This is the first chapter of my book, i will add it chater by chapter pleaseeeeeee tell me what you think <333

MY

RENDITION





By: Boshra Mohamed















CHAPTER ONE







It was just past midnight, I had gone to bed at ten, but had to get up now to use the bathroom. It was freezing, I pulled on a shawl over my shoulders that was hanging at the window sill, I was walking down the hallway to the bathroom when I suddenly heard them. Soldiers probably, walking around drunk, singing and hollering like the drunks they were. I thought nothing of it, this was nothing out of the ordinary, but then I heard my mother give a start, I rushed into her room to see what had awoken and startled her, but saw nothing out of the sort, I scanned the room again, but again nothing seemed out of place. I turned to my mother and my heart skipped a beat, my mothers looked so ill faced, like as if she had seen a jinn , she stood frozen like a statue. I rushed to the washroom and cupped some water in them from the bathtub facet; then I rushed back into the room and sprinkled it on her face. She suddenly came to and looked at me with such worry and love in her eyes. She embraced me in a hug, shaking, and repeating the same words over and over again, “oh, my child, oh my sweet innocent child”.

I had not the slightest idea of what was going on, or to the answer as to why my mother was acting the was she was, but non the less, it didn’t matter, I kneeled with her, and clutched her as hard as I could, trying in anyway I could to comfort her, telling her that it was okay and that I was here.

I stayed up with her for about a half hour after that, forgetting my urge to urinate, after that crucifying half and hour my mother seemed to come back to reality, she looked at me and told me that I had better go back to bed, and that everything was fine. I took one glance at her face and knew that I wasn’t going to ask what had happened, and I also knew at that moment that I never would. I went back to my bed, and pulled the covers up over my head and let sleep ease its way in. that night was the last night of being a child.



“Aisha, Aisha wake up, its morning”

“ungh go away you pest, let me be”

“No, now come on and make me breakfast” whined Yusseff, the youngest of our family “im starving”.

“Okay, okay im up” I retorted in a groggy sleepy voice, “is mother up yet?” I asked, although I already knew the answer.

“No, she said for you to make us breakfast and that she needed to rest”.

I pulled the covers off me and folded the sheets up and placed them in the cupboard, then I made my way to the bathroom, to make wudu and wash my face and get ready to pray.



After I had prayed the first of my prayers for the day, I headed to the kitchen, when I got there; I headed over to the fridge.

Yuseff had already bet me to it and started reporting the morning reports, and always it was the same thing.

“There’s nothing to eat” he whined.

“Sure there is” I said, although in fact he was right. We had been short on money for food ever since father was shot dead 6 months ago. We all tried to earn some money to put food on the plate, even Yuseff.

“I don’t want anymore of that muck, id rather starve” said Yuseff in a desperate voice, “couldn’t we have eggs this morning, please” he begged.

“No” I replied smoothly, those are for mother, she needs all the strength she can get”.

He gave a big sigh, but thankfully left my side and let me be for now.

I got to making breakfast for the 6 of us, 7 to be. Mother was pregnant again; she is due in two months that is why she needs all the nourishment we can provide. Mother is very ill and should not have had anymore kids after Yuseff, but my mother is a strong believer in having as many kids as Allah bids. She says that if she chooses not to have a child, it is like having chosen whether one gets to live or not, it is like deriving one of not only a future, but a life, and that only god has the right to that choice. So here we are with another mouth to feed, but still I see it as a blessing, and I also believe in mother’s point of view, anyway what better to shed some light in this dark time than an innocent child.

I believe that god never gives you more than you can handle, I m sure a path will come to our door, but until that path arrives, I must continue to be that path for now. I guess that you are wondering who I am, now is a good time as any to tell you a bit about myself.

My name is Aisha and I am 16 years old, I have 2 sisters and two brothers, and of course my mother.

My two sisters’ names are Khadiga and Fatima; they are both twins and are 9 years old. Khadiga is 1 minute older than Fatima, and therefore considers herself the older one and the leader, she is always so bossy to the others and will one day make a strict mother. On the other hand, Fatima is quiet and shy, but is always fighting with her sister; she loves to draw and reads anything she can get her hands on, one day I believe that she will make a great architect, because she is always building and fixing stuff. The twins are both identical; they both have dark brown wavy hair up to their shoulders and two big beautiful golden eyes.



Then there is Mohammed who is 10 years old. Mohammed is the man of the house, he puts it on himself the most to go out on the streets and to find jobs to earn some money here and there. He is a very quiet kid, but not the kind of Fatima quiet, he is the kind of quiet that is very thoughtful, you know that he is always deep in thought. He may be very young but he has something about him that makes him seem much too old and wise for his age, he is one of the mysteries that I my self have yet to figure out, he is the kind of person that makes a hooker feel some level of shame. Mohamed has very dark black straight hair that is up to his shoulders, against very pale skin. Then there is Yuseff, the crazy one, he is so loud and hyper and does not lack imagination, he is always everywhere making people laugh, he is just your typical five year old, full of adventure and innocence, Yuseff like me has very light brown hair against pale skin and brown eyes, we have both mothers eyes and hair. People say that I look like mother, but that must be impossible because mother is so beautiful, she is the prettiest women I have ever seen. Mother is now in her late 30’s but doesn’t look a day older than 32 at the most. Father, as I has mentioned earlier is dead. Father was a great man, a man that looked at the facts and evidence before he judged. Father was so equal, and kind. One day about 6 months ago on the 25 of December 1999, he was going for his nightly stroll and giving some food to the homeless, then out of no where two soldiers come up to him and shoot him. They were most likely drunk, they had no reason to kill father, I hate them so much, even though father was the one who taught me never to hate, I couldn’t help it, how am I supposed to think otherwise of them, thus now I hate all soldiers, I believe that they are all bad, and have no hearts, and my thoughts are not about to change on that matter.



I got out the wheat to begin breakfast, we were to have oatmeal again, we have been eating oatmeal every morning now for about 3 months, but that doesn’t matter, there are people much less fortunate than us, we should be grateful that we have something to survive by.

I heard the front door open and someone calling out assalamu alakum, which means peace be with you. It is customary to great everyone like this and also when you step into a house, to let people acknowledge who you and that you have arrived mostly. Seconds later Mohammed walked into the kitchen looking puffy eyed and tired; he was dirty and smelt of fresh air.

“How’s mother” he asked while pulling out a chair from the kitchen table and sitting down upon it.

“She’s still feeling tired and is laying down” I replied

“Well it is to be expected”, he sighed and leaned back on the chair, putting his arms and hands back behind his head.

“So, did you find a job or some food perhaps” I asked

“No, not today, no one can afford to hire anyone right now, it is getting scarcer and much harder to find anything, I am worried, what shall we do, we cannot go one like this”

“Don’t be worried” I replied “we will be okay, we’ve made it this far now, haven’t we?’

“Yes, I know your right, but still it is very aggravating and worrisome, and the new baby to top it all of”

“Hush, you mustn’t talk like that, you make it sound as if it is a burden, but in truth it is a blessing and we must be very happy and grateful” I scowled motherly.

“Yes, forgive my ignorance” he said “it’s just really hard sometimes, I do wish father were here”

“I now” I sighed “I know, so what news is out there today” I asked

“You know the neighbors on our left, the house that you can see out of mother’s window” he replied, “well it appears to be that they were broken into sometime in the night. All of them including the children were found dead. The house was burned down and there bodies along with it. That’s the fifth family this month, Allah help us” he sighed.

I didn’t think anything of it at the time. It was just another morning report of what was going on in the neighborhood this morning.

The oatmeal was ready, I washed my hands and hollered to the kids to come and eat. I had also fried mothers eggs and now set them on a plate with some bread for her to eat.

The twins rushed in and gave me some flowers, they were mostly weeds and roots but they were still very beautiful, “to brighten the place up” they said together, then giggled.

“their beautiful” I commented, then couldn’t help scowling, “ you mustn’t wander outside like that anymore, I forbid you to, the yard is no longer safe anymore as well”, they both just rolled their eyes at me and went to get the blanket that we used to eat and spread it on the floor in the living room to eat. I left to get mother, but not before reminding them to say Bismallah, in the name of god, before they started eating.

I walked into mother’s small, dark room and said her name softly, mother was a very light sleeper, she woke up almost immediately.

“Aisha, good morning, are the kids fed?’ she asked

“They are eating right now, mother, come now you must join”

“I’m not that hungry” she replied, “give my share to Yussef, that child is always hungry.

“Mother there’s enough for everybody” I replied, “now come, if not to eat for yourself, then eat for the baby”.

“Oh Aisha, you are such a good girl, what would I do without you”.

I helped her out of the bed, and lead her into the living room. Everyone was still eating, and the all had smiles on their faces when they saw mother. The girls and Yuseff all crowded around her feet, telling her how there day was so far.

Mother sat down and listened to each of them, and making remarks here and there, and also scowling the twins for going out when it was so dangerous.

She only ate a quarter of one of her eggs and divided the rest up equally for the younger children. I told her not to, but she just said that she wasn’t hungry and didn’t let the issue drag on any further. I made a mental note in my head to scowl Yuseff and the twins for looking at the eggs so longingly that mother knew right of what they desired, and of course being a mother, couldn’t refuse them anything.

When we had finished eating, and all the dishes were done, I called everyone into the living room for our daily studies. Since the children couldn’t go to school I have been teaching them what I can and know so as not to deprive them of some sort of knowledge. I usually taught them geography and history and grammar, while Mohammed taught us all mathematics.

Mother also stayed by our sides on the days she strong enough. She also learnt what she could, and often tested the kids on what they have learnt. Sometimes we were rewarded by mother telling us a story, mostly a story out of the Holy Quran, or of Muhammad pbuh, and his life’s journey and the challenges he faced, and how he solved them. Mother wants us to learn from these stories so that if a situation ever presented itself, we would always be able to solve the solution in a fair and modest way. Like father, he always tried to follow in the prophet’s pbuh’s footsteps and taught us to do the same. Today we were to be lucky, mother had announced for us to come and sit by her and that she would tell us a story. We were all delighted; mother was a spectacular starry teller. I believe that if she were given the chance, she would have made the best teacher ever in literature. In two minutes we were all huddled around her. The twins both sat by her feet on either side, Mohammed sat on her right and I on her left, and Yussef was of course on her lap. Yuseff is very close to mother; he slept by her side until he was three, refusing to sleep with us in the big kids room. Mother laughed and allowed him to, father said that the boy must learn one day to be independent, but never got mad, not even once. Then one day, he just said that he wanted to sleep in the big kids’ room. He just said it out of the blue with no warning whatsoever. Father patted him on the head and said that now he was growing u and becoming a man. I am afraid what the new baby will do to Yuseff. Yuseff has always been the baby of the family, each one of us, including the twins has spoiled him rotten.

“My children, today I shall tell you the story of Prophet Solomon

“Isn’t that the prophet who tricked the jinns mother?” asked Yuseff.

“Yes”, mother replied, “now hush my little one so that I may tell you the story”

“Okay” said Yuseef, snuggling up on mother.

Mother returned the gesture with such love and began the story.

“After the death of his father, Solemn asked Allah for a kingdom that no other after him shall have, and his wish was granted,” Mother began.

“Along with wisdom, Solemn was blessed with more abilities, like he could understand the animals and he could also command the winds. Allah directed him to teach both men and jinns to mine the earth and extract its minerals to make tools and weapons. He was also favored with a mine of copper, which was a very rare metal at that time. During this time the method of transportation was horses”.

“Oh, horses, I love horses” Yussef blurted out.

“Shut up” snapped the twins at the same time “let mother finish”

“Now now” mother threatened “there shall be no use of that kind of language in my house”

“Sorry” mumbled the twins together.

“Please finish the story mother” begged Yuseff.

“One day solemn gathered his army of men, jinns, birds, and animals. He marched them to the country of Askalon” mother started again “while they were marching through a valley, an ant saw an approaching army and cried out to her friends, to watch out or otherwise, Solemn and his army might crush them by accident. Solemn hearing the ants cries, smiled to himself, he was glad that the any knew him to be a prophet that would not initially harm on of Allah’s creatures.

Allah the Almighty narrated: And there were gathered before Solomon his hosts of jinns and men, and birds, and they all were set in battle order (marching forwards). Till, when they came to a valley of the ants, one of the ants said: "O ants! Enter your dwellings, lest Solomon and his hosts crush you, while they perceive not."

So he Solomon smiled amused at her speech and said: "My Lord! Inspire and bestow upon me the power and ability that I maybe grateful for Your Favors which You have bestowed on me and on my parents, and that I may do righteous good deeds that will please You, and admit me by Your Mercy among Your righteous slaves."



In Jerusalem, on a huge rock, Solomon built a beautiful temple to draw the people to worship Allah. Today this building is known as "The Dome of the Rock." From there, a large band of followers joined Solomon on pilgrimage to the Holy Mosque in Mecca. After they had completed their hajj, they traveled to Yemen and arrived in the city of San'a. Solomon was impressed by their clever method of channeling water all over their cities. He was keen to build similar water systems in his own country but did not have enough springs.

He set out to find the hoopoe bird, which could detect water under the ground. He sent signals all over the hoopoe to call on him, but it was nowhere to be found. In anger, he declared that unless the bird had a good reason for its absence, he would punish it severely.

The hoopoe eventually came to Solomon and explained the reason for its delay. "I have discovered something of which you are not aware. I have come from Sheba with important news." Solomon became curious, and his anger subsided. The bird continued: "Sab'a is ruled by a queen named Bilkis, who has plenty of everything, including a splendid throne. But in spite of all this wealth, Satan has entered her heart and the hearts of her people. She rules their minds completely. I was shocked to learn that they worship the sun instead of Allah the Almighty."

To check the hoopoe's information, Solomon sent a letter to the queen with the bird. He instructed the bird to remain hidden and to watch everything.

The hoopoe dropped the letter in front of the queen and flew away to hide. She excitedly opened and read it: "Verily! It is from Solomon, and verily! It reads: 'In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, and Most Merciful; be you not exalted against me, but come to me as Muslims (true believers who submit with full submission).”

The queen was very disturbed and hurriedly summoned her advisors. They reacted as to a challenge, for they felt that there was someone challenging them, hinting at war and defeat, and asking them to submit to his conditions.

They told her that they could only offer advice, but it was her right to command action. She sensed that they wanted to meet Solomon's invasion threat with a battle. However, she told them: "Peace and friendship are better and wiser; war only brings humiliation, enslaves people and destroys the good things. I have decided to send gifts to Solomon, selected from our most precious treasure. The courtiers who will deliver the gifts will also have an opportunity to learn about Solomon and his military mighty."

Solomon's reconnaissance team brought him the news of the arrival of Bilkis' messengers with a gift. He immediately realized that the queen had sent her men on a probing mission thus, he gave orders to rally the army. The envoys of Bilqis, entering amidst the well-equipped army, realized that their wealth was nothing in comparison to that of the kingdom of Solomon's palace floors, which were made of sandalwood and inlaid with gold.

They noticed Solomon surveying his army, and they were surprised at the number and variety of soldiers, which included lions, tigers, and birds. The messengers stood in amazement, realizing that they were in front of an irresistible army.

The envoys marveled at the splendor surrounding them. They eagerly presented their queen's precious gifts and told Solomon that the queen wished that he would accept them as an act of friendship. They were shocked by his reaction: he did not even ask to open the covers of the containers! He told them: "Allah hagiven me plenty of wealth, a large kingdom, and prophethood. I am, therefore, beyond bribery. My only objective is to spread the belief in Tawheed, the Oneness of Allah."

He also directed them to take back the gifts to the queen and to tell her that if she did not stop her kind of worship he would uproot her kingdom and drive its people out of the land.

The queen's envoys returned with the gifts and delivered the message. They also told her of the wonderful things they had seen. Instead of taking offense, she decided to visit Solomon. Accompanied by her royal officials and servants, she left Sheba, sending a messenger ahead to inform Solomon that she was on her way to meet him.

Solomon asked the jinns in his employ whether anyone among them could bring her throne to his palace before she arrived. One of them said; "I will bring it to you before this sitting is over." Solomon did not react to this offer; it appeared that he was waiting for a faster means. The jinns competed with each other to please him. One of them named Ifrit said: "I will fetch it for you in the twinkling of an eye!"

No sooner had this one - who had the knowledge of the Book - finished his phrase than the throne stood before Solomon. The mission had, indeed, been completed in the blinking of an eye. Solomon's seat was in Palestine, and the throne of Bilqis had been in Yemen, two thousand miles away. This was a great miracle performed by one of those sitting with Solomon.

When Bilqis arrived at Solomon's palace, she was welcomed with pomp and ceremony. Then, pointing to the altered throne, Solomon asked her whether her throne looked like that one. She looked at it again and again. In her mind she was convinced that her throne could not possibly be the one she was looking at, as hers was in her palace; she detected a striking similarity and replied: "It is as if it were the very one, and resembles mine in every respect." Solomon judged that she was intelligent and diplomatic.

He then invited her into the great hall, the floor of which was laid in glass and shimmering. Thinking it was water, as she stepped on the floor, she lifted her skirt slightly above her heels, for fear of wetting it. Solomon pointed out to her that it was made of solid glass.

She was amazed. She had never seen such things before. Bilqis realized that she was in the company of a very knowledgeable person who was not only a ruler of a great kingdom but a messenger of Allah, as well. She repented, gave up sun worship, accepted the faith of Allah, and asked her people to do the same.

It was finished; Bilqis saw her people's creed fall apart before Solomon. She realized that the sun which her people worshipped was nothing but one of Allah's creatures.

Solomon's public work was largely carried out by the jinns. This was a punishment for their sins of making people believe that they were all-powerful, knew the unseen, and could foresee the future. As a prophet, it was Solomon's duty to remove such false beliefs from his followers.

Solomon lived amidst glory, and all creatures were subjected to him. Then Allah the Exalted ordained for him to die. His life and death were full of wonders and miracles; thus, his death harmonized with his life and glory. His death, like his life, was unique. The people had to learn that the future is known neither by the jinns, nor by the prophets, but by Allah alone. Solomon's effort in this direction did not end with his life, for even his death became an example. He was sitting holding his staff, overseeing the jinns at work in a mine. He died sitting in this position. For a long time no one was aware of his death, for he was seen sitting erect. The jinns continued with their sand toil, thinking that Solomon was watching over them.

Many days later, a hungry ant began nibbling Solomon's staff. It continued to do so, eating the lower part of the staff, until it fell out of Solomon's hand, and his great body fell to the ground. People hurried to him, realizing that he had died a long time ago and that the jinns did not perceive the unseen, for had the jinns known the unseen, they would not have kept working, thinking that Solomon was alive.

Allah the Exalted revealed: And We caused a fount of molten brass to flow for him, and there were jinns that worked in front of him by the Leave of his Lord, and whosoever of them turned aside from Our Command, We shall cause him to taste of the torment of the blazing Fire.

They worked for him what he desired, (making) high rooms, images, basins as large as reservoirs, and (making) cauldrons fixed (in their places). "Work you, O family of David, with thanks!" But few of My slaves are grateful.

Then when we decreed death for him (Solomon), nothing informed them (jinns) of his death except a little worm of the earth, which kept slowly gnawing away at his stick, so when he fell down, the jinns saw clearly that if they had known the unseen, they would not have stayed in the humiliating torment”. Mother finished.

I hadn’t realized that I had been closing my eyes the whole time the story was being read to me. I felt so at peace that I resented opining my eye lids.

“So children, always remember who created you, and whenever you lay eyes upon something, remember who created it”. Mother said.

Yuseff was wide eyed, he loved these kinds of stories, “one day, I shall be a great king such as Solemn was” he announced.

Mother laughed and said that she would be blessed and very proud of him.

Then she sent us of to bed. Yusseff complied eventually to her orders, but not before a big fight, saying that he was no at all tired, and that he wanted to hear another story. But mother won, like she always did, and soon enough all the kids were asleep, and I myself was tucked under my covers waiting for sleep to take me.

For some reason I couldn’t fall asleep, I kept on squirming and rolling around on my mattress trying to get comfortable and trying to will myself to sleep, but I couldn’t, something was not right, something was a miss. I felt it deep down in the pit of my stomach; I felt queasy and did not know why. Something was terribly wrong. Then I saw it and knew what was wrong. Someone was at the window, watching me, looking at me with very cold eyes. My heart froze. I knew then and there that things were never going to be the same again. I knew that once this night was through, my life would never be the same again. I made my way to Yuseff who was sleeping beside

me, I tried to wake him up, but then the pair of cold eyes came rushing into the room. I screamed.

This is the first chapter of my book, i will add it chater by chapter pleaseeeeeee tell me what you think %26lt;333
Too bad I didn't have time to read it all. I really liked it. You describe your characters very well. And it's just.. simply great!

-Brian
Reply:Well whats the title? anyway i liked it so far it didnt read it all actually i didnt want to!!!! THAT WAS GREAT THOUGH
Reply:it seemed like a book i would read i didnt read all of it but what i did read was great i hope to see it @ my fav book store wen its done do u have a title yet
Reply:im sorry i also didnt have much time to read it(A.K.A didnt want to). a word of advice if you put this on yahoo questions i dont really think many people are going to read it