Mahmoud Al-Mosawi
A short story
After several years away from the atmosphere of Kuwait, with its biting cold and its blazing summer, years that I spent between the Damascus countryside, the paradise of Lady Zaynab, and Bahrain, that small island ..
I resolved to visit it with a very dear friend and close neighbor, Abu Husayn, Shaykh Muhammad Hasan Al Ibrahim ..
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We packed our bags and set off .. On the way I was telling my friend about those Kuwaiti days and the events they held; I was telling him about the School of the Greatest Messenger (s), where I had studied.. since he would be seeing it for the first time .. because we were heading there to stay in it, as students of the religious sciences ..
We arrived safely and entered the school, my eyes watching its details, comparing scenes from several years before with the scenes of this moment. I saw it was just the same .. and that slight change that had touched the paint and the tiles of the stairs had altered nothing of its original features .. Our escort showed us the room in which we would stay for the few days, this time as guests ..
We settled in there, and we prepared the program we would carry out during this visit ..
A visit to the Public Library of the Greatest Messenger.. and the theater there..
A visit to Ayatollah Sayed Muhammad Rida al-Shirazi, who had been residing there for a time.. Hayʾat Muhammad al-Amin .. the congregational prayer and the mosque's diwaniyya ..
And we did not forget our share of enjoying the view of the seashore and the Kuwait Towers, which were very close to the school..
As we toured the landmarks of the school and examined them closely .. I was telling my friend how far the community trusts this venerable school, which has greatly influenced Kuwaiti society, and how they respect the scholars and consult them in their various affairs ..
We toured a fixed place, yet our real tour was through the history of this place .. for in our imagination we moved from one time to another ..
****
At the very same time that we were touring, but in another place in Kuwait.. a woman sits in her luxurious house, a captive of loneliness, the stillness robbing her of rest ..
She is married, yet she is not like other wives ..
Before her marriage she lived in her father's house with brothers, sisters and other relatives .. finding comfort in their company ..
and soaring with her feelings among them .. And after her marriage she hoped to be happier and to have more companionship..
The days of her engagement passed sweeter than honey ..
And so did the first days of the honeymoon ..
And after that she discovered that living in honey had been fixed to a rigid span of time: one month only ..
She bore her husband's wretched daily routine: he goes to his job and comes back to eat and sleep a little, then goes out with his friends to this diwaniyya and that one, to this café and that one .. he comes at the end of the night to sleep ..
As if that wife were a piece of the furniture of that house ..
For the house is big and luxurious; it has every luxury and every adornment, and it seems it was missing one more piece ..
So he went to one of the people's houses, gave them money they call a dowry, and brought that piece to complete the décor of the house..
He did not say these words, but his conduct said it with all eloquence ..
She bore her deadly loneliness for a period of time .. But on this day, he had arranged with his friends to spend the evening at his place ..
They sat and drank tea, and the shisha breathed its smoke into their chests ..
while the wife saw to whatever was lacking, when the sugar ran out or the shisha needed fresh coals ..
By chance she overheard some of the talk .. It is her husband's voice, saying: (I need to take a second one) .. meaning by these words of his that he wants to marry a second wife ..
She could not bear it .. especially after all that neglect ..
She called him, angry ..
Yes, what do you want..
She rebuked him for what he had said .. he defended himself flippantly .. the words grew more and more heated ..
He shouted in her face: Come on .. go, you are divorced ..
She opened her eyes as wide as two eyes can open .. and put her hand over her open mouth ..
Astonished, in pain .. emotions stormed through her and feelings became confused .. and all her standards were scattered ..
and her certainties ..
He went back to his companions in the diwaniyya and went out with them .. without a care..
He said: Let's go to the sea, it's better for us ..
Here she is once more, finding herself in that luxurious house, alone again, but this time she is a broken piece of furniture ..
And broken furniture belongs in the trash .. for he said it .. you are divorced ..
Anger carried her to a quick decision ..
She left everything she owned .. and carried only herself .. outward .. she left the house to go ..
Where would she go?
That question did not cross her mind; the decision was simply to leave ..
And indeed she found herself in the street that leads to no place she knows ..
Should she change streets? ..
Yes .. and the other street .. also leads to no place she knows ..
There is only her family's house, and in her family's house there is no place at all for her .. for they had been waiting for one person fewer in the house so that it could be rearranged and tailored to the measure of those living in it ..
She searched for a street that would lead her to a place where she could sit .. and found none..
There is only one street, the very street she came from .. it leads to her marital home ..
She sees herself as having given in .. and she went back to her home ..
She entered it, not knowing what her position and her standing were in this place .. It is empty; the husband has not come yet ..
She was not at a loss for long .. the idea leapt into her head of contacting the outside world through the buttons of the telephone ..
She rushed toward the telephone .. she has the notebook of the important numbers she needs in her life ..
She looked for the number .. and her fingers went to the buttons .. and pressed them..
*****
We finished touring the school .. so my friend the Shaykh and I decided to go to the public library and the Theater of the Greatest Messenger .. We put on our clothes and were about to go out ..
Meanwhile .. we heard a telephone ringing ..
Ring ring .... ring ring .....
Each of us looked at the other .. the Shaykh was coming to this place for the first time, so his eyes promptly signaled me to pick up the receiver ..
I went to the telephone and picked up the receiver .. Yes?
It is a woman's voice .. weeping bitterly .. and when she heard a voice that was listening to her .. she broke into long sobs.
Sister .. calm yourself.. tell me, what is the problem?
And she told me her problem and her suffering with her husband ..
But she is asking what she should do now .. he has divorced her, and she found no refuge but the house ..
I said to her reassuringly: Listen, sister, you are not divorced now .. you are his wife and still bound to him in marriage.
She broke in .. But how? He said, you are divorced..
Yes, he said this .. but the jurisprudence of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) sets conditions for divorce so that the marital relationship is governed by the voice of reason and wisdom .. and not by outbursts and anger ..
There must be witnesses to the divorce..
And he must be in a normal state, not in anger or something else..
And likewise conditions for the woman ..
Here .. her heart returned to its natural place .. and she was able to breathe normally .. and the pitch of her weeping eased..
She was reassured that she was still in her home..
She said: Praise be to Allah .. so I am in my home now ..
I said to her .. Yes, you are in your home, and you are not in your home..
She said: How?
I said to her: The true home (sakan) is the home of the marital relationship .. the husband's home is his wife, and the wife's home is her husband ..
Allah the Exalted says: “And of His signs is that He created for you mates from your own selves that you may take comfort (li-taskunu) in them, and He ordained affection and mercy between you. There are indeed signs in that for a people who reflect.” (Qurʾan 30:21)..
She said: Yes .. I suffer from loneliness; he leaves me and goes off to his friends ..
I said to her: And how was he in the days of the engagement? .. She said: He was extremely kind, right up to the honeymoon, and after it .. he changed..
The honey must not be just one month.. it is a lifetime and the whole of life. The Qurʾan said “that you may take comfort (li-taskunu) in them” (Qurʾan 30:21), meaning that the husband and the wife each find repose in the other, take refuge in the other and feel at peace with the other .. And the Exalted also said:
“He has made for you the night and the day out of His mercy, so that you may rest (li-taskunu) therein and that you may seek His bounty and so that you may give thanks.” (Qurʾan 28:73).
So just as a person finds repose in the night and the day, he finds repose in his other half, namely the spouse .. and for as long as the night and the day remain, the marital relationship must continue .. with love and tranquility .. and not for one month only..
Even if, one day, a misunderstanding or a problem becomes mixed into it .. it still remains a sakan on the whole, just as the night and the day may contain a storm or an eclipse that alters them .. yet they remain a sakan..
Likewise, your house does not become the property of others if water leaks in it from the pipes.. you only need to repair it..
I said to her .. Do you do everything that you did in the first days of the marriage?
She replied: No .. not everything ..
Do you know why he goes out with his friends??
She said: No
I said to her: Going out with friends is something normal .. but what is not normal is for a person to neglect his wife and prefer that outing of his to going out with his wife or staying with her ..
The problem may come from both sides .. from him, and from you .. but since you are the one who called, you must take the initiative and shoulder the responsibility ..
And what should I do?
I said to her: Take a sheet of paper and a pen and write ..
Just a moment .. she rushed off to get a sheet of paper and a pen, and put the pen on the paper, waiting to write what she would hear, in the hope that it might change her life..
She tried to slow her quick breathing, from having rushed off so quickly ..
And she said: Yes, go ahead, what should I write?
I said to her: Make a list under the heading (Things I used to do and have now given up), another list under the heading (Things he loves), another list (Things you have heard him talk about in passing), and a last list under the heading (Things I ought not to give up)..
She murmurs to herself .. the pen glides as fast as lightning, writing the headings of the lists ..
Have you written them? ..
She replied: Of course .. but . what about the last list?
I said to her: You know all the lists .. and you must put points under them, and try each time to provide him with something from them, and surprise him with another ..
As for the last list, it is things you must observe because they are generally pleasing things; they are desirable, indeed recommended (mustaḥabb) .. for example, respecting the husband .. pray for him when he goes out and receive him with a smile when he arrives ..
Be in his eyes as he likes to see you, in looks and appearance..
Enter his world, his interests and his work in the way that he prefers ..
And so on, a set of things ..
She seemed cheered .. indeed happy .. she had got her breath back .. and her heartbeat ..
Thank you so much .. I did not know what to do .. and by the grace of Allah and thanks to you .. I have learned how to preserve my married life..
And like a woman who had quenched her thirst with what she had been searching for .. she poured out words of thanks and praise .. and prayers ..
It is you, by the grace of Allah the Exalted, who saved your married life yourself.. for you are the one who pressed the buttons and lifted the receiver asking for help ..
You may get a pain in your hand, so you call the hospital to book an appointment ..
And you may need a gas cylinder, so you call for them to bring you a full one ..
And you may run short of oil for frying potatoes, so you call the supermarket for them to bring it to you..
But we may not act when we need help in our married life .. so we do not call, or read, or talk things through ..
She said: Yes, right, what you say is right ..
I said: Go in Allah's safekeeping, and may Allah grant you success .. and I put down the receiver ..
My friend and I opened the door of the school and went out to continue our outing to the library and the theater..
I told him the whole problem .. he smiled his gentle smile, which was never without its own special meanings ..
And why are you smiling??
He said: Praise be to Allah that it was you who picked up the receiver ..
A phrase very heavy with meanings of thinking well of others .. which gives confidence and encouragement .. and this was one of the distinctive traits of my friend the Shaykh ..
He said: Tell me, do you expect that the wife will apply what you told her?
I said to him as we went along on foot ..
I could tell from her words that she will be keen to apply the policy of the lists .. and I believe she will stick the paper on the inside of her wardrobe to look it over from time to time ..
First, because they are practical and easy steps ..
And second, because it is her very own list..
And the most important thing is that she will save her married life and turn it into bliss ..
And there is no doubt that any husband who meets with that will change; indeed, he will give more than he takes..
We entered the library .. and sat in its quiet hall among the books.. and, as was his habit, the library attendant .. got ahead of us with (slow-brewed) tea before we had sat down..
The End
2007 CE
