Majesty Of The Heart

Chapter 1 - The moonlight (Aiyla Siddique's POV)

*The image above is of McGill University

Not Edited

Majesty of the Heart

Chapter 1 – The moonlight (Aiyla Siddique's POV)

Majesty: Impressive Beauty

Scribbling quietly in my notebook, I take a moment to look at the word. Majesty was a word that could be defined in many ways. It could be royalty or beauty, but the utmost majesty obviously belonged to Allah. Humans were of different natures. Each one had a different personality, a different level of faith and a different understanding of love. Love, such a weird conception it is. No one knew how to clearly define it. Was it attraction or lust? An illusion or a natural instinct?

It was particularly hard for Muslims to find their love. Some opted for dating, stating that it wasn't haram, others opted for arranged marriages. Opinions were multiple. Some didn't even want to see each other before marriage and others wanted to get to know each other. For such an important decision, I rather the latter option. I wanted to get to know my life partner, such as to not jeopardize my life. I wanted to evaluate our compatibility, but we didn't need to date for that. Yes, my choice was crucial, but I would never marry a man my parents didn't approve of. I guess my choice was in between an arranged marriage and a love marriage. I also believed that love for your life partner could be found after marriage, but it was important to have friendship and trust at the base of any relationship.

My phone goes off, cutting off my very deep thoughts. To my defense, every girl dreams of her marriage, and I was doing just that. Taking the call, I place the phone between my right shoulder and my ear. "Assalamu Alaikum" I speak into the device, closing my notebook and putting it in my bag. Getting up from my seat with my bag, I quietly set back the chair beneath the table, careful not to disturb the rest of the students.

"Walaikum Assalam Aiyla. Are you coming home? The guests have already come and mom just wanted me to check... " My younger sister's voice sounds from the other line. I knew Mayra was asking on the account of my worrisome mother, making my lips twitch into a smile. Mom must be fussing all over the house, worried about what to feed the guests, where to seat them and over all the other things she worries about when guests come over.

"Tell mom I'm on my way Mayra" I say laughing into the phone as I exit the University's library.

The busy halls of McGill University buzz loudly, but it feels normal to me and I oddly welcome it. In front of me groups of people chatter away and with my sharp eyes, I locate my own friend circle. So I go to them as quickly as I could.

"Aiyla! There you are! You go girl! How are you feeling after the motivational speeches you gave to the youngsters?" my best friend Neema asks. Her golden brown eyes shine deeply with happiness and her rosy cheeks fluster amazingly with excitement. My best friend was never – since recently – so sociable. To this day I remember her coldness and very upfront behavior – which hasn't changed much honestly – with strangers. It took her loads of time to just warm up to new people, let alone make friends. But when she finally warms up to someone, she instantly connects to the person – or in my case, with my hair – and lets her true self and personality show. In high school, we had our little group of four; three Bengali girls and one Algerian, Neema. Even today, our little group of four persists; Neema, Fatiha, Kaureen and I.

Each of us had become what we wanted to, Neema had become an architect, Fatiha, a pharmacist, and Kaureen, a biochemist. This year, we were presented as graduates of McGill University to the youngsters taking seat for a ride that we had started exactly four years ago. Each of us, and other fellow classmates, were here to encourage the newcomers studying in our fields – from which we have now graduated – and give them moral support in the form of welcoming speeches. It was truly a magical event to welcome the students that might soon become our colleagues in the near future, but it was also a good thing that our work had ended for today, since we were all void of energy after giving it all to the new students.