CHAPTER 22 - VICES AND VIRTUES

Everyone in the hall stared at Aliza as if she were the villain. How could a woman decide to end her marriage? How could she, even if her husband cheated on her and made her life a mess? Yes, he made a mistake because he is a man. He might have committed errors under pressure or unknowingly. He is a man, after all. So, is that right for her to call off their marriage? Don't all men do that, and don't their wives adjust to their mistakes and live accordingly? A woman deciding for herself? A woman who is pregnant taking away the child from her father? For god's sake! Ewww. This was how Aliza was looked at. Ahmed was showered with empathy because he won't be able to claim his heir ever again. How on earth was he to know that he would be punished like this for his mistake? 

Ahmed tried to persuade Aliza to stay in the marriage, but she did not heed him. So he denied giving her a talak in the jamath. But Aliza had anticipated this, and she had come prepared. She told the jamath that she would be the one offering divorce to her husband because she wanted to take it into her hands. She did not want to give Ahmed the power to decide her life. Just like talak, Khula is a process in Islam where the wife divorces the husband by returning the mehr he had given at the time of their marriage. Aliza had to give up her mehr of forty grams of gold, but it did not matter. Her mother had warned her against it because at least it would help her in the future, but Aliza was too proud to hold it as an excuse to stay in this marriage. 

Aliza fought for her child's custody, and the jamath went in favour of her plea. She was content finally with how things had turned out. She need not fear her in-laws anymore though she would have to about society. She wanted to start fresh from scratch.

Rabiya was furious because she had to learn about Aliza's pregnancy through Ahmed, and she was offended that neither Aliza nor her parents had breathed a word about it. And now she had walked away while still carrying her grandchild. How could she? She pledged to make Aliza pay because she punished everyone else for Ahmed's minor mistake. She glared at her with fuming rage.

Aliza's parents were heartbroken to see their child's marriage breaking this way. They did not want Aliza to do this, at least for the sake of her child. What would happen to them now? Who will be ready to accept them in their lives? What would Humaira feel about Aliza staying with them forever? What sort of daughter-in-law approves this? Their world fell apart when Humaira clearly rejected the idea of making Aliza live there for a long time. Taking her chances, she even suggested marrying her off to her brother, who had been diagnosed with severe pancreatitis because of his alcohol addiction. Alcohol is prohibited for Muslims, but men always got away with rules while enforcing enough on their women. He had been to jail a couple of times for quarrelling and causing public nuisance under the influence of alcohol. Humaira suggested now that Aliza's life was over, she shouldn't expect any better than marrying her brother and that it would be a blessing to restart her life. Aliza's world crumbled apart as she could see her parents struggling to survive her against all odds. 

To be continued…

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