Kingdom of Heaven

Here is what disturbs me about an Islamic government… That even though we ruled from the time of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) till 1925 (when the Ottoman empire fell)… It is not the fact that we do not have an Islamic Government, that disturbs me, because we are spiritually, intellectually, and physically not ready for it… What bothers me is that we No longer want an Islamic Government. Whether it may be the lies we have heard, or we are afraid about our newly adopted lifestyles… I present you this story of my fantasy Islamic world, with all it’s new inventions, laws, and benefits. Because the only purpose of an Islamic Government is to make being a good Muslim Easy for you

Chapter One: Love Laugh Learn
“Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar” chimed the azan clock, and Abdullah found him self waking to a puddle of drool. It was 8 o clock in the morning, and he was hoping to have had more sleep after fajr on his day off, but there was no time today, there was too much to do. He got up and made his way into the bathroom, and from the top shelf he took out a ‘miswak holder’, It was a simple glass with a netted bottom, to allow all the water to drain through, so the miswak does not get a stench. He lifted the miswak and placed it into a back compartment, and pushed the lever until the head of the miswak was cut off. He could hear the frying pan in the kitchen, as he proceeded to brush his teeth with toothpaste.

After brushing his teeth, he made his way into the kitchen. Suhaib Abbasi’s voice was playing off Radio Islam, and Abdullah’s wife Leila, was singing along the radio, singing high to contrast with Suhaib’s voice. Abdullah gently aproached his wife, like walking up to a dear, but she caught him at the corner of her eye, and silently droned off. “Here honey”, Abdullah said, “Let me fry the pancakes”. “Oh aren’t you a gentleman,” replied Leila while rolling her eyes, “take the spatula from me, so I have to be the one who gets to change Obaid.” Abdullah never thought of it that way, but couldn’t help but grin at the amazing trick he had just pulled, as he sloppily toppled out the pancakes into two plates. The breakfast table was well… not a table, but a circular wooden table top, customly made to fit around a blue carpeted floor, with a flower vase filled with blue velvets matching the carpet around them.

Obaid always was happier eating in Abdullah’s hands, as he liked honey on his pancakes, while Leila liked maple syrup. As Leila eloquently ate away, Abdullah was struggling to feed Obaid, whose face was now fully covered in food. Abdullah finally realized how quite she was being, and soon found that she was deeply lost into Yousuf Farouqi‘s poem, talking about the struggles of Afghanistan. “I knew him as a child you know…”, Abdullah commented, trying to start a conversation,”taught him every thing he knows.” Leila waited a few seconds to catch the ending of the poem, “Sure, then how come he doesn’t know you anymore?”, Leila spoke with a curve of a smile. “Well that’s cuz I had to give up my career to train my wife how to sing,” Abdullah spoke, trying to maintain an energetic tone, without letting her see the hurt of how much he misses his poetic past. “Well, he is good, but I am sure even he can’t hit the notes you were hitting, while leading fajr today,” Leila remarked,making a week attempt to cheer him up. Leila was obviously listening to “Radio Bilal” which let her tune into every thing that goes on into the masjid, this morning…

After breakfast Leila picked up the “table”,  and Abdullah washed the dishes. Afterwards they both got ready and continued out the door. Before they left the whole family looked at the mirror. Abdullah leened into stand cheek-to-cheek, with his wife, just like his prophet had before. And like a perfect family picture they looked in the mirror, and recited the prayer that all muslims read when they look into a mirror, Leila put on her niqab and they headed out the door.

Abdullah repeated the prayer in his head again looking at the coolness of his eyes. The prayer is…
“Oh Allah you have made our outsides beautiful, please make our insides just as beautiful…”