Twist of Fate

"Forced marriage is a marriage in which one or more parties is married without his or her consent or against his or her will" - Wikipedia.

~**~

"No, Papa! I can't marry him! How could you ever expect me to marry a person I don't even know? And, when I'm still so young, papa?!" The girl stated incredulously to her father while her eyes brimmed with tears.

"This is final! You are marrying him," her father replied decisively, scrutinizing her with his gaze.

"But, Papa, why do you want me to marry him? Is it because of his wealth or reputation, huh?!" she said vehemently. "Is this how your parents forced you as well? No, Papa! Please... Why me? Can't he find another equally beautiful, rich woman instead of me? I don't have anything; I'm not special, and I don't know how to do anything… I'll only disturb and trouble him. I will only frustrate him, Papa," she pleaded with her father, trying to reason with her old man.

"You either marry him or I disown you as my child," her father said dismissively and went inside angrily.

Still weeping, she knelt on the floor. But suddenly, she started laughing maniacally, an idea brewing in her head.

"I will make him regret the day he set his eyes on me. I'm going to destroy him. I'm going to make him divorce me," she vowed.

~**~

"O ye who believe! Ye are forbidden to inherit women against their will. Nor should ye treat them with harshness, that ye make take away part of the dower ye have given them, except where they have been guilty of open lewdness, on the contrary live with them on a footing of kindness and equity. If ye take a dislike to them, it may be that ye dislike a thing, and Allah brings about through it a great deal of good." (Q4:14)

From the Quran, it's crystal clear that forced marriage is haram.

Abu hurairah (RA) said that Prophet said (SAW), "A matron should not be given in marriage until she is consulted, and a Virgin should not be given in marriage until her permission is sought and her silence is her permission." (Sohih)

"I plan; you plan; we all plan, but Allah's plan is the best."

Sofia's POV

"Ya Allah! What should I even do? Should I accept this or run away?" I whispered to myself with my head down.

"Goodness! I'm just going through high school, and college is still left. Oh my, what am I going to do? But Nikkah is a Sunnah, and marriage is half our deen, SubhanAllah! But I'm not even ready, and if I say no, then Papa is going to disown me. Ya Allah, help me!" I mumbled, nibbling on my trembling lips in worry.

I stood up and went to perform ablution to pray to my lord, lord of the whole universe, because He is all-seeing and all-hearing. I raised both my palms to the Qiblah and prayed to Allah loudly.

"If this man that my father wants me to marry is good for me in this life and hereafter, Ya Allah, let me be able to love him. If not, distance us how you distance the west from east." I murmured, weeping; my tears stain cheeks. "Oh Allah, guide me," I sighed.

"I don't even know what he sees in me, though. I'm not pretty, intelligent, or good; what I know is that I'm just an ordinary girl. I don't know what he sees in this plain Sophy," I thought out loud, staring at my plain hands.

After I was through with my prayers, I went to the dining table for my breakfast. My dad, mum, younger brother, and I all started eating in awkward silence. Everything and everyone was tense before Papa decided to break the silence, which made me almost choke on my food.

"Oyin (Honey), you will be getting married next week," Papa said while handing mama a black credit card. A tear glistened in my eye, but I was stopped from shedding it.

"Um… Papa, can I meet Maryam after Zhur?" I timidly asked and waited patiently for his reply, silently praying that he would allow me to.

"You are..." he paused a little, wiping his mouth, "free to go!" he replied slowly. I was already sweating, nervously playing with my food. I beamed with uncontrollable excitement when I heard his response.

Do you know why I was happy?

Do you know how it feels to have a person who understands you before you can open your mouth to talk?

She was like a sister to me more than any of my best friends. We were quite the opposites. Well, opposites did attract. I was still wrapped in this excitement when I found myself knocking on her door.

She opened the door, staring down at me with chips in her mouth, "Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh, sugar bunny," I greeted her in a sad voice, pushing her away from the door.

"Sugar sweetie, what happened to you? You saw a ghost or…?" She tried to lighten the mood, but that was not what was worrying me. She waited for me to reply, but I couldn't.

"Have you been crying? What happened to your face? Who's the motherfucker that made you cry?" Well, as I said, opposites did attract. She was so possessive of me, like an elder sister. I loved her and everything about her, but she liked swearing a lot. Tapping her foot impatiently with her arms rested on her waist, she raised her perfect brows in question, "Sophia, I am asking something, and for God's sake, answer me."

"You know…um..." I broke down in tears for the tenth time today, "I am getting married next week Insha Allah," I blurted out through hiccups, rubbing my running nose.

"What?" she yelled and stood up from the couch on which she was sitting while rolling her long sleeves dramatically and continued, "How? Why? Who? When? Where? "She bombarded me with these questions.

"Where, I don't know. How, I'm not sure. When, next week. Why, ask papa. To whom, I've never met him, but I know his name is Umar Yusuf," I replied and closed my eyes as the pain rose to my forehead because of too much stress.

"Oooh! Gurly, you fucking mean Yusuf? That hottie, special-made creature? Wow! You are so lucky! I wish I was the one. He is freaking handsome and rich. I envy you!" she reacted with dreamy eyes as I chuckled upon seeing her reaction.

"Maryam, is that all you're going to say? I said exasperated, caressing my temple softly. "I am getting married next week to a person I don't know anything about!" I almost screamed at her to reason with me.

"I know, but why would papa do something like that? Well, there's nothing you can do. You will have to accept your fate. And if he dares to hurt you by any means, I will kill him and bury him under my house," she stated strongly, and I felt overwhelmed by her love. "But let's talk about reality. How does he know you? Why you? With all the girls he has been with?" my foolish, crazy heck of a friend was just using her brain. But I love her anyway.

I cried out in frustration. "I don't know! But darling, I will make him regret marrying me. He has shaken up my plan and future," I vowed venomously.

"Um, well, nobody knows the future," she said in a singing voice. "You could be the one who falls head over heels in love with him," she teased, pinching my chubby cheeks adoringly.

"I don't think so," I said doubtfully because I'd never seen him nor did I know his personality. Besides, he was older than me by five years, and I was only eighteen. I did not know what Allah had planned for me, but I knew His plans were always the best for me.

"Well, best of luck, honey, with your sexy hottie," she said winking at me and then hugged me.

I shook my head, sighed, and whispered, "What a foolish girl she is!"