Love is Faith (An Islamic love story) *completed*

Changing...

Assalam o alaikum:)
Here is the chapter. Enjoy reading and do VOTE and COMMENT :)

The result of the exams was announced, she had passed with distinctions, her aunt was very happy, so became her parents when she told them.
"My daughter is extra ordinarily intelligent...you have made me proud my dear" this was what Ibad said, when he heard of her result. Amna too was delighted.
It was her second year in the university, she was doing really good in her studies. Every one was impressed by her exceptional abilities. She still used to stay quite most of the times. Zainab and Khadija were always found buzzing around her. They had felt her silence but never questioned thinking of this trait as a part of her nature.
She sometimes helped her aunt in her charity work, when she was free.
She always preferred to spend time alone but her two friends rarely let that happen. They used to take her to different places in London, like London eye, National art gallery, Buckingham palace and British museum. She, in the beginning used to refuse them and show reluctance, but now she mostly agreed with them, and went to the places they took her to.
She was starting to see new faces of life and had decided to let go of her past. She tried to smile and talk to her lovely friends who really cared about her, helped her aunt in her free time in the kitchen. Her aunt was observing her improvements, and used to inform Ibad and Amna of her recovery which made them come back to life.
She was improving, but something was there that still at times pinched her, or maybe it was just her thought.
She still did not offer her prayers or read quran. But she used to think about it sometimes. Something always held her back from doing it. Whenever she thought of it, her heart began to pace up. What was the reason? That she didn't know herself. It was difficult or perhaps complicated..... But what was complicated? she used to shudder upon her own thoughts and sigh.
Once when she was awake early in the morning, she made wudu (ablution: act of cleaning oneself before offering prayer) and went straight towards the tiny cupboard that was at the top right corner of a wall in her room, she wrapped her head, and took out the Holy book. She stood their, sighed and looked intensely at the cover of the Holy book. It was beautiful. The arabic calligraphy was done in golden on the blue and red cover. It was splendid. But this was not what she was observing right now. She stared at the the calligraphy that said "Quran majeed". It was quiet but suddenly it felt like the threads of gold came to life and started to seep through her chest reaching her heart. She stood still like a dummy. Her eyes could never leave the cover, her heart beat accelerated, beads of sweat drenched her forehead. She could not open it, she gasped and put back it in the cupboard and breathed heavily, as if she had exercised for quite a long period. What was it? she could not tell. She shrugged off her thoughts and went to the bathroom to get ready for her university.
She later on forgot what had happened that day and remained busy attending classes and wandering with her two friends, who went out quite often.

         *****

Three of them were on their way to London Zoo. They had attended all their classes and now were free. The zoo was couple of blocks away when Zainab gasped.
"Oh...you hear that??" Zainab stood straight, trying to detect where the beautiful sound was coming from, by cupping one of her ear. Khadija and Hareem stood waiting for her to say something.
"There..!!!" She uttered excitedly. Both of them looked in the direction in which her finger pointed. Far away from the street, was a big crowd. Zainab took Khadija's hand and pulled her, while Khadija dragged Hareem with her.
They crossed the streets and reached the crowd. They made their way towards the core of the crowd piercing it.
A little guy was sitting on a chair, holding a beautiful guitar, he was playing tunes of some famous hollywood songs. Everyone was captured by the melodious sounds. Zainab and Khadija too swayed their bodies. Zainab closed her eyes to feel the strings resonate with her soul.
Everyone held a smile enjoying the melody except Hareem.
She was staring at the beautiful guitar held in the boy's hands. The sounds felt like piercing her soul instead of soothing it. Her eyes never left the strings of the guitar. They filled up with rage and jaws stiffened. The melody felt like daggers being aimed at her soul. Khadija had still held her hand, which Hareem with a tug let free and clenching her hands, left the crowd, without saying a word.

              *****
"What went wrong with you yesterday?" Khadija and Zainab stood in front of her in the cafeteria, near the table, where Hareem was seated and was busy having lunch. She looked up from her food.
"Nothing" she answered in a calm voice and resumed her activity.
Both of them exchanged glances of disbelief.
"Then why did you leave?" this time Zainab spoke in a curious tone.
Hareem took a bite of the burger, swallowed patiently and looked up to them again.
"It was just the headache." she replied and again went busy with her lunch.
"Come on, you must be starving too." Hareem said.
Khadija and Zainab once again looked at each other with questioning eyes, then went to bring something to eat and sat beside her.

           *****

Her university was a long distance from her aunt's place, and sometimes Khadija used to pick her up from her place but she did not feel comfortable with it. She discussed with her aunt her problem and asked her if she could live in a hostel that was near her university. At first aunt was startled by her thought. How could she live alone? She does not even care about her diet and health. She would not be able to live there more than a week but then Hareem insisted and assured her that she would visit her place every weekend and would eat her meals in time. She was not a child after all. She was 23 by now. It had been almost one year and seven months since she came here. After a long convincing speech her aunt consented her but told her to ask from her parents first. If they are willing, she too would not be having any problem. She did the same, called her parents in the evening and had a long conversation. They too showed reluctance, but she used the same strategy to convince them, and finally they agreed.
Two weeks later she was living in a hostel. Fortunately, all the girls living there were Muslims.
She shared her room with another girl, Rubab. She was studying in some other university and had a good friendly nature. They gradually became good friends and used to hang out on weekends.
She used to visit Pakistan every year on the occasion of Eid, and used to meet Tehreem too. Tehreem had changed, she offered her prayers regularly and now she was attending classes for Quranic tafseer.
Here in London, she remained busy in studies. Khadija and Zainab were planning their vacations, that were just around the corner. They already had convinced Hareem to go with them. They went for shopping now and then, and wandered in the malls all day.
"How is it?" Zainab asked hareem about the necklace she pointed in the glass showcase.
"hmm...it's beautiful" Hareem smiled. Khadija was busy selecting some jewellery for her. Hareem looked at some other chains and necklaces and suddenly her eyes stopped motioning, her smile faded and eyes opened wide. The glitter that was swinging in her eyes had vanished. She was staring at a silver chain. It was simple with big locks of chain. The rest of the world had disappeared by now.
The chain took her back in time, somewhere in the dark. It reminded her of someone. She felt a sensation of pain in the back of her head. She had seen a similar chain in the neck of someone else from really close, from such a small distance that was suffocating for her. It was a chain for men...