Perfectly Imperfect

7. Quran Class

After Maghrib prayer, I went to the room Quran class was in, with no complications this time. The room seemed to be more filled than the previous week with more sisters than brothers. I made my way to my seat and waited for the the imam to come. "AssalamuAlaikum class" he said loudly entering the room while placing his Quran on the desk. He seemed to be in a joyful mood as usual, with a permanent smile on his face. His beard was long and had strands of silver hairs running through. "WaAkaikumAsalam" we replied. " So today, I see we have more people in this class now. More sisters than brothers, we will have to divide the classroom better I don't want any brothers looking over more than once". We all laughed at the imams joke (But not really). A couple brothers got up from their seats to move the dividers closer together than before with the Imam being in the middle.
30 minutes in, the classroom was filled with the Quran being recited while the imam listed to us one by one individually on our review and memorization. I heard him call Kareem for his turn then suddenly became distracted with my own Quran. "Kareem! Salams brother how are you doing?" Brother Samir said to Kareem. "I'm doing great Alhamdulillah, I've been busy but can't complain." Kareem replied. He was soft spoken, and his voice was very deep. They then began reviewing what he learned previously. Although he wasn't reading sentences, his pronunciation of Arabic was smooth, and sounded as if he knew It for years. I was very surprised at how fast his progress was, given the fact that he just finished memorizing the alphabet not too long ago. After he finished reviewing, it was just small talk between him and brother Samir. "So how is your family doing" he asked. "They're great, came back about 3 days ago from AlSalvador, alhamdulillah. Well that's answers where he's from. I've been wondering so much about Kareem nonstop and it was making me feel a bit petty. Do I really have nothing better to do besides wonder about him? There was nothing more I hated then having someone on my mind uncontrollably, and I think that's exactly what's happening with Kareem. A couple minutes later it was then my turn. I recited a bit of my review and new memorization with the imam. "You're doing very good with your Quran just as I expected. When do you plan on finishing? You dont have much left" the imam said flipping through his Quran. I was memorizing like crazy because of how much free time I had on my hands, fortunately  it all came to good use. "Umm I'm not sure" I replied looking down. I always felt a bit shy when discussing  my accomplishments with the Quran. Not many people my age read the Quran let alone memorize it. I could tell the imam was happy with how far I got, and wanted me to finish soon. " I remember years ago when I taught your farther" he said. He was such a great student, one of my favorites actually. Not only would he memorize, he'd try going to the root of every Surah he memorized with me. One of the few brothers I know that actually try implementing all of the Quran into their daily life without hesitation". The more he spoke, the more it reminded me of the conversation me and my father had in the car just before Quran class. Not just being someone who knows the Quran by heart, but Acts upon the Quran as well. The conversation I had with the Iman kept me thinking the rest of the class. What is the point of memorizing the Quran if you're not willing to act upon its teachings? Why bother? Finally, something else on my mind besides Kareem.

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It was almost a month later since then. I had recently applied for a job at "Key West" a week earlier and was still waiting for a reply. It was a very well known store in the area that was on the more pricier side. The store sold business attire for both men and women. I would've never thought to look in the store to buy anything for myself because of how expensive a single item was, but my friend Aleeyah told me to apply because she knew one of the workers, plus the pay was more than average. I didn't really think I would get in, but it was worth trying.
Not before long, I once again hear my sisters arguing over petty business. I walk up to my bedroom door and shut the door louder than I expected. I then put on my prayer garment and went towards the rug. Right after I began, my phone began to ring