides, this was the second time she was catching the girl red handed. She had opened her mouth to speak when Yasmeen beat her to it.

“You should have simply asked instead of trying to steal” Yasmeen had said and reached for her purse. She brought out two one thousand naira notes and gave it to the girl.

“Here” and the girl collected it.

“You are young and healthy so find something doing to feed yourself and your mum. Stealing is really not an option” Yasmeen had scolded softly and the girl had nodded, muttered a thank you and disappeared from the masjid.

Yasmeen had looked up to find a really astonished Hafsa staring at her.

“Thank you for...” Yasmeen trailed off, not really knowing what to say. The way Hafsa was staring at her was beginning to make her uncomfortable.

“You did not just do that” Hafsa had said with arms akimbo.

“Well, she... looked like she needed it” Yasmeen said hesitantly, still trying to figure out why Hafsa was overreacting when she just rendered help to someone who needed it.