ABOUT THIS BOOK
Description
In the middle of that late night, Salima heard the voice of her husband, Sheikh Al-Miqdad, loudly calling out to her.
Startled, Salima quickly climbed down from her luxurious snow-white bed covered with soft white bed sheets.
Panting anxiously, she rushed toward the kitchen where his voice was coming from. She feared perhaps the Sheikh had been burned by hot water or electrocuted.
She pushed the kitchen door open hurriedly and found him standing there clapping his hands dramatically while pacing back and forth. Then he stroked his long thick beard and exclaimed loudly:
“Innalillahi wa inna ilaihi raji’un… wohoho! Uhm uhm… Oh world! Oh world!”
Salima became terribly frightened and nervously asked in Arabic:
“Ya Sheikh, ma asabak?” (“Sheikh, what happened to you?”)
He pointed angrily toward the dustbin.
Immediately, she looked toward the trash area but froze when she saw nothing unusual.
“Ya Sheikh, ma hadha?” (“What is this?”)
Suddenly, he shouted at her so harshly that her insides trembled with fear, and tears instantly gathered in her eyes.
“Black! Black! What am I seeing here?”
She released a quiet sigh, then wiped away the fearful tears.
“Ya Sheikh… it’s burnt rice… just rice crust.”
“What? Burnt rice? So you sat down and burned my rice in this economy? Do you know how much a bag of rice costs now? Do you know fuel is ₦640 per litre? Yet you still burned all this rice?”
She gently shook her head respectfully.
“Ya Sheikh, why are you shouting? It’s just a little… not even up to two spoonfuls.”
He stared at her in disbelief.
“So Salima, you intentionally wanted to burn enough rice that could satisfy another family man’s hunger?”
She stayed silent, lowering her head while quietly reciting prayers and asking Allah to calm the situation that night.
He continued angrily:
“Ya Salam! So I should struggle outside looking for money, while you, instead of helping me manage things carefully, are here burning food?”
She frowned slightly in frustration.
“Ya Sheikh, la‘allana khair… please lower your voice. We have neighbours. Everyone will hear what we are saying. It’s nighttime, people are sleeping…”
He widened his mouth in outrage and began shouting even louder while pointing toward the kitchen windows.
“Let them hear! So what? SO WHAT? Am I not inside my own house?”
Comments
Sign in to comment.