Once upon a time...

Once upon a time, two friends, a lady and a young man, who’ve been so ‘tight’ since high school decided to move from what they initially said was a neutral stance, to a feeling of love;a feeling of unbridled fondness; one that everyone thought was a complete waste of time simply because it was absolutely free from heed

Not many years into their adoring relationship, the young man secured an academic grant and had to leave home to study in a foreign country. Whilst abroad, he met a group of young Muslim brothers from other parts of the world, who were actively engaged in ‘Da‘wah’ [calling people to piety]; the young man became captivated, and before long he was already a very strong ‘Dayee’- mash’Allah!

After his studies, he came back totally reformed, but to everyone’s surprise and as fate will have it, he decided he was going to ‘walk down the aisle’ with this same young lady, who was at the time so wild that she was dubbed "‪The Baddest Bitch"; but the boy assured his relatives that the lady will change, and so they got married.

For starters, the two had an accord kind of; the lady was like: “man, I love what you have become and all, but the truth is, I am not prepared to give up clubbing yet” and the guy replied: “no problems sweetheart, I will drive you to the club and sit at a quiet lounge until you’re done, BUT before we go, I have to read out some ‘Hadith’ [sayings of the prophet Muhammad (s.a.w)] and you’ll listen” - “Okay, Deal!” the lady concurred.

Regularly, the guy will pick out sayings from the ‘Hadith’ in relation to decorum, restraint, the principles of wedlock, the gains of positive transformation, and so forth, and the lady will listen with special attention; sometimes she’ll ask the man to read one or two more before they’ll go, claiming that the excitement at the club doesn’t start early.

So the two were like that until one Saturday evening; the guy didn’t see the lady show any sign of club readiness, so he asked: “Nakala Nak Sohna Si, aren’t we going tonight?” and the lady in an uninterested tone of voice said: “Denga Forg, Man Yeufi Club Sah Defma Sorf Taayi” [I am not too thrilled with clubbing these days]; “let us just read some ‘Hadith’” she said.

The guy smiled, knowing that victory is in close proximity, so he intensified his recitals and narrations; but to cut a long story short, the young lady didn’t only renounce clubbing out of her own free will, but she started reading ‘Hadith’ on her own, she got herself an ‘Oustaz’ [an Islamic teacher]; and started with what I call a Rita Marley ‘Hijab’ [veil], then she graduated to a regular Kairaba Avenue type of 'Hijab’ and now ‘mash’Allah’ she isn’t comfortable going anywhere without her wonderful ‘Niqab’

The point of this story is that whatever you cannot get by means of courtesy, maturity and good judgment or with a nice smile; you wouldn’t be able to get through coercion, incivility or with a grim face; that the processes of perfection especially in matters of faith, and particularly in a society teeming with detractive influences will naturally be a slow progression, and not some target that you can instantly get to....anyways, Allah knows best!