ZAHRAH

By Fatima Binta

Please take your time to meditate upon the wisdoms and endless power of God and remember the time when there was no you. God created you because He chooses to do so not because you chose to be created. He made you a human being not a wild animal because He wanted that you be so. As a human being He made you a sane and healthy man because He chose to. He could have equally made you mentally retarded or disabled if He so wishes and there would have been nothing you could have done about it. In the same way, He made you what you are today.  If He had so wishes I could have been the one in your position and you in mine. Have you ever wondered why He made everything the way it is? Sure as an intellectual you know better than I do, that everything has a reason for ‘being”. Have you ever thought of your reason of being? And of being exactly what you are?

I know as well as you do that what you are today, others have been before you and where are they today? Only God knows. I am sure some have left for better and some for worse. In the same way you need to think of where you would be tomorrow – and for what? The whole life is one and the same thing to everyone. God has created us how He so wishes and we live our lives how we wish to – either for good or for bad, but we should be accountable for every single deed. This is why it is important that we know the implication of whatever we do.

Whatever our decision on the legacy we choose to leave behind, we need to bear in mind that history has proven again and again that successful and great men are those who chose to make their world a better place than they met it. Those who chose to make life (for whoever they came across) worse than they found it, have been made to suffer the consequences of their deeds. It is the rule of nature – whatever you do to others shall be done unto you. This will surely happen regardless of your position. I have no doubt in it because it has been reported as the saying of our noble prophet (S.A.W.A)

who never made mistakes nor does he lie, that “whatever you do will be done to you”. So however you treat me and those before me, remember that all of us are somebody else’s daughters, somebody else’s sisters, probably somebody else’s wives and possibly somebody else’s mothers. Then you should think of how you would like somebody else to treat your daughters, sisters and possibly wives.

How on earth did you get the courage to say all these to a person in such position? Aisha asked.

To be sincere with you I don’t know how I did it. Sometimes I am even surprised at myself when I recalled how it happened. But I believe that a person will always finds some courage in knowing that he or she is doing the right thing. And you know, your conscious always tells you if you are doing the right thing or not. If you trust your conscious it will give you some courage.

Anyway, Zahra you are a very strong lady. There are very few ladies that can do what you did. Aisha said.

It is not exactly so. Zahra replied. In most circumstances, strengths and weaknesses are matters of choice and most people take what seems to be most appropriate at the given circumstance. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have believed that I could do it my self but when faced with the situation I had to do what seems to be the best thing to do. You see if I had not done what I did, he would have made life miserable for me in the department by always threatening me to do as he wished (which I will never do) or face the consequences. He would have also continued being the bad person he was and making things difficult for all the ladies he comes across. Besides, I know that in Islam we are only encouraged to keep silent if what we were about to say is something evil, but speaking out to say something good and beneficial is always better than keeping quite. That was why I decided and forced myself and did what I never imagined I could do, but I thank God I did that. The encounter has given me so much courage not only then but in dealing with so many situations thereafter.

And do you know something Aisha? You won’t believe the impact it had on the man in question.

I can’t wait to hear that!

When I finished speaking he was lost and couldn’t say another word to me. I said ‘good day sir’ to him and left without caring whether he answered or not. When I left his office I was so scared and confused that I couldn’t do anything for the rest pf the day. I came back straight to my room and prayed that God should come to my aid. I managed to calm down and convince myself that I did the right thing. The days that followed were no better than the day it happened. I remained worried in anticipation of how things will turn out, till the day he called for me again.

The moment I entered his office I sensed some changes to what I experienced the other time. There was a sort of peaceful atmosphere that I don’t know how to explain. He looked so worried but showed a kind of humility I never saw in him all the time I had known him. I said my greetings and he answered. None of us said anything for some seconds that looked like eternity to me at that time. I was wondering in in my mind what type of punishment he would consider most appropriate for me. Maybe just failing me in his course will not be enough. He might have made some of his fellow lecturers to fail me in their courses as well or may have plotted something to get me withdrawn from the school. When he finally spoke, I couldn’t believe my ears. Although I was glad to hear it, I never thought what I said was good enough to have such effect.

He said “I have actually called you to thank you for all that you told me the other time. You spoke to me in such a way that no one has ever done. Whereas many people, including my friends and family, always speak to me while being cautious about how I will feel about what they say, you spoke with sincerity and considered the usefulness of what you were saying rather than how I will feel about it. I was mad at you at first, but when I thought over what you said I saw reason in it and it made me fonder upon what I am doing with my life. You see, its not as if I did not know all you said before you said it, but sometimes we fail to see or comprehend things that are so open and obvious within or around us, until another person mentions them. So by saying everything as you did, you made me to look at the whole life in a different perspective. I am glad you shared your views with me and I appreciate your courage and sincerity. What value is there in a life that brings pain and misery to others? I have always been ashamed of myself for living that kind of life but I never had the courage to change it single-handedly and have never been encouraged in a very convincing manner as you did. I thank you very much and hope you can forget the past and consider me a brother. Please don’t ever hesitate to correct me whenever you see me doing something bad or to ask for any help or support you or your friends might need from me in what ever way. I thank God for coming across you in my life”.

Aisha sighed and said I still don’t believe that I can do it. I am so confused.

 To be continued