Entwined by Destiny

Chapter Forty-eight

It was the wedding of the year... the wedding of two lovebirds who withstood and passed the tests of faith, devotion and time. The wedding of two lovebirds who overcame the obstacles of tribal and religious differences: of cultural and traditional practices.

The wedding of two lovebirds who overcame the impediments of love triangle and marriage to an unloved person. The wedding of the loverboy and the light of his life... the wedding of Habeeb and Fateema!

As both of them were ustazai, they insisted on no bid'ah at all at all during their wedding cos all they want is Allah's blessings in their destined marriage.

Like her cousins did during their time, Fateema also went to Kd and received all the special treatments Darain beauty parlor had to offer before returning to Zaria where further preparations went on. She chose a combination of maroon and black henna decoration which looked superb on her.

The wedding ceremony was a one-day affair; the men conducted the wedding fatiha at 11:30am in the morning while the women had a 'walima' in the afternoon. Their former teacher at the Islamic school Malama Sauda spent a long time giving touching sermons on how to lead a successful marital life.

Much to Iman's chagrin, the wedding came at the period of her second semester, three hundred level exams so she missed out.

As for Ummi who had since moved into her husband's house in Abuja, she came over to Zaria for her daughter's wedding glowing and exuding an aura of pure bliss. Mummy couldn't resist teasing her, saying she looked twenty-six rather than her forty-six.

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The bride was conveyed that same night to the house Habeeb bought specifically for their use whenever they're in Nigeria.

Like Mahmud, Habeeb didn't go with any of his friends to see his wife for siyan baki. He had earlier on called and asked her to perform ablution so they'd pray as soon as he arrives. He didn't want to risk spending a second in her presence without performing the required nafl cos he doesn't know what he might end up doing after all that bottled up tension...

As soon as he got into the room with 'salaam', he went straight to the praying mat she had already spread for each of them. He led them meticulously on the voluntary nafl prayer for newlyweds, not betraying at all the fact that he was just a beginner in learning Islamic rites.

After their salaam, Fateema quickly drew the large veil she prayed with to cover her face as of course she wasn't wearing a niqab for the first time in his presence. She had always anticipated the moment he'll uncover her face with his own two hands so she won't spoil the moment for herself by letting him see her just like that.

Habeeb heaved a very deep sigh of relief as he turned to face her with an unfathomable expression on his face and activated his Iza-Fateema-a-wuta mode. It was a look which even though her face was covered, she still felt its intensity and was so glad she was already seated cos her legs felt like jelly all of a sudden and her entire body set up on fire. Oh yeah, Iza-Fateema-a-wuta mode activated indeed!

As he held her head and recited the special dua for newlyweds, his hands kept shaking and shaking just as the rest of his body was. Through with the dua, he slowly brought his hands down towards the veil shielding her from his anxious gaze but the shaking in his hands became even more vigorous.

Shocked, he admitted,"I... I'm very nervous, habeebty. But why should I be? I mean... what I'm nervous about, it's not like I haven't done it before. It's not my first time..."

    "Shh... Christopher had done it before but Habeeb has not. My Habeeb is as pure and fresh as a newborn baby so don't ever say that again."