A Few Satisfied Moments

Even after returning home from school, his mind was still stuck on today's incidents that happened in school. Waleed's frankness and Mahir's sympathy for him were surprising as well as pleasant to him.

Today he had lunch at the dining table with his family without any hesitation and then came to his room, made a pillow with his hands under his head, lied straight on the bed and started staring at the ceiling of the room with a cute smile on his face.

"Can people want to be friends with an introvert and boring person like me," He asked himself in his heart.

"Why not? being a quiet person is not a crime. Many people like solitary people. They value them," His positive conscience lay on the bed to his right.

"Maybe they are pitying you or sympathising with you because you are nothing other than a loser," His negative conscience lay on the bed to his left.

"Being an introvert is not a sign of weakness. And anyway, friendship is a selfless passion. Those who make friends do not see your weaknesses, but they are influenced by your personality that's why they extend their hand of friendship to you," He turned his face to positive conscience with happiness.

"Hahaha, O C'mon man, come out of the dream world. People have become practical now. For them, these feelings like friendship have no meaning anymore. They just use innocent people like Saim for their purposes," He turned his face to negative conscience with grief.

"What do I have which is useful for them?" He asked his mind.

"It's nothing like that, it's just scaring you," His positive conscience encouraged him.

"Trial is a must, try them and you will lose your complacency," His negative conscience warned him and disappeared.

"Yes trial is a must, it is possible that it may not be your wishful thinking but the wrong thinking about it is a misunderstanding," His positive conscience encouraged him again and disappeared also.

Tired of the repetition between his positive and negative consciences, he closed his eyes and was lost in the valley of sleep.

**********

Due to sleeping early yesterday, his eyes opened at 3 a.m. For a long time, he stared at the ceiling absent-mindedly. At that time the whole world was sleeping so silence reigned everywhere.

Today was Sunday so he didn't have to go to school. Therefore he tried to sleep again but failed. He sat up and thought about what to do. Meanwhile, the sound of a dawn call to prayer started coming from the mosque.

His family was also among today's so-called liberal Muslims who restricted prayer and other acts of worship only to the month of Ramadan. Apart from this holy month, they all used to sleep till sunrise. That's why no one in the house ever asked him to offer prayer.

"COME TO THE PRAYER"

"COME TO THE PRAYER"

"COME TO THE SUCCESS"

"COME TO THE SUCCESS"

He was being called from the mosque. The sound of the call to prayer impressed him so much that he left the soft bed and his steps automatically moved towards the mosque.

If there was another time, he might never have left the house alone in the dark. But the sound of "ADHAN" made him ecstatic and he reached the door of the mosque in this ecstasy.

Standing near the door of the mosque, he started watching the worshipers entering the mosque, with great emulation in his eyes. Those worshipers entering the mosque looked more satisfied than the people of the whole world.

"Why are you standing outside son? come inside, it's time for the congregational prayer," He was engrossed in his thoughts when someone placed a hand on his shoulder and said.

He looked at the person with a hand on his shoulder surprisingly. He was a light-looking fifty-year-old man with a beard on his face and a turban on his head. Perhaps he was the imam of the mosque.

"Me...?" He pointed himself and confirmed.

"Yes my son, You,... What is your sweet name?" He patted his head tenderly and asked his name.

"Saim...," He told his name hesitantly.

"Do you belong to a Muslim family?" He asked with a smile on his face.

"Ye... Yes," He hesitated to call himself a Muslim.

"Then come with me and perform ablution and pray in congregation," He beckoned him to come with him.

"But I don't know how to do ablution and pray," He lowered his eyes in embarrassment.

Imam's steps stopped. He turned back to him.

"Don't worry. Come with me, I'll teach you how to do ablution and how to offer your prayers," He was afraid that The Imam would get angry with him for being away from his religion, but he very kindly invited him to come with him.

He reluctantly followed him and entered the mosque.

The Imam sat in front of the taps for ablution and motioned him to sit next to him as well. He sat quietly by his side.

"There are eight simple steps to perform ablution. The first step is to start with the intention. When performing ablution, we should become mindful of the act by calming our thoughts and focusing on the worship we are about to perform. Our niyya (intention) should be that we are going to perform wudu (ablution) to cleanse ourselves as we offer prayer to Allah," The Imam started teaching him.

Say:-

"BISMILLAH HIR RAHMAN-NIR-RAHEEM"

(In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful)

He made the intention and recited Bismillah.

"Then you move on to washing the parts of your body, beginning with your hands. When you perform wudu, you must wash each body part three times," The Imam continued.

He washed his hands three times.

"Now you move on to washing the mouth three times. Make a cup from your right hand to collect water and rinse your mouth with it thoroughly. Make sure to swirl the water in your mouth and then spit it out to cleanse it completely," The Imam taught him the next step.

He followed the teachings of The Imam and washed his mouth.

"Next, take some water in the cup of your left hand and use it to rinse your nose three times. Inhale a little water in your nose without taking it too much as to cause choking, and then blow the water from your nose to clean it," After he washed his mouth, The Imam told him how to wash his nose.

He washed his nose.

"Now you wash your face three times, ensuring that your entire face is wet from your brow line to your chin. Bring both of your hands together to make a big cup, fill it with water, and then wash your face with it," The Imam continued and taught him to wash his face.

He followed his instructions and cleansed his face.

"Now it's time to wash your arms, beginning with your right arm from fingertips to elbow. You must wash your arm three times, ensuring that no part of the arm is left dry. Repeat the same process with your left arm," The Imam taught him the next step.

He washed his arms thoroughly.

"Our next step is to perform Masah. After washing your arms, shake your hand to remove the excess water and then bring your hand to your forehead. In a sweeping motion, wipe your hands through your hair from front to back and then back again to the front once. Afterwards, bring your index finger to the ears to clean from inside the ear," The Imam was giving him complete teachings.

He too was following his teachings with full attention.

"Now come to the last step. The last step is to wash the feet three times, starting from the right foot's toenail to above the ankle. Each foot should be washed three times. Use your fingers to wipe away any dirt or grime from between your toes and repeat the same process for each foot," The Imam explained to him the last step.

He washed his feet according to the teachings of The Imam and completed his Ablution.

After ablution, a wave of relaxation spread throughout his body.

He followed The Imam towards the interior of the mosque.

The Imam advised him to stand in the line of worshipers standing ready for congregational prayer and instructed him to follow and listened to The Imam.

He followed The Imam and completed the prayer. By praying, he felt calm in his restless soul. He felt as if he had been wandering for centuries and now had just been taken in by a benevolent being.

After the prayer, The Imam started the speech to guide the people. He also sat there to listen to the Imam's narration. The theme of the Imam's narration today was "Warning to those who mock others". Every single word of Imam was embedded in his soul.

When the Imam recited this verse of the Holy Qur'an:-

"NO NATION AMONG YOU SHOULD MAKE FUN OF ANOTHER NATION, IT'S POSSIBLE THAT THEY MAY BE BETTER THAN YOU" (meaning)

So he felt as if someone had put ointment on his wounds forever.

After a few minutes Imam's speech ended and people started leaving the mosque for their homes. After the last worshiper left, he and the Imam were left alone in the mosque.

He hesitantly went ahead to shake their hands.

"Now never stop praying in life my son, God will always keep you calm like this," Seeing the calmness on his face, Imam smiled and advised.

He also smiled and promised to always offer his prayers and left the mosque.