MEDIA.

Disclaimer; I've got not the slightest clue on how a nikkah works in real life because I've never been at one so I just winged it LOOOOL

Don't forget to comment x your comments on the last chapter were all soooo amazing and put the biggest smile on my face so I uploaded this chapter two days early heheh! May Allah reward you all ❤️

- KING'S POV -

"Both of you better be making bare du'a right now." I muttered as I got into the car and began driving towards my mums facility with Walter and Ahmad in my car.

"Of course, man." Walter chuckled softly from the backseat as I glanced at the car behind us through the rear view mirror. Ayman was driving, his dad sitting beside him and I knew A'ishah and her mum were in the backseat.

"You know, I don't know if I wanna witness anymore." Ahmad spoke from beside me, glancing at me. "How am I supposed to know whether or not you'll treat my sister in Islam right?" He asked, rubbing his chin as I snapped my head to look at him with narrowed eyes.

"Very funny." I muttered sarcastically as he burst out laughing, slapping his leg as he shook his head. He gathered his thawb in his hands, pulling it up to his thighs, revealing his tracksuits underneath, reaching into the pocket and taking his phone out.

"Lets listen to some Quran." He stated, unlocking his phone as he opened my glove box and took out my AUX cable, plugging it in before pressing a Surah.

"Jokes aside, may this day be a means of many blessings coming your way in the future, akhi." He said, glancing at me and squeezing my shoulder.

"Allahumma Ameen!" Walter said in the back seat raising his hands in a du'a motion and I smiled, telling them both jazakAllahu khayr.

The reciters voice floated through the speakers of my car, making me relax and lean back in my seat as I continued the journey to my mums facility.

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Eventually we arrived and everyone piled out of the cars. Ahmad and Walter walked in earlier because they had to both use the bathroom so we were left outside.

I didn't dare glance A'ishah's way while she stood beside their car next to her mother, the men standing in a group at the front, waiting on the imam to arrive.

"Are you feeling ready?" Ayman's dad asked me and I smiled at him, nodding my head.

"I'm more than ready, but at the same time, not ready at all, amo." I mumbled and he laughed reaching over and holding my shoulder.

"Everything will be fine." He assured and I nodded, mumbling inshaaAllah.

It didn't take long for the imam to pull into the car park and after he got out of the car, I led the way into the room the receptionist had told me was set up as per my request. "You guys wait inside. I'll just go get my mum."

I took a deep breath as I shut the door after them, standing in silence for a few seconds and having a moment to calm myself before making my way over to my mum, seeing her sitting on her seat as usual.

I walked around slowly and sat down beside her. She didn't look at me. "Hey, mum." I mumbled, placing a hand over hers that was resting on her knee. I felt my eyes gloss over as I stared at her. She never had the chance to raise me like a normal mother would. She couldn't spend time with me and play games with me. She was always just lingering in the background, but even so, I knew how much she loved me, she just didn't know how to show it.

The only memory I had of her was the both of us gardening really. She would garden and I would help her.

I never received love from anyone. Not even her.  Not my father. No siblings. No girl.

Maybe today was the day that would change.

"Today's the day, mum." I smiled and after some silent moments, she looked at me.

"You've grown." She stated simply, her eyes roaming over my body and my face.

I watched her, my lips straight as I nodded, clenching my jaw to hold in my emotions.

"King?" 

"Yeah?"

"I'm proud of you." She said and I stared deep into her eyes seeing them gather in tears, making my heart race. "You're finally happy." She said, a lone tear slid out of her eye and at that, multiple left mine.

She was showing me emotion. The feelings she never ever dared to show me were now clear on her features.

"You made me happy, mum." I told her honestly, not wanting her to think for a second that she wasn't the only thing that kept me sane for most of my life. She was the only one I actually loved in this world.

"A'ishah." She said simply, the tears in her eyes fading.

"She makes me happy too." I said, smiling slightly while I nodded, wiping my cheeks. "She's waiting in the room. You know, A'ishah wanted to have our wedding here so that you could be there to see it. Come on." I told her, standing up. She sat down looking out the window as if she hadn't heard me and I repeated myself once again and then for the third time. She finally stood up.

After wrapping her cardigan around her and crossing her arms over her chest, she followed me slowly to the room.

I opened the door and looked into the room, my eyes looking over everyone quickly. It was a long table with white leather chairs, probably where the people held their meetings.

The imam sat at the head of the table. To his right was A'ishah's dad with A'ishah sitting beside him. Ahmad, Walter, Ayman and Ayman's mum sat on his left. I stepped aside to let my mum in but her eyes widened at all the people in the room as she took steps back, mumbling no over and over again.

"Mum," I said softly, taking a hold of her arm before she could turn around. "It's okay. You don't need to be scared."

She glanced at me frantically before looking at everyone in the room. I heard A'ishah say something softly and everyone turned away after that, not looking at my mum any longer.

"Come on, mum. You're going to sit beside me."

She took in a deep breath and I placed my hand on her back, directing her to the seat besides the empty one next to A'ishah. I pushed the chair away a little so I wasn't too close to her and sat in between what was going to be the two most important women in my life.

"Okay. Bismillah, wassalatu wassalamu ala Rasulullah wa ala alihi wa asahbihi ajma'een." The Imam said. I glanced sideways and saw my mums shaking fingers. I reached over and placed my hands over hers quickly to stop the nervous movements.

"Before beginning, we ask Allah to protect this couple from all types of evil, to protect them from the evil whispering of shaytaan, from the evil of people and from the evil of their own souls. We pray that Allah blesses this day and makes this nikkah one that will lead to both of them reaching jannatul firdaws together. Ameen." He said and everyone in the room, besides my mum, said ameen.

My heart rate did not calm down at all since I had gotten out of the car. Over the past two months, I feared for my life more than I had ever before.

"Have we discussed what both parties want on the contract?" He asked. We nodded. A'ishah had told me to write down a list of what I wanted and said that she would do the same.

She took out a note and slid it across the table as I did the same with the paper in my pocket.

Her eyes quickly focused onto my knuckles that were red and split and she looked up at me frantically but I didn't meet her gaze, pulling my hand back and resting it on my knee beneath the table and away from her view.

The imam took out a pen and he began writing the conditions down as he said them, starting with what A'ishah had written, making sure Ahmad and Walter heard them as they were to be witnesses for us.

"As her husband, you will need to; give her kind treatment as the prophet ﷺ did with his wives, you are to honor her and respect her. You should help her physically and mentally if ever the need arises. You will not cut ties with your parents and will respect her parents. You are required to let her see her family. You will provide for her with housing according to your means. You will strive to take her to perform her obligation of hajj once you are financially able to. The sister reserves the right to ask for divorce or the marriage will be annulled if you; give up your prayers, stop seeking Islamic knowledge, drift from the deen, fall into shirk or commit zina. The sister reserves the right to be notified if you ever wish to take on a second wife and you are not to do this without notifying her. If you do make this decision, the sister reserves the right to ask for divorce. Now, everyone has heard these conditions, especially the both of you," He said to Ahmad and Walter who nodded. "King, if you transgress any of these conditions, or generally speaking if you transgress any rights Allah has given her as a woman or a wife in Islam, the marriage may be annulled." He finished before picking up my piece of paper and reading through my conditions that were all fairly basic and finishing with the last point.

"And finally, as a wife, he asks and reserves the right to be taught by you when he asks of it in regards to the deen, Seerah, Arabic, the Quran or anything else related to Islam. You will aid him in his journey of learning more about Islam and becoming a better Muslim." As the imam finished, she looked up at me and I saw her eyes crinkle a bit as she nodded reassuringly at me, a silent promise that she would always do that for me.

"And the agreed mahr..." He trailed off, looking at the paper. "A mushaf and a prayer mat." He read with a smile before whispering a soft Allahumma barik. I smiled, turning around and letting my mums hands go as I turned around and unzipped my backpack, taking out the two gifts I had gotten from the Islamic shop earlier this week. It was a Quran that was wrapped in a knitted black case. After pulling out the prayer mat that I had gotten which was a fairly plain one, I placed them on the table in front of A'ishah.

"Do you both agree to fulfill the conditions of the marriage contract to the best of your ability with the will of Allah?" He asked us both and we both nodded our heads.

"As her wali, do you give permission for your daughter to marry him?" The imam asked A'ishah's father. He looked at his daughter and smiled before glancing at me and after one more playful narrowing of his eyes he nodded his head to the imam.

"You both agree to be witnesses to this?" He asked and both Ahmad and Walter said 'yep' and after signing the paper, he grinned at us.

"May Allah bless your marriage and protect it from evil. May He keep you both firm upon His deen and grant you a happy, lasting marriage that continues to be for His sake. May He grant you children who will be protectors and supporters of the ummah and may you be reunited in jannatul firdaws. بَارَكَ اللَّهُ لَكَ وَبَارَكَ عَلَيْكُمَا وَجَمَعَ بَيْنَكُمَا فِي خَيْرٍ.
‎أمين"
(May Allah bless for you (your spouse) and bless you and may He unite both of you in goodness.)

"That's it?" I asked, my eyes wide at the simple process that seemed to be finished. They all chuckled at my reaction.

"You're a husband now, King." The imam smiled at me. "Take good care of this sister InshaaAllah and treat her as the prophet ﷺ treated his wives and as you would want someone treating your own sister or daughter." He advised and I told him honestly that I would give my absolute all to do so.

He nodded at me before asking if there should be some Quran recitation to which A'ishah's dad, and my dad too now, said yes. The Imam cleared his throat, joining his hands on the table as he began reciting the four Qul's and then he went on to recite the last two ayat of Surah Baqarah before reading a small du'a in Arabic and asking if anyone was going to recite.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

"Yeah, I'll do a bit of Surah Rahman." Ayman said as he also coughed a little sipping water from the plastic bottle in his hand and starting. I hadn't heard Ayman recite until just now. He had good recitation, no where near Bilal's but of course a hundred times better than mine.

A'ishah was watching him, no doubt smiling.

Once Ayman had concluded, the Imam looked at me with a raised brow, silently asking me if I would want to recite also.

I glanced around the table, feeling my cheeks rise in temperature. Jheeze, was I blushing?

Ahmad smirked at me and I glared at him before he grinned and shook his head as if to say 'I'm only kidding'. Ayman raised his brows, egging me on and so I nodded before I could change my mind.

A'ishah's head turned to me, her eyes wide and I glanced down, staring at her for a second and feeling my nerves sky rocket. I shook my head and took a deep breath before I began.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

I finished the Surah alhamdulillah, granted I did forget at one place and the Imam quickly helped me, but still I finished it.

Although I seemed calm and collected on the outside, I was almost dying inside. My palms were sweating and I was sure my mums hands that I was holding with my own beneath the table to ease her was drenched in my sweat.

I looked at A'ishah again and my heart pounded when I saw the tears in her eyes. Her eyes held so much awe and gratefulness that all my self conscious thoughts were out the window.

She knew how hard it was for me to learn quran and she knew I would be the last person to recite in front of others, yet she knew, clearly, since I had chosen her favourite Surah, without her knowing, that I did this for her and I knew she appreciated it to.

Of course the first and foremost intention was always to please Allah, and I prayed that He was also pleased with me because I had pleased my wife.

My wife. Man, that sounded so amazing.

Alhamdulillah.

The Imam rose from his seat and hugged us, mentioning that he had to leave to be at the masjid in time for asr.

"I advise you all to leave soon too and not miss the reward of praying in congregation." He said, glancing at the men in the room.

"Can we come with you, amo?" Ahmad spoke, gesturing to himself and Walter. The imam nodded and they both walked out with him after hugging and congratulating me and I was left with my mum in between A'ishah's family. My family.

Hell, our family.

- A'ISHAH'S POV -

I stood off my seat and faced my dad as he looked down at me, placing his hands on my cheeks and looking into my eyes. "May Allah always keep you content." He told me. I felt my eyes well with tears yet again as I looked into his loving gaze. I wrapped my arms around him and inhaled his comforting scent.

"May Allah reward you for everything you've done for me all my life, baba."

"No, may Allah reward you for making me the happiest and proudest father. You've never once done anything to bring shame to my name and I've only ever heard of people speaking well of you. Continue living your life this way, A'ishah."

"InshaaAllah." I said with a soft smile, before facing my mum as my dad pulled King to the side. I couldn't even focus on what my dad was lecturing him about as I looked at my mum and as I stared at her, I couldn't keep in my emotions. I released a sob as I wrapped my arms around her and felt her shake slightly against my body.

"Are you pleased with me, mum?" I asked her softly. I felt her nod immediately against my shoulder.

"Always, A'ishah. I will always be pleased with you." She promised and I hugged her even tighter, telling her that I make du'a for Jannah for her during every salah.

"I ask the same for you, sweetheart." She told me and when I looked at Ayman who was smirking at me, my mum walked off to my dad and King.

"What are you smirking about?" I muttered, wiping my cheeks. He came up to me and placed his hand on the back of my head, placing a kiss on my forehead.

"Look at you all grown up and being a wife." He grinned after he pulled back. I shook my head with a small smile.

"Aren't you going to give me the whole be a good wife and blah blah blah."

He shook his head, his smile dropping as he looked at me seriously. "No." He said. "I don't need to, sis. I know you. I know you'll be the most amazing wife to him. You never once disregarded your values as a Muslimah and I know you won't this day onward. You know exactly what is expected of you as a wife in Islam and you'll strive to be exactly that."

"InshaaAllah." I added through glossy eyes. He chuckled and repeated the word.

"I'll miss your biryani the most." He told me with a frown, making me chuckle.

"I'll bring you some every time we visit inshaaAllah."

"You better." He smirked as he leaned over, placing another quick kiss on my forehead before hugging me tightly. I squeezed him back just as tight before pulling away.

I looked around the room seeing King still speaking to my dad, glad to see that he was smiling now.

Wow. That was my husband. I finally had a husband. After so many guys that just weren't suitable for me or who I wasn't compatible with, I had finally found a man who I saw myself being with for the rest of my life.

He was no where near what I had imagined or wanted as a husband, but that just showed more than ever that it didn't matter how much we planned for something to be a certain way, what Allah wrote for us would find us whether we liked it or not. And in this case, I liked it...a lot. Alhamdulillah.

I couldn't count the number of people who I had turned down because they didn't have deep understanding of the Qur'an or didn't memorise enough of the book of Allah, yet with King, it was different. He had only found Islam eight months ago and was doing his absolute all to learn everything he could in steady steps. Ayman said that he had hardly ever missed salah in congregation and he attended every single class and lecture, even the ones he understood nothing of because they were advanced.

I always wanted someone at the same level as me, and King, was no where near the level I had been seeking, but we had the same burning desire to constantly seek more and more despite being at different stages and that, I had realised, was more important.

He had even memorized my favourite Surah without my knowledge and recited it after our nikkah. That will forever be something I cherish. I prayed that Allah rewarded him in abundance for making me so happy already.

I wasn't planning on crying today, and I