Khadijah was a young 14-year-old girl, her family were righteous and well known in the local mosque.
Khadijah recently moved to a new school not far from her house and was very excited to meet new people as she had heard many great things about it. Her mum drove her to school and gave her the best of luck. Khadijah walked with a smile on her face but as she looked up, she saw judging faces looking towards her, she didn’t understand why they were all looking at her like that, but the first thing that came to her mind was to rush to the toilets.
It was 15 minutes that she kept herself locked up in the bathroom and when she finally had enough courage to get up and continue with her day, a group of girls entered the bathroom and said,
“Have you seen the new girl? What was she wearing? It was hideous!”
“Yeah, why was she wearing that towel on her head and did you see her dress? It was awful.”
They laughed and laughed and continued to mock her appearance, but a thought came to Khadijah’s head. She was going to put an end to this.
The next day Khadijah went to school, she asked her mum if she could go by herself and although her mother was skeptical about it, she allowed her. Khadijah woke up very early in the morning and wore a skirt showing a bit of her leg with a very tight top. She didn’t want her parents to see so she left the house as early as possible.
As she was walking to school, a sudden guilt rushed through her and her heart started beating rapidly.
“Am I seriously going to do this?” she said to herself, and as she was about to turn back to her house and change her clothes, it was too late. She was already in school and those judging eyes changed into surprised ones. Everyone looked and ran up to her.
“Wow! where did you get that skirt from?”
“I love your shirt!”
“Your shoes are amazing, please tell me where you got them from!”
Everyone complimented her and the guilt she felt just a few seconds ago disappeared completely. She loved the attention she was getting and was followed by a large crowd of people. Behind her, she heard a whisper, “Maybe lose the scarf.”
Khadijah stopped and looked behind, but she didn’t see anyone. She held her scarf and ran to the bathroom. She pulled her hijab off and threw it in the bin.
As the days past by, she became more popular and her clothes became less and less. She was gaining more and more attention whilst her faith was growing weaker and weaker.
One day, as she was approaching the school gates, she noticed a group of girls bullying someone. She watched and listened.
“What’s that horrible scarf you’re wearing!”
“You look ridiculous!”
“We don’t accept losers here!”
“You look just as bad as Khadijah!”
Khadijah was shocked, how can they say that? They were her friends and before Khadijah could even process what was going on, she saw a girl bent down crying. She approached her to ask if she was okay but before she did, the girl raised her hands and said,
“Oh Allah! I’ve been mocked every single day by those girls and I ask you to give me strength and forgive them. Guide them to the straight path.”
Khadijah’s eyes grew wide, why would she forgive them when they mocked her? Khadijah then looked at a puddle and saw her own reflection. She saw a girl wearing a mini skirt, a tight shirt and her hair exposed. Khadijah walked up to the girl and asked, “Would Allah forgive me even though I’ve sinned constantly every day, dressing in this way to impress others? Would He forgive someone like me?
The girl sat up and hugged Khadijah.
‘’Allah would forgive even the worst of sinners, including myself, we are human we make mistakes.”
Khadijah smiled and her face grew happier and happier. She returned home and began once again to dress modestly. She apologised to her parents and told them what had happened. They were shocked, very shocked, but they were glad that Khadijah realised her mistake.
She reached true happiness and she never tried to please anyone but Allah(SWT).
Aneesa Year 9
