Chapter One- The Good in our hearts

ONE

The Purity.

     "It is time, Ada, it is time. We must make haste before God forbids, he hears the Satan first!"

     For a moment there was a flurry of activities in the crammed hospital ward. Of relatives rushing to make way for the blue clad nurse, of squealing children that were curious to the change in atmosphere and of the nervous father, sweating profusely despite the unusually cold air conditioning.

I am ready...

  ALLAAHU AKBAR.... ALLAAAHU AKBAR... 
(God is great, God is great)

ASYHADUAN LAAA ILAAHA ILLALLAH
(I bear witness that there is no God but Allah)

The adzan was whispered into the ears of the newborn by the father slowly but clearly as the child slept peacefully, oblivious to his surroundings. It would be the first thing the baby, Azan, hears in this new world. He hoped the meaning would reverberate throughout the rest of his son's short life as his guide and ambition and as his refuge and hope. The whispering of the adzan, however was not a ritual to Ada. It never is. It was the greatest gift he could ever bequeath to his son.
 
As the father completed the adzan, he took a long look at his tiny boy. Somewhere in the future, this innocent young boy will find his own purpose and meaning of his existence. And it may lead him somewhere totally different from him. In God, we trust. At that moment, he let a tear streak across his face.

Across the ward, a lonely pair of mother with her newborn daughter in her arms sat with her back against the wall on the hospital bed. Her glassy eyes absorbed the scene unfolding before her as she caressed her daughter. It was a sight she longed to see just the simplicity and beauty. But to experience it herself, it would be an impossibility. Not with her husband in prison. Can you see this my love?

Miles away, a man woke up from his sleep. What time was it? He did not know. He squinted against the dim lighting beyond the bars. Sometimes, you could tell the time by the guards outside his cell. Since the corridor was silent, he assumed that it must be night. Afterall, his  cell mates were sound asleep on their respective straw mats.

This was the opportune time. He carefully tiptoed to the corner of the cell where a battered wooden box laid and he opened it taking out a tiny book hidden between two tomes, untouched for perhaps years.

I am ready...

ALLAHU... ALLAHUAK.. HUAKBAR ALLAHUAKBAR....

ASY.. ASYHADUU... ANLAAILAHA ILLALLAH

Against the dim lighting he struggled to read the romanised form of the adzan. He did so discreetly, so as not to wake the others up for some had terrible tempers. Afterwhich he closed the book and shut his eyes.

"I may not have been the best of man. Times when i have forsaken you Lord, i have erred and erred and succumbed to the desires of the wretched. Condemn me as You may but take pittance on my child. I may have failed as your servant and as a father but let she be the salvation to my crippled pride. Amin."

Their fates have been decided a long time ago and the goodness in their hearts were to be put to the test. In God, we trust. At that moment, he let a tear streak across his face.

(End of Chapter One)