Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived a king and
queen. They were wise and good; the best rulers the kingdom had ever had ever had. Not a person went
hungry without the King knowing about it, and personally delivering him food. Not
a day went by without the Queen helping someone or the other. They were true
Khalifah of Allah. They knew that they would be accountable to Allah for all
their subjects. All their lives they worked tirelessly to help the people of
their kingdom. They were selfless; the only thing they wanted was a child of
their own. The queen would make dua every morning for a righteous child, while
the king would stay up at night, praying Tahajjud, begging Allah to grant them
a child.
Time passed and the good King and Queen got older and older,
but they never did stop trusting in Allah. And then, right before her
forty-seventh birthday, the Queen realized she was pregnant. Words cannot
describe the feelings of that righteous couple. The entire kingdom rejoiced,
and prayed for the safety of the baby.
It was in Ramadan, the following year, that the Queen had
her baby. It was very hard for her, and she was very weak, for she had insisted
on going out into the icy wind that morning to see to a sick villager who she
had known since she was a child. She delivered a baby girl, and then died with
the shahadah on her lips.
----------------------------------------------------
The King named the baby girl Yasmeen. She was a funny
looking infant, not in the least bit angelic. A couple of months after her
birth, the King decided to marry the queen from a neigbouring kingdom in order
to reestablish diplomatic relations between the two kingdoms. This Queen was
nothing like the King’s first wife. She was beautiful, yes, but she also had a temper like a stampeding bull, and her arrogant disposition was legendary. It
was rumored that she had arranged the assassination of both her previous husbands,
but nothing had ever been proven. She had a son from her earliest marriage, who
on his arrival at the castle, was immediately proclaimed by everyone, from the
cook to the scullery maid, to be the most adorable toddler they had ever laid
eyes on.
The King did not live long to regret his unfortunate marriage;
he died a staunch Muslim. Every man, woman and child in the land shed tears
that day, for the King had been well loved and had been a father to them all. At
the age of five, Yasmeen was left all alone in the world. The Queen could not
have been happier. It was her chance to get rid of the orphaned princess and
rule the kingdom herself. She got rid of all of Yasmeen’s possessions, and sent
her to live with the Cook in the servant’s quarters.
The Queen did not know it, but getting the Cook to take care of Yasmeen was the best thing she could have done for the Princess, for the Cook was a pious Muslimah. She took it upon herself to raise Yasmeen as her own daughter, and taught her everything she knew about the Deen. Every day after labouring in the castle kitchen for the Queen and her son, she would come home and teach Yasmeen to read and understand the Quran. They would spend the evenings talking about the stories of the Prophets. At the age of seven, she taught Yasmeen how to pray and every Friday they would go to the village Masjid to pray Jumuah.
And so, although Yasmeen became more and more unattractive
in terms of looks as she grew older, she was getting more and more beautiful in
her character and akhlaaq. Just like her mother before her, she used to visit
the sick and the orphans in the village and bring little gifts for them. She
did not have much, but whatever she did have, she shared with the poor and the
needy. If she was eating, and a hungry beggar came by, she would immediately give him or her
her food. So much so, that she would often go hungry on some days, because she
would give all her food away to the villagers, who were suffering greatly under
the evil Queen’s rule. The villagers loved her and soon started calling her
Snow White, because her heart was as pure and clean as white snow.
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Assalamualaikum, would really love your feedback on this story :) Please do comment, and leave your suggestions. Inshaallah Part 2 will be out next week if i have time. If you have any short stories/articles/poems you'd like to submit, send them to HennaMQ@gmail.com, and do plssssssss comment if you like, and even if you dont like and share with friends :)
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