Conviction, Trust, Betrayal
Forbidden
Sometimes, to protect your faith, you have to become unfaithful.
“Leave it now, He is just a child…after all how much will you beat him…will you break his ribs?”. While saying this, Arshad’s wife stepped forward and started rescuing her son. Seeing the mother supporting her son, Arshad became more incensed and said ´´Today, I will teach him such a lesson that he will never dare to steal for the rest of his life”. Meanwhile, Arshad’s wife, who had come between the father and the son, hide her son behind her back and said, “Enough! you have punished him as much as you should”. With a sigh, Arshad said, “Your pampering has spoiled him…Oh God! would I have seen this day that people would have caught my son stealing”. Saying this Arshad sat down on the chair because now he got tired of beating his son. With an angry face, Arshad looked at his son and said, “Get out of my sight at this time, Otherwise I will really break your ribs”. Hearing this, Arshad’s wife motioned for her son to leave the room.
After a while, when Arshad’s anger subsided, he said to his wife, “I don’t know where I have committed negligence in upbringing my children. Throughout my life, neither I have ever commit any forbidden act nor fed even a forbidden food to my children…Oh my God! for which sin you are punishing me that I am seeing this terrible day”.
Arshad´s wife said, “Well, He is just a child… If he had mischievously picked up a packet of biscuits from the shop, then the shopkeeper should have treated him as a child and explained to him politely nor did he come straight to you with a complaint”.
Arshad stared at his wife and said angrily, “You are saying so just because you are his mother, That’s why you are trying to defend him and trying to find an excuse to justify your son’s sin. Try to think unbiasedly! Act like Theft has no justification, and it doesn’t end here… As you know very well that how much I am being respected by all the villagers… even, Vagabonds and Goons of this village respects me a lot just because of my honesty…that’s why the shopkeeper brought him straight to me, otherwise, he would have beaten him savagely on the spot´´.
Arshad´s wife instantly said, “Come on! don’t be too angry…. well, he did commit theft, but he is just a child…in the morning you should explain to him politely that not do such kind of activity in future”.
Arshad replied, “I will not just explain him but will also take him with me to apologize to the shopkeeper… and will also allow the shopkeeper to punish him severely without notifying me, even break his ribs, if he will commit theft in the future´´.
Now, it was too late at night, and in anger, Arshad had not even eaten yet. So, in a short while, his wife brought the food for him. Arshad ate with his wife and then he went to his bed for sleep. But, sleep was far from his eyes and he was lost in deep thought with his arm on his forehead and continually looking towards the dark sky. After being lost in thought for a quite long time, Arshad turned to the right side and closed his eyes while saying, “God knows why my son has done such a forbidden deed today?”.
It was morning time, Arshad was having breakfast with his wife and three sons. After taking a sip of tea, Arshad said to his middle son “Listen son! Yesterday you did a very bad act, you know that stealing is such a shameful Forbidden act, for which God punishes severely to those who commit…So, all three of you promise with me that none of you will commit such act for the rest of life which will ruin your world and the Hereafter.
Hearing this, all the three sons nodded in agreement. After that, Arshad looked at his middle son and said “Now finish your breakfast quickly and come with me to Rabb Nawaz’s shop and apologize to him…remember my son! to apologize for your mistake is always a good act… now finish your cup of tea quickly and get ready…first, we both will go to Rabb Nawaz’s shop and then you will go to school and I will go to my fields”.
After finishing breakfast, Arshad started cleaning the tank of his motorbike and his son stood beside the motorbike and ready to go with his father. Meanwhile, Arshad’s wife addressed Arshad “ Don´t forget to come back early this evening, as we all have to attend Numberdar´s son wedding ceremony”. Arshad nodded his head and said ´´I know it, do not worry´´, after that he dragged the motorcycle out of the front door of the house, followed by his son.
It was about seven o’clock in the evening. Arshad, with his wife sons, got ready and walked towards the mansion of the Numberdar of the village. The Numberdar was celebrating his son´s Lavish wedding party. Almost all the dignitaries and respectable persons of the village were invited. Buffoons were entertaining the guests with funny dialogues, and different types of delicious foods were arranged for the guests. While sitting, There started a discussion among the guests that not only this village but all the surrounding villages have only one person best known for his cooking. Everyone was agreed that there is no one else but Ghafoor is the best cook, He commonly known by villagers as ´Ghafoora Nai´.
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Now, it was time for the dinner and everyone entered the dining area and started putting their favorite food on their plates. Arshad with Numbardar and a few others guests were gathered at the same table to eat. Arshad was just putting the food on the plate when a guest said to Numbardar “The look and fragrance of the food shows that it is cooked by Ghafoor”. Numbardar replied with a smile, “No! Ghafora Nai has gone to another village for a few days to cook for the wedding of a Landlord’s daughter. The bewildered guest asked Numberdar instantly “Then, who cooked this food´´? Numberdar replied “This food has been cooked by ´Karmu Nai´….Even Karmu is no less than Ghafoor as far as quality and taste is concerned… You can taste yourself.” The guest smiled and said, “ You are absolutely right … No one can judge that this food is not cooked by Ghafoora Nai … indeed It is very tasty”.
Arshad who was standing besides Numberdar and listening while putting food on his plate, when heard this, he put his plate aside which was full of food and quietly came out of the venue with his sons. As soon as he came out, he told his younger son to go to the women’s dining area to call his mother. Shortly afterward, Arshad’s wife came out of the women’s venue with her young son and asked Arshad “What’s the matter”? Arshad replied, “Let’s go home … I’ll tell you later”.
On the way home, Arshad’s wife asked Arshad, “Did the children and you have taken food?”. To this Arshad replied, “I send a curse on such forbidden food”! She looked at Arshad in surprise and asked, “Forbidden? How come?”. Arshad instantly replied, “it is forbidden to eat such food made by a Non-Muslim”.
For a moment Arshad’s wife kept looking his face astonishingly, before she asked any question Arshad continued ´´Karmu is not a Muslim…so no matter how good and clean the cook, I don’t care… because according to my faith, any food which is cooked by the hands of a Non-Muslim is forbidden… and you know very well that I extremely hate every that thing which is forbidden according to my faith…if I had known in advance I would not even have attended this ceremony”.
Arshad’s wife, who was listening carefully, replied “You Don´t need to be so considerate about forbidden… After all, the whole village is gathered there … no one else has raised any objection on it…There is no harm in it if Karmu has cooked the food”!
Arshad looked at her angrily and said “Listen, I have to go into my grave and the villagers have to go in their graves… I will be held answerable to God only for my deeds, not for the deeds of others”. Arshad´s wife looked at him for a moment but said nothing. After that, they both walked towards home along with their sons. On the way, they took food from a restaurant near to their home and when they reached home everyone ate. While having dinner Arshad addressed his wife and sons ´´All of you remember! A person who has remained protected from forbidden for whole life has indeed done a great deed…may God protect us from all kinds of Forbidden, especially from such forbidden acts that we commit knowingly”. Saying this, Arshad looked up at the sky and raised his hand, and said, “O God! Keep me protected from all forbidden, especially those for which I cannot pay in expiation”. While Arshad was praying, his wife was looking at him as if she wanted to say a lot to him. Everyone had finished eating in the next few moments and now it was time to sleep, especially Arshad wanted to go to bed early because he had to go to the grain market early in the morning for important work.
The next morning, Arshad had a quick breakfast and left home for the market. However, less than half an hour later, Arshad returned home. As soon as his wife saw him at the door, she asked astonishingly “what happened…It seems that you have returned from the middle of the way?”. Arshad immediately replied “Yes … In fact, some boys were playing cricket in the street a short distance away when their ball fell into the gutter and splatter of dirt fell on my clothes. So you, quickly iron my other dress so that I can take a bath and change this dirty dress…Otherwise, not only eating and drinking with this filthy clothes will be forbidden for me but also my prayers”.
By the time Arshad took a bath and put on clean dress, his wife had prepared a cup of hot tea which he sat quietly on the chair and took. Meanwhile, his wife, who had been looking at him for the last few moments, broke her silence and said “Arshad! So which of your sins will you atone for in your life?”. Hearing this, Arshad looked at her in shock and asked “What do you mean… what do you want to say”? She instantly replied, “I want to say that you do not want me to ever speak”. On this reply, Arshad stared at her for a moment and said “Stop Nonsense! You know very well that I am not used to listen your rubbish talk”. Saying this, Arshad had just reached the door when his wife said in loud “Remember! that a man cannot pay all the atonement for his sins in this world”. Arshad turned to her and scolded her in a terrifying voice “You speak as if God forgives human sins by asking you…. Already, I am not feeling well since morning and in addition to that your rubbish talk adding up to my pain´´. Saying this, Arshad angrily opened the door and walked out.
Unusually that evening, Arshad returned home a bit early. His condition worsened due to fever, so he went straight to his bed. His body was trembling. His wife brought a cup of tea, but he could hardly take a few sips. About three hours had passed but his condition was getting worse. His wife told her son to call Doctor, so after a while Doctor came and after seeing Arshad’s pulse prescribed him medicine for two days and said “I hope that in the next two days you will feel better than now”.
The second day had passed, it was midnight but Arshad was still suffering from high fever and his wife was repeatedly putting a cold water bandage on his forehead to reduce his temperature. While putting a bandage on his forehead she said “I will call Doctor again in the morning, as the last dose of medicine is over but I don’t know why your fever is not going away”. Arshad said in a trembling voice “No! Maybe you do not need it now… I think my last time is near”. Hearing this, she looked at Arshad for a moment. Before she could say anything, Arshad spoke again in the same trembling voice “May God forgive my sins”.
Saying this, Arshad hold his wife´s hand and asked ´´Have you forgive me”? She kept looking at him with silence for few moments, and Arshad was curious to hear her voice and looking at her face with such an uncertainty just like an accused standing in witness box in the courtroom and look at the justice to hear the verdict at the end of the trial.
Breaking the silence of those few uncertain moments, his wife said “Arshad! There is one sin of yours which your God may forgive you but I will never!”. Arshad wondered and looked in her eyes, but before he could utter a word, she continued “…How can I forget that terrible night of the partition when I was on my way to Amritsar with my whole family when a mob in retaliation attacked our caravan and killed all the men, old women, and children and took all the young girls with them. After a moment’s pause, she stared Arshad and continued “…I still remember how those unfortunate girls were brutally murdered after being raped…It was only me who was picked up and taken away but instead of killing, I got married to you by accepting your religion´´.
Saying this, her eyes were wet. After a moment of silence, she spoke to Arshad again “I still feel regret for that moment… I wish I would have been killed with all those girls too… but I become weak for a few moments at that time and accepted your religion because if I had not done so, I would not have known that how many times I would have been raped and then brutally killed”.
She took a deep breath and wiped away the tears from her cheeks and asked Arshad in anger “Answer me today!… you can marry a woman by force, you can snatch her parents and siblings… you can snatch her identity by changing her real name… even you can breed your race three times from her… but how can you dispatch her religion from her soul?”. When heard this, Arshad was looking at her in shock with wide eyes. Breaking the silence of a moment she asked “Arshad! just tell me how your God will forgive you this Forbidden act´´?
Arshad was in the state of shock. He kept looking to her with widen eyes for few seconds. Meanwhile His breath was constantly sinking. He tried to move his lips to say something with sinking breath but his trembling lips would become still after a moment and eyes stop blinking as well. Arshad’s that hand which was still held by his wife got cold. There was a few moments silence in the room. After looking, for that few moments at Arshad’s face, his wife took her hand out of his hand and closed his both eyes with her palm. After that she pulled the sheet from his chest to cover his face and head and said, “Waheguru will do me justice”!
