May 1, 2013 {I Know This Fabulous Girl}
I know this fabulous girl. Who doesn’t know she’s fabulous. But is so freaking beautiful inside and out that I thank God every time I can for blessing me with the opportunity to be related to her and be her friend.
Her name is Shaheen, she is the inspiration for Sayeeda from Battered, With Love, and she’s the most amazing mix of my role model, my cousin, my supporter, and my best friend. Yet, she’s more than all that put together.
And today is her BIRFDAIIII. So in honor of one of the most fabulous people I’ve ever met, I’m going to tell you about her. (And she’s probably reading this right now, so I apologize for gettin’ all corny on you like cornbread.)
Shaheen, my mom said that we met when we were five, but frankly, I don’t remember at all. Maybe we hit it off and we were friends from the start. Or maybe I didn’t like you. Who knows? All I know is that I had no idea that you would just go from being some distant third cousin to one of my favorite people.
When I was fourteen and you were fifteen, I came up to where you live because my cousin Farhan was getting married. You guys came to the wedding. I knew that Amena (my first cousin, guys. Me, Farhan, and Amena are all first cousins and Shaheen is a third cousin) said earlier that day before the wedding that some distant cousins of ours were supposed to come to the wedding.
So that night, at the wedding where I totally looked ratchet, Amena came over and said salam to you guys and we all sat down at the same table. Now I call this the Brown Girl Talk of Torture because if you’re a brown girl, when you go to a wedding, you will probably be awkwardly sitting with other brown girls who you don’t know and will attempt to have a conversation.
What surprising me is that we all talked to each other so easily. I had forgotten what Amena had said, about our cousins coming, half because I wasn’t really listening to her, so it didn’t click to me that we were related (#browngirlproblems).
Ah, that was the night! From talking to laughing, I was so surprised that I hit it off with someone (I NEVER HIT IT OFF WITH PEOPLE STRAIGHT OFF THE BAT. I KNOW I’M JUST SO HOT BUT IT DOESN’T HAPPEN).
When we were driving back home, my dad said that we were going to go visit his cousin first and that they had three girls and two boys. Maybe it was sleep deprivation but it didn’t even click then, which is odd because allhamdulillah I’m usually very good at making connections quickly.
We came to your house and ERMERGERD IT WAS THE GIRL FROM THE WEDDING. And we were related! Mind-blowing. Well, for all of you that don’t know this story, I was actually really awkward around Shaheen at first because I used to be shy all back in the day! And I think she felt the awkwardness too (did you, Shahizzle?) so it ended up her and her sister Samreen sitting on the bed and me in the chair literally twiddling my thumbs.
We started talking about, what was it? Disney! Disney princes. Well, when we were talking about Jasmine, I randomly, and I mean RANDOMLY just went, “Aladdin is hot.” Now, firstly, Aladdin is animated. Secondly, I NEVER use ‘hot’ to describe guys so this was so surprising that I snapped my shut afterwards like “DID I JUST USE THE WORD HOT?!”
But it was worth it. Because BOOM did our friendship take off from there! For like four hours we had THE BEST TIME hanging out and at the end of the night we exchanged phone numbers. Now, quite honestly, I didn’t think we’d actually keep in touch for so long.
But Shaheen, today, it’s been almost two whole years since I met you (and remembered it) and wallahi, I don’t think anyone can be as close as us just by meeting in person once and texting for two years. You have become one of my best friends, but honestly, the term “best friends” doesn’t do justice to what we share. I feel like you’re my sister, my role model, and my fellow sister in Islam as well, and you are.
I honestly admire so many qualities about you to the point that I even used you as an inspiration for Sayeeda from Battered, With Love. Honey, that’s love right there.
I just want to thank you for stepping in and being my big sister in my moments of weakness when I was so fed up with trying to figure everything out on my own. Thank you for staying in my life and being proud of what I’ve accomplished, for helping me pick up the pieces when I crashed, when everyone else walked out. Thank you for inspiring me to be a better Muslim, a better person. Thank you for always keeping me on my toes. Thank you for continuously helping me with my faith.
And the most important thing: thank you for portraying hijabis for what they should be: graceful, elegant, self-respecting, and modest. I’m so proud we have girls like you in our ummah, Shaheen. Because not only do you do all that, but you never once treated me as spiritually inferior because I don’t cover my hair. Thank you for being so supportive of the book, for always striving to build me up instead of shooting me down like so many of the people in my life.
So enjoy today, enjoy tomorrow, and enjoy the rest of your life because as I repeatedly tell you, I know in my heart that you are destined for greatness. My throat is locking as I close my eyes and every memory from the past two years flashes through my mind. These two years have been awesome; I can’t wait to see what the rest of our lives will be like.
I know you’re probably wondering why I’m putting this on the Internet because I’m such a private person, especially when it comes to my personal life. For anyone else who’s reading this, the reason I’m sharing this is because I just want to share with you someone I know who I’m extremely proud of. I know I’m blessed to have Shaheen in my life, and I know that friendships like these—these deep, deep friendships—don’t come by often. So if you have that kind of friendship in your life (it doesn’t have to be someone you’re related to), cherish it. And if you don’t have that kind of friendship in your life? When you meet a person who you know you could have something like Shaheen and I have with, I want you to cherish it and I want you to work to benefit that person like Shaheen and I do.
I pray that everyone has someone like Shaheen in their lives. And Shahizzle, now it’s time for your present (well, one of them).
Guys, Shaheen has IB exams coming up and how she does on them determines whether or not she gets her IB diploma. I’ve seen her go through the program, and I know she’s worked hard these past two years. Please, take like five minutes out of your day to pray for her so that inshallah she passes! It would literally mean the WORLD if you did that and commented leaving her some words of advice.
Shaheen, I may not be able to be there witchu to celebrate, but just know that a multitude of prayers from all around the world is the best I can give you right now. Good luck, study hard, and pray to Allah SWT.
Now I’m being extremely corny. Smh. Okay, I’m done now.
Oh, wait. The picture to the side? --> Yeah. It’s something I wrote in math class (ignore the bad handwriting and lack of artistic ability).
