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Iyad

We were invited to a religious gathering that was going to be held this weekend at my Dada Jaan's place. Baba lived away from them for a lot of years in the countryside because of his clinic here and also because of his association of this place with my real Dadi Jaan. He had been here even before he married Mama.

The religious gathering was for the arrival of my Uncle who had just gotten free from jail. He was Baba's brother; Uncle Faraan who was also his twin. Like I and Imad were. Sometimes I wonder about his look and actually meeting him. I and Imad matched so much with each other and no wonder, we were twins because Baba also had a twin brother.

Even though Mama and Baba had tried to hide the real story behind why Uncle Faraan was arrested from us because we were quite young. But somehow we got to know from here and there that my Uncle was involved in a murder. He had killed his wife who was pregnant with his child. And the last nail in the coffin was when one of our neighbours Aunty spilled the fact that Uncle Faraan wasn't a good guy and he had been using Baba's name to do all the bad things. Even Baba had to remain in prison because of this. It happened when I, Imad, and that Aunty's son were playing cricket together and they argued over something leading to the elders getting involved in it. That was the time I realized Baba and Dada Jaan had been hearing the titles of someone related to a murderer for years. Since then, Mama had stopped us from playing in the neighborhood.

I had got to know this from Dadi Jaan that Uncle Faraan had actually found a straight path after straying away from it for a long time. He had been seen getting closer to Allah SWT and our religion.

After knowing the truth, Imad and Api had developed a bitterness for Uncle Faraan. But despite how much I tried to think like them, I couldn't do so. If Uncle had left his past bad habits, then why would one dislike an individual like this? The person who actually did wrong was not present now. And I learned it from my Islamiyat teacher that one should loathe a bad deed not the person.

It had been a week since Uncle was back but Baba hadn't met him before today. I seldom found him talking about Uncle. In our house, he never for once became a topic of discussion. However, Dada Jaan and Dadi Jaan used to remember Uncle. But even then, Baba seemed very emotional and sad. He never replied to their discussion about Uncle but he used to remain distressed for a couple of hours. I didn't know whether Baba had forgiven him or not. What he did with him, was really anywhere near unforgettable but I knew my Baba. He would never hold contempt for anyone. He had a heart of gold and no debris would be present inside it.

So now we were present at Dada Jaan's place. When I saw Uncle Faraan, my jaw dropped. It seemed like I was really looking at Baba. Once or twice, I saw his picture but none could be more reliable than seeing him in person. Just that, he had a long beard and a bit more whiteness in his hair. Even though they seemed similar but Uncle looked a bit older than Baba. Maybe because he was now weak and couldn't take care of himself as Baba did.

When his gaze locked on Baba, a wetness came into his eyes. He remained still and Baba wasn't anywhere different than it.

"Faris. My brother. Allah, it's been years. More than a decade since I last saw you. I can't even believe it in my own eyes. It's like a Miracle which my Allah let me see. To see Mom, Dad, and you before dying," Uncle Faraan said as a smile wrinkled the corner of his gray eyes; the same as Baba and even Api.

Baba smiled too. "May Allah bless you, Faraan."

I had realized that whenever Uncle was spoken of, Baba always prayed for Allah to bless him. And I believed that was the best prayer you ever ask from your Lord for someone.