**~~My story~~**

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Khalid was staring at me for some reason. I guess he’s still mad about what happened. I frowned as I remembered what I did. Ever since this morning he didn’t really talk to me. I pushed that away from my mind and tried to concentrate on what the sheikh was saying. I looked closer at him. His name was Shiekh Muhammad and he was the Imam of our Masjid. He was an Imam for only about a year. But he already won most of the people’s heart. He was a son to the old men, and a best friend to others. But to us youngsters he was a father and a role model. With his long flowing beard, loose Islamic clothes, and his warm nature he was someone we could talk to whenever we had anything bugging us. He always knew how to respond to people, how to make you feel better, how to make you fear Allah more. When speaking to older guys he would be serious and persuasive. But when speaking to the youth he would be more light hearted and would try to make his talk more amusing, entertaining and fun.
Right now as I listened to his speech I became more and more inspired to be a better Muslim teen, a better person all together.
He spoke about some things that youth do for fun like drinking, gambling, smoking, and other sinful actions. He told us these things may be fun but they would only lead you to burn in the hell fire. In fact they are more harmful then they are fun. “Some people drink and gamble so they can fit into the environment.” He said. “Some say they gamble so they can make money. They only look at the good side but never consider that they would be losing thousand of dollars to someone who doesn’t even deserve it. Other’s drink so they can cool down. They don’t look at the consequences that will come out of this act. After drinking you lose control and become abusive to all of those that you love and care for.”

He was finished after about thirty minutes later. As other people got up I stayed where I was thinking over everything he said.
“Come on Khalil.” Ahmed said. “We’re gona go.”
Khalid was behind him staring at me quizzically.
“You guys go I wana do something first.” I replied. Ahmed looked at Khalid and Khalid shrugged. “Ok.” He said. “Here keep this with you.” He gave me his cell phone and they both left. I sat there thinking.
Our Masjid had a really good and active community. Ever since Shiekh Muhammad came the men have been having meetings and lectures all the time. I have always hoped they would make some kind of program for the youth in the community. There weren’t many of us and most of them were getting affected by the bad society little by little each day.
As I thought about this I realized that there weren’t any more people left in the Masjid. I could still hear them outside but I was alone in the Masjid. Great I thought the Sheikh left. How am I suppose to speak with him now?
Maybe he’ll come back after talking with some people. I got up and went to get a Hadith book to read while I waited. One Hadith caught my attention. It said something about leading a good example. If you start something that people learn from and they teach to someone else you get the good deeds of them and anyone else who learns it or teaches it to someone else. I was so caught up in the book that I didn’t notice the person who next to me. He placed his hand on my shoulder and I jumped.
“Sorry I startled you” he said. And I realized it was the sheikh. “I love seeing our Muslim youth reading Hadith books or the Quran and staying in the Masjid long after everyone else leaves.”
“Actually Amu, I stayed because I wanted to talk to you about something.” I said lowering my gaze.
“Oh really what is it?” He said sitting down in a more comfortable position.
For once in my life I suddenly felt speechless and tongue-tied.
“I was thinking about how active our Masjid became after you came. I mean you made a lot of organizations and stuff. And I think the people really benefited from them a lot.” I began.
“Alhamdulillah.” He said softly.
“I was wondering if you could start something for the youth. Some thing they can learn from and at the same time they can have fun and they can enjoy themselves. Like the boys can have something every weekend maybe an I’tikaf or something. You can make lectures and they can play games like quizzes on Islamic history, the life of the prophet and the Sahabah. And maybe every other night you can do a lecture series on the Seerah of the Prophet or his companions. And fro the girls they can have some kind of club in the Masjid where they learn Home Economics and other things. And the lecture series can be for both the boys and the girls.” I noticed I was talking too much so I stopped and looked at him. He had a big smile on his face.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Khalil.” I answered.
“Oh so you’re Ali’s son, one of the twins? I thought you looked familiar. What was your brother’s name?”
“Khalid.” Is he trying to change the subject because he thinks it’s a bad idea I thought.
“Well Khalil, I guess it's true when they say great minds think alike huh? I have been thinking of doing something for you teens for along time but I couldn’t think of anything that you guys would like. I guess I should have asked some of you youngsters a bit earlier.”
“So you like my ideas?” I asked with the excitement clear in my voice.
He nodded. “They’re excellent! I’ll try my best to make your wishes come true. You’d better head home it’s getting late.”
“Ok. Bye!” I got up and left. When I got home Ahmed and Aisha had already left.
“You’re early!” Khalid joked.
 
“I know.” He replied. “Did you guys eat yet?”
“Is that all you think about Khalil?” Khawla piped up.
“No. I care about a lot of other things too.”
“Yeah, like your comics, your beauty sleep, and your stomach.” She joked. I expected Khalil to give her an angry reply but he didn’t.
“Yah, that and some other stuff.”
“Like what?”
“Khawla why don’t you just leave me alone?”
“Maybe I just don’t feel like leaving you alone.”
He ignored her and went outside to the backyard. I followed him. He was sitting on the porch steps.
“Why did you stay behind at the Masjid?” I inquired.
“No reason.” He was quite for a while. Then he seemed to remember something. “You know our birthday is in a couple of days?”
“Yah. In three days right?”
“Yeah, we’re gona be seventeen. Cool huh?”
“I guess. But I wana stay sixteen. Seventeen sounds kind of old doesn’t it?”
“Aren’t you already old Shiekh Khalid?”
“Well, we’re twins right?”
“Right?”
“And if I’m old that means you’re old too right?”
“OK. You got me. But I meant you’re mentally old.”
I laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“I don’t think there’s anyone who can win you in an argument.”
“Yup. I’m The Man!” He boasted as he flexed his muscles.
“Did you like the guy I drew for you?”
“Was that guy supposed to be me cuz I’m not that ugly.”
“No. It’s supposed to teach you to stop flexing your muscles. You’re not the only one with muscles you know.”
“Oh so you think you’re strong?”
“No. I know that I am. By the way, did you apologize to Deej?”
“Do I have to?”
“Yeah.”
“Well I didn’t exactly but I gave her an apology note. It’s in the cookie jar.” He chuckled. “They were baking cookies so I thought she’d find it there.”
“You’re so bad In hiding things Khalil.”
“Hey lets go see if she found it or not. If she didn’t we’ll put it somewhere more obvious.” We went to the kitchen and pretended to get a cookie.
“No cookies before dinner.” Mom warned. Khalil nudged me.
“Just one Mom please.” I begged. She agreed. So we each took one then we went back outside.
“It’s not there. I guess she found it.” Khalil said.
We were quiet as we munched on our cookies. The sun was setting. It left behind it a trail of beautiful colors. We heard the porch door open behind us. We turned around and saw Khadeejah behind us. She came out and sat on the grass.
She was quiet for a while. Then she held up the bowl of cookies she was carrying. “You guys want some?” she asked.
We both took one. Then we elapsed into silence again.
“Was that note suppose to be for me?” she asked Khalil. He nodded but refused to look at her. She looked at me and then back at Khalil.
“I’ll forgive you if you answer this question. Why do you two hate it when I read?” Khalil stared at the ground. Suddenly the silence was broken by Khawla as she came outside.
“What are you doing here?” She asked Khadeejah. “I thought you weren’t going to forgive him after he embarrassed you.”
Khadeejah just kept quiet. After a while Khawla went back inside and Khalil followed. Khadeejah’s mood suddenly changed after Khalil left.
“Hey I’m working on translating this Arabic book into English.” She said proudly.
“What’s it about?” I asked her.
“The effects of sin and the benefit of Dhikr. It’s really cool. It talks about how sins can affect you and how you can become closer to Allah by just remembering him and praising him. But it’s kind of hard some words are hard to change into English.”
“I can help you if you want.” I offered getting up to go inside.
“Oh thank you! You’re the best.” She exclaimed clearly pleased.
“You’re welcome. We’ll work on it when we come from school Inshallah.

We went inside and after eating and praying all our prayers we went to sleep.
 
“Rise and Shine!” I heard Khawla say. I groaned and pulled the covers over my head. She turned on the light making it more difficult to fall asleep.
“Go away Khawla! It’s still early.” I heard Khalid say. We had gotten up for Fajr about an hour ago and then we went back to sleep.
“It’ll be time to go by the time you two get ready. You better get up or I’ll get a glass of water and pour it over your heads. We both ignored her and pretended to sleep. She left. After a while I got tired of sleeping and I got up.
“Come on Sheikh. Time to get up.”
“Just five more minutes.” He said pulling his blanket over him.
“Why is it so easy for you to get up for Fajr but you cant even get off your bed for school?” He laughed and got up.
“Wow Khalid. You have the worst hairdo ever. He chuckled and ran his hand through his hair. We spent twenty minutes running around in the house getting ready. After that we sat down for breakfast. I looked at my watch. We had forty-five minutes left. Great! We didn’t have to rush like we usually did.
“I cant believe it’s gona be Ramadan tomorrow.” Khadeejah exclaimed.
“I know but it’ll be on Wednesday if they don’t see the moon today.”
Khalid remarked.
“Mom, we’re gona have to go and buy a lot of food for the Iftaar.”
Khawla said.
“Why? We’re gona be fasting anyway. We don’t need that much food. Besides even if you make a lot of food for Iftaar it’ll all be wasted because a fasting person can’t eat that much. I speak from experience.” Khalid replied. I nodded in agreement. Khawla just glared at us.
“Do you boys want to go and look for the moon today with me. It’s pretty sunny. A couple of Brother’s are taking they’re son’s with them. I thought we could join them. It’ll be fun Inshallah.”
“Yeah!” Khalid shouted. Then he seemed to remember something. “When are we leaving?” he asked.
“Around five Inshallah. Don’t worry that’ll give you a long time to do your homework.” Dad teased him.
“What’s wrong Khalil? You’re not talking today.” Khawla asked.
I shrugged. “Let’s go.” I said picking up my plates. I took them to the kitchen. Mom followed me.
“Are you sure you’re ok?” she asked. “You’ve been pretty quiet lately.”
“I’m fine.” I said and smiled.
“Khalil! We’re gona leave you here if you don’t hurry up!” Khalid shouted.
“Bye Mom.” I said as I left taking my back pack with me.

We all went to an Islamic school. Our parents didn’t want us to be influenced by the society. So they placed us in an international Islamic school called ISP (Islamic school of Portland). Most of our friend went there including Ahmed.. Probably because it had very good teachers and it had a clean environment.
Our dad dropped us off there every morning and then picked us up everyday at three-forty five.
 
When we got there we still had fifteen minutes until class time so Khalid and I went to the cafeteria to get some snacks. After that we went to our lockers to get our books. We saw Ahmed running towards us. A teacher stopped him and told him not to run in the hallways.
“Hey guys! Guess what?!” he exclaimed breathlessly.
“Hey. What happened?” I asked.
“I told you to guess. But anyways my parents are going to Makkah to make Umrah this Ramadan.”
“Wow! But why don’t they just save their money and make Hajj?” Khalil asked.


“They made Hajj a couple of years ago and now they want to make Umrah.” Ahmed answered.
“But wouldn’t they get more reward making Hajj? I heard that the reward for the Hajj Al-Mabroor is Jannah.” Khalil stated as we walked to our class.
“Yes but making Umrah erases al your past deeds. Plus making Umrah in Ramadan is the same as making Hajj with the Prophet.” I told him.
“What do you mean? How can it be the same as making Hajj with the Prophet if he’s not around any more?” Khalil asked.
“I mean it’s the same in the reward.”
Bye now we reached our first class, Arabic. Our teacher wasn’t there yet. We picked seats that were next to each other. A couple of students were already there. Ahmed turned to us again.
“Hey I didn’t tell you the rest of the news.”
“There’s more?” I asked. He nodded.
“Since both my parents are leaving we’re gona be staying with you guys till they come back.”
“Yeah!” I exclaimed. At that moment one of our friends came over and claimed a seat next to us.
“Hey guys! Did you guys study for the test?” He asked. His name was Yusuf. He was Khalil’s all time best friend.
“We did but Khalid didn’t.” Ahmed said.
“Why not?” he asked me. I shrugged. I had forgotten all about the test.
“You wana go over it now?” he asked me.
“Too late.” Ahmed said nodding over to the teacher’s desk. She was already there.
“Turn around Yusuf class is started.” She said to him. He twisted in his seat and turned around. “Every one get out a pencil or pen we will be having our test in a few minutes Inshallah. I turned around to get my pen from my back pack. “Don’t worry sheikh you’ll do good Inshallah.” Khalil whispered.
“No Talking please!” The teacher said staring hard at us. Her name was Elham. But the rules were that you address the female teachers with Khala and male ones with Amu.
 
“Write you name and the date please. Papers with no names will not be corrected.” She said as she passed out the papers. Khalid looked like he wanted to disappear. I don’t blame him Khala Elham’s tests were always extremely hard. Even if you study half the night it’s not likely that you’d get a hundred. Ahmed finished his first. Then Yusuf, then a couple of other boys did. After a while I finished and gave it to her. Khalid was the last person to finish which was strange since he was usually the first one to finish. Khala got up.
“I’m going to go to the office to get papers. Please no talking! Yusuf write down the name of anyone who talks.” She said and then she left.
“Hey Khalid what’s wrong? You’re the only one who isn’t finished.” One of the boys said.
“Yeah, you’re usually the first one who finishes.” Another kid piped up.
“Hey let him concentrate!” Ahmed defended him.
“Yeah, you want me to write down your name?” Yusuf asked.
Khalid finished his test and placed it on Khala’s table. Just then Khala came back inside.
“What are you doing off your table Khalid?” she asked
“I finished my test.” He said as he went back to his seat.
“Ok class. I want peace and quiet while I correct the tests. You can go to the back of the classroom and talk but I don’t want to hear any loud voices.” She said. Then she called one of the students to watch her correct his test.
 
LoL JazakAllah sis. I hope Khalid does well :D!! Lolll

Btw sis, this story is really great Mashallah. You should post in the general forums. plz! :D Lol.

:sl:
 
MAshallahhhh seriouslyy I hope khalid does weellll tooo..nd ye u shuld post it up in the general section its so nice..actuallyy i think you should produce a book with this story..fr real i'm nt evn playin..its gnna b reall good inshalalllah waiitn fr MOREEE
 
Sis M421....seee you should really think about turning it into a book....its great
Click to expand...

hmm. M421 different but i liki ;D


i'll post some up soon iA
about posting it in da genaral section i'm not dat bold (brave) (too shy) :hiding:

Ma'salamah
ps. thnks 4 da comments Jazakumullah Alf Khair!!! :) :) :D :D
 

“How well do you think you did Khalid?” Ahmed asked me. I shrugged. I hoped I did well. If there’s one thing my parents hate it’s for us to get a bad grade.
“Yusuf?” Khala called him. He got up and went to her desk.
“We’re going to go moon sighting later.” Khalil announced.
“Really? Can I come?” Ahmed asked.
“Sure if you can make it to our house before five.”
“I can do that. Or I’ll call my dad and ask him if I can go home with you guys.”
We were quiet for a bit. Then Yusuf came back with a smile on his face.
“How much did you get?” I asked.
“Four wrong. A minus. Not bad right?”
“You’re lucky I’m probably gona get a D or lower.” Khalil said.
“I have the highest so far. You three are the only ones left.”
“Ahmed!” Khala called.
“We’re left bro.” Khalil said. I wanted to disappear. “Don’t worry your brain wont let you down this time.” He said trying to make me feel better.
After five minutes Ahmed was back. “Three wrong.” He said happily.
He smirked at Yusuf. “I got the highest now!”
“What Ever.” Yusuf said rolling his eyes.
“You and Khalil seem to like rolling your guys eyes.” Ahmed remarked. Yusuf and Khalil frowned but didn’t say anything.
“Khalil!” Khala said. Ahmed looked at me. “Don’t worry Khalid you’re too smart to fail.” He said encouragingly. Khalil was back after a while.
“How much did you get?” I asked him.
“Khalid!” Khala called me before he could say anything.
I went to her desk. She patted the chair next to her and I sat down.
“Worried?” she asked. She started correcting my page. I could feel my heart thumping as she made checks everywhere. Maybe I wouldn’t do so bad after all I thought. I stopped looking at the paper.
“You don’t want to see your grade?” she chuckled. I looked at it and jumped up. A couple people laughed.
“Yes!” I shouted. Taking my paper with a huge smile on my face.
“Shhh no shouting in class.” Khala warned. “Good Job. Did you study?”
“No. Maybe I shouldn’t study from now on.” I joked and went back to my seat. She chuckled.
“How much did you get?” Khalil asked me.
“About a hundred wrong.” I joked.
“No really how much did you get? I got three wrong like Ahmed.” He told me.
“I got a hundred percent.”
“Not fair! Especially since I studied and you didn’t.”
 
Soon school was over and we all rushed outside waiting for our parents to pick us up. Ahmed already got permission to come with us but under the condition that Aisha would come too. We really didn’t care since Aisha spent most of her time with the girls.
Dad picked us up like usual. It was almost four.
“Dad can you drop me off at the Masjid?” I asked.
“Why? You seem to be really interested in the Masjid these days.”
Ahmed said.
“Sure.” Dad answered with a hint of delight in his voice. He dropped me at the Masjid and I jumped off. I went to the bathroom and made Wudu’ then I went and prayed two Rak’ats. After I finished I saw the Sheikh coming so I got up to greet him.
“As-Salamu Alaykum Khalil you’re just the person I wanted to see today. But don’t you have school today?”
“Wa Alaykum Assalam. My dad just dropped me of here after he picked me up from school.” I answered.
“Well I’ve been thinking about your ides lately. I want to start on the lecture series first, but I don’t know what to talk about. Any ideas? I wanted to do the Seerah of the Prophet but I think a lot of people already know about it.”
“What about the fights against the Persian and Roman empires in the era of Abu Bakr and Umar?” I asked. He seemed thoughtful for a while.
“That’s a good idea though I’m going to have to search for more information.” He said finally.
“My brother has a set of CDs that are about them. I can try to get them for you if you want.”
“That will be great. Can you get them today? I want to start on the program on the first day of Ramadan which could be tomorrow Inshallah.”
“We’re gona go to the moon sighting so I don’t know if we’ll make it for Maghrib here.”
“Ok I’ll see you there then. I’m going too.”
“Great! I’ll see you then. I have to get back home and start on my homework. As-Salamu Alaykum.” I said as I got up.
“Wa Alaykum Assalam.” He answered waving good bye.
As I was leaving I saw someone waving to me from the parking lot.
I came closer and saw that it was Yusuf.
“Hey Khalid!” he shouted waving.
“I’m not Khalid.” I said as I came closer.
“Oh sorry, I thought you were Khalid since he’s always at the Masjid. What are you doing here?”
“Nothing…” I said. He shrugged.
“Well, I asked my dad if we can go to the moon sighting and he said OK. So I’m gona see you there Inshallah.”
“Ok then see you later!”
 
We went home after dropping Khalil off at the Masjid.
“Khalil sure changed.” Khawla remarked.
“Al Hamdulillah I hope he stays that way.” Dad said.
We went home and everyone headed in different directions so they could finish their homework with no disturbance. I went to my room and started with my homework. Today was one of those days which we didn’t have that much homework. Aisha came up to me after a while.
“Can you help me with my math.? Khawla and Khadeejah are too busy.”
She asked.
“Ok. I’ll help you as soon as I’m done with this.” I answered.
“But by that time it will be time to leave. Dad said we cant go anywhere until we finish our homework.” She said innocently.
“Who’s we?”
“Ahmed and me. We’re coming too.”
Just then Khawla came in.
“Do you have an extra pencil? Mine broke.” She asked.
“Are you guys coming with us to the moon sighting? I thought it was only the boys who were going.” I asked while giving her a pencil.
“Thanks. Yeah, Mom’s gona pack a picnic and we’re all going together. That’s if Khalil comes back soon. He’s not gona have enough time to finish his homework.” She remarked.
“He doesn’t have that much.”
Ahmed came in after a while.
“What are you doing here Aisha? Did you finish your homework?”
“No. But I only have Math left but it’s too hard.” She answered.
“She needs help but I’m kinda busy. And I promised Khadeejah I’d help her with something.” I told him.
“Come on I’ll help ya.” He said. She followed him downstairs.
I finished my homework and went to Khadeejah and Khawla’s room.
“What do you want?” Khawla snapped.
“Leave him alone Khawla.” Khadeejah said.
Khawla was brushing her hair. She stared at me from the mirror.
“You can come in but don’t touch anything.” She said.
“Why not?” I asked as I sat on her messy bed.
“Get off or you’ll have to make it.” She shrieked as Mom came into the room.
“Khalid how many times do I have to ask you and you brother to not come into the girls’ room?” she asked tiredly.
“Sorry.” I said quietly.
“Khawla can you please put on your Hijab and come downstairs to help me with the food?” she said as she headed out the door. Khawla followed her. I went to where Khadeejah was sitting behind her desk.
“What are you working on?” I asked.
“The same book I told you about last night.” She said without looking up.
“Do you need help?”
“Yeah.” She said scooting over to provide me a place to sit. I sat down.
 
I left the Masjid and headed for home. I took my time walking not paying attention to where I was heading. I suddenly heard the loud screech of a car. I whirled around and gasped. A fast moving sports car was rushing towards the crosswalk in front of me. What traumatized me was the elderly man crossing it. The car was a couple of yards away. I dashed forwards grabbing him by the hand and pulling him back. He shrieked as the car rushed past us. I watched it slam into a telephone pole and spin in wild circles. I dragged the man back onto the side walk just as the car whirled past us. It kept on spinning until it fell into a ditch a few yards away from us.
I got up and brushed my self off. I saw the man shaking and staring at where the car disappeared. I offered him my hand and pulled him up to his feet.
“Khalil! Khalil!” I heard someone shout. I turned and saw the sheikh and Yusuf running towards me with a couple of other guys behind them.
“Are you ok?” The sheikh asked me. I nodded. Never in my life had I seen anything like that before. The sheikh went to the old man and tried to calm him down he seemed to be in a shock.
“Wow man you saved the guys life!” Yusuf exclaimed.
“You think he’s ok?” I asked.
“He’ll get out of the shock after a while. Don’t worry bout it.”
“No I mean the guy in the car.”
“Where’s the car?” Yusuf’s dad, Amu Jihad asked me. I pointed to the ditch where the car fell into. Some guys ran towards it. I looked at Yusuf and then we followed. We got there just in time to see some of the Uncles pulling three men out of the car. They were really hurt but one was worse then the rest. He seemed to be the eldest one maybe twenty or something. I guessed the other two were in their late teens.
“Call an Ambulance!” Amu Jihad ordered us. I took out Khalid’s cell and gave it to Yusuf. I was in too much shock to talk.
Amu Jihad stared at the eldest one. “Say La ilaha ila Allah!” he ordered him.
“How does he know he’s Muslim?” I asked Yusuf. He shook his head.
“They’re our neighbors.” He choked on the words.
His father kept on repeating his order but the guy remained silent.
“He’s not answering.” My voice shook. I recalled a Hadith the Prophet once said, “Who ever utters La ilaha ila Allah on his breath, enters Jannah.”
Suddenly the man’s mouth moved and he uttered some indistinguishable words. Everyone held their breath hoping he’d say the Kalimah.
To our dismay he was singing! Yusuf couldn’t take it anymore. I saw a tear drop from his eye as he walked away. Amu Jihad seemed to be the only one who didn’t lose hope. He kept pushing the man to say the Kalimah. The man’s blood was pouring out and forming a puddle under him. I glanced at the Sheikh. His face was pale and he was shaking his head.

I looked at the other two guys who were in the car they were conscious But they kept on moaning. From the distance I could hear the siren of the ambulance. I looked back at the man. He struggled to pull his head up but then he went limp. Suddenly Amu Jihad got up. He took one look at the guy and then turned away. “Inna Lillahi Wa Ina Ilayhi Rajioon.” He said. I looked from one face to another they were all blinking back tears. Some were trying to hide their tears while others who couldn’t bear looking walked away. I turned away grief-stricken. I saw Yusuf sitting on the curb with the old man by his side. When he saw me the guy got up and shook my hand until I was afraid he would rip it off.
“Thank you. Thank you. MashaAllah may Allah reward you my son. Al-Hamdulillah if it weren’t for Allah, then you I wouldn’t have been alive bye now. Thank you.” He exclaimed. I smiled warily and sat down next to Yusuf.

“You ok?” I asked as we watched the ambulance carry the guys away. I glanced at Yusuf he shrugged.
“Did you know them?”
He nodded. Then Khalid’s cell phone started ringing. I answered it and walked a few paces away.
“Khalil?” I heard Khalid’s voice ask.
“Yeah?”
“Where are you? Mom’s getting frantic. You’re late you know.”
“I’ll be there in a lil’ bit.”
“Ok see ya.”

“I have to go home.” I told Yusuf. He nodded.
“Are you still comin’ to the moon sighting?” I asked.
“You bet we’ll be there!” a voice said behind me. I turned around and saw Yusuf’s dad behind us. I smiled.
“Are you going home?” he asked me and I nodded.
“Do you want a ride?”
“Ok.”
We went into Amu’s shiny new car. As he drove towards our house I couldn’t help being afraid. I was still shaken about the car accident. I bet the guys weren’t even thinking of death when they entered their car. I made a silent prayer for a safe ride.
 
I was helping Khadeejah with her book when Mom came back into the room.
“Khalid, do you know where your brother is?” she asked.
“We dropped him off at the Masjid.” I answered.
“Well tell him to come back home. We’re gona be late because of him!” Khawla said as she entered the room.
“Does he still have your phone?” mom asked.
“Yeah.”
“Can you call him and tell him to hurry up? Then go and get dressed it’s almost time to leave.” mom said with her face full of worry.
I went to the phone and called him.
“Hello?” I heard him say.
“Where are you? Mom’s getting frantic. You’re late you know.” I said.
“I’ll be there in a lil’ bit.” He answered.
“Ok see ya.” I hanged up.
“What did he say?” mom asked.
“He said he’ll be here in a lil’ bit.” I replied. I went back upstairs to Khadeejah’s room.
“Can we work on the book another time? I think we did enough for one day.”
“Sure. Thanks by the way.” She said.
“No problem.”
I got dressed then went downstairs to the living room. Ahmed was playing games on Khalil’s laptop. I joined him.
“Khalil will get mad if he finds out that we’re on his laptop with out asking him.” I remarked.
“Don’t worry we’ll turn it off before he comes.” Ahmed answered.
“He said he’s coming in a little bit.”
After a while we heard a car drive up in our drive way. Then the doorbell sounded. I got up to open the door and Ahmed followed.
Khalil was standing outside looking terrified. I looked past him and saw Yusuf’s father Amu Jihad waving goodbye as he drove away.
“What’s wrong?” I asked Khalil.
He ignored my question and pushed past us. We followed him as he went inside our room and plopped himself onto his bed.
“Khalil? Are you ok?” Ahmed asked but Khalil didn’t answer.
Dad came in. “Are you guys ready to leave?” he asked then he saw Khalil. “Is something wrong?” he asked. He glanced at me and I shrugged.
“Well…get ready. We’ll be leaving in a few minutes.” He said then left the room Ahmed followed him. Khalil got up and picked out some clothes and put them on. I looked at him. He looked like he would break down and start crying.
I got up to leave.
“Hey Khalid?” I heard him say. I turned around.
“Yeah?”
“You know those CDs dad gave you last Eid? The ones about the war against Persian and Roman empires? Can I borrow them?”
“Umm ok.” I said as I got them out from my book shelf. I gave them to him and he took them.
“Thanks.” He mumbled as he placed them in his CD burner. I watched him for a bit then went downstairs.
“Khalid can you help me put the stuff in the car?” Dad asked. I helped him carry the big cooler. Then I helped Aisha put her bike in the back. Ahmed tossed in a soccer ball and a couple of jerseys.
“I got your Jerseys from you dresser and I got an extra one too.
“Khalid! Ahmed! Come here.” Dad shouted from the backyard’’.
“Help me carry this thing.” He said as we came closer. He was lugging the grill.
“It’s too heavy!” Ahmed exclaimed.
“Get one of the scooters Khalid. We’ll place it on it and then pull it.” Dad said.
So I got one and we helped him pick it up and place the grill on the scooter.
“How are we going to fit this thing in here?” Ahmed asked when we got to the car.
“Let’s get everything out then put the grill in first. After that we’ll try to stuff everything else in.” Dad suggested. So we took everything out then we stuffed the grill in.
“Why do we need it?” I asked.
“I promised the brothers that I’d bring it. They’re gona have a barbeque.”
We placed the cooler in then the bike. Khalil came down carrying a small gift bag which he placed on his seat.
 
“What are you carrying?” Ahmed asked.
“CD’s.” I answered.
“What for?” Khawla asked.
“Why do you care?”
We piled into the car and left. I was lost in thought thinking about what happened today. All of a sudden I felt Ahmed punch hard on the shoulder.
“Ow! What do you want?” I found my self shouting.
“Sorry. But you’re not listening. We’ve been speaking to you for the past five minutes and I don’t think you heard.”
“So, you didn’t have to punch me like that!”
“What has gotten into you Khalil? Please don’t let me hear you shouting at anyone anymore!” Dad exclaimed. I felt like I’d blow up with anger then I remembered the Hadith and I tried to cool myself down.

We got to the park after a half an hour of driving. There were a lot of parks that were only ten or twenty minutes away form our house but they chose this one cause it was on a high altitude. That would make it easier to spot the moon.

“Hey Khalil!” I heard someone call me. I turned around and saw Yusuf’s older brother Yunus waving. I went over.
“Hey Yusuf has been waiting for you. He’s over at the lake. He told me to tell you to call you when you got here.”
“Ok thanks. I’ll go there after I help my dad unpack. Is the Sheikh here yet?”
“No. They’re stuck in traffic.”
“Whose they?”
“My dad went to go pick him up.”
“Oh ok.”
“We’re gona play soccer later when more of the people come.”
“Great!” I said as I ran back to where my family was waiting.
“Who was that?” Khalid asked.
“Yunus.” I answered.
“Khalil come help us unpack.”
“Why did you guys bring the grill for?” I asked.
“They’re gona have a barbeque.” Khalid answered.
Dad went to put the cooler under a tree and we tried to take the grill out.
“Hold it boys. Let me help you.” My dad said as we pulled it out of the trunk.
“Slowly now. Don’t drop it.” He said. Ahmed’s hand suddenly slipped and the grill fell on his foot.
“Oww!” he howled. “Get it of! Get it off!”
I picked up my side higher and he pulled his foot out.
“Thanks.” He said as he rubbed his foot.
“Maybe we should get some help.” Khalid said.
“That thing weighs a thousand tons I don’t think we’ll be able to carry it by ourselves.” Ahmed complained.
“Hmm. Why don’t you guys go for now. I’ll get some of the brothers to help us carry it later. We’ll just leave it here for now.” Dad proposed.
“Ok. But lets get the rest of the stuff out.” I said.
So we took out the bikes, balls, blanket, and picnic basket out. After that I headed to the lake. I found Yusuf sitting on the bank.
“Hey Yusuf!” I said as I came closer.
He jumped and looked back. “Oh! I didn’t here you coming.” He mumbled.
I plopped down next to him. “You still mad about what happened?”
“Not really. I mean I’m not sad about the fact that Mo died I know it was written. If he didn’t die in that car he would’ve died in some other way.”
“Whose Mo?” I asked.
“The guy that died the oldest one. The other two survived. But they’re seriously hurt.
“What are their names?”
“One was Jibril and the other was Ammar. Ammar was Mo’s younger brother and Jibril was his friend.”
“Mo’s friend?”
“No Ammar’s.” He answered. We were quiet for a while.
“You know what really got to me?” he broke the silence.
I looked at him. He stared straight ahead at the water. “What?” I asked.
“Like I said, I’m not angry that he died. The thing that really made me think was the state that he died in.” he said.
“I remember the Prophet saying something about that.” I remarked. He glanced at me. “Really?” he asked.
I nodded. “He said, “Everyone will be resurrected on the state that he died in.” I looked at Yusuf. His eyes seemed to be full of panic.
“You mean since he died singing he’ll go back to Allah while singing that song?” he asked worriedly. I shrugged.
“That’s scary. I mean you can die any second now. But imagine someone dying while praying or while reading the Quran.”
I nodded. “Yeah it would be so cool to be resurrected while reciting the Quran.” I threw a small pebble into the lake. Yusuf picked up one and threw it. “Mine went farther.” He joked then he got serious.
“You know the more you think about death, the more it makes you want to be a better person. Like you wana do something you know are bad and then you think what if I die while I’m doing this.”
“Yeah, but some people try their best to forget all about it saying they’re too young to die. But when you see something like what happened today you realize that you might die in the next minute.”
“I know. Like I tried to sleep one night without praying the Isha’ and no matter how much I tried I couldn’t fall asleep. I kept thinking what am I gona do if I die tonight and I didn’t pray? So I’d get up and pray and only then could I fall asleep.”
“You know the two prayers I try my best to never neglect are the Isha and Fajr.” I remarked.
“Why?” he asked looking at me.
“I remember my dad telling me something when I was about thirteen. He said, that the Prophet peace be upon him said, “The two hardest prayers to the hypocrites are the Isha and Fajr prayers. They come to it lazy and half asleep.” I guess the thought of being a hypocrite scared me.” I joked and we both laughed. “That’s a good way to get you to pray. My dad used to get us to pray by saying if we don’t pray now we’re gona have to pray in the Hell fire.” He said.
 

“Ahmed, Khalid do you guys want to go to the playground with us?” Aisha asked. I glanced at Ahmed and he shrugged. We followed them to the playground. Khawla and Khadeejah started playing tetherball and Aisha rode her bike.
“You wana see who swings higher?” Ahmed asked pointing to the swings.
“Ok, there’s nothing else we can do.” I said.
We swung for about fifteen minutes.
“I’m higher than you!” Ahmed bragged.
“I dare you to jump off.” I said.
“Ok.” He swung a few more times.
“One…two…three!” he flew off and landed a few feet’s a way.
“Ow! My foot!” he yelped as he held his leg and rolled in the sand.
“Are you ok?” I asked as I got off the swing.
“No! Do I look ok? First the grill and now this.” He glared at me.
I laughed and helped him up.
“Assalamu Alaykum!” I heard someone say. We turned around and saw Sheikh Mohammad walking towards us waving.
“Wa Alaykum Assalam.” We replied.
“Hello Khalil. Did you bring them?” he asked me.
“I’m not Khalil I’m Khalid.” I said.
“Oh. I’m sorry. You two look so alike I don’t know how you guys can tell each other apart.” He said a bit embarrassed.
“Khalid has a small scar near his eye. That’s how we distinguish them.” Ahmed remarked.
“What’s your name?” The sheikh asked him.
“Ahmed. I’m their cousin.”
“Oh ok. Do you two know where Khalil is?”
“No he came here but he disappeared after that. He went towards the lake.”
“Ok. I’ll check there. JazakumAllah Khair.” He said as he left.
“What do you think “them” is?” Ahmed asked me.
“What?”
“He said, hello Khalil, did you bring them?”
“Oh. I don’t know probably those CDs he was carrying.” I answered.
“I think they started the barbeque let’s go get something.”
 

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