All around Rahim Mollah’s ancestral home, terrified Rohingya families were somehow passing their days in their temporary sheds. These sheds were composed of four bamboos, a few tin sheets over them and a polythene wall around them. In the meantime, the arrival of monsoon made the situation noticeably worse. It had been raining almost every day; wherever one looked there was nothing but rainwater and mud. The Rohingya families faced an uphill struggle in keeping the interior of their shacks dry. They had to keep them dry, or else an epidemic could break out at any moment.
At lightning speed, the news of the massacre at northern neighborhood spread not only to the slum which had grown around Rahim’s hut, but also to the world in general. It struck the already psychologically weakened Rohingya families like a tsunami. None wanted to return to their homes. Out of compassion, Rahim din’t have the heart to evict them from his property.
After the massacre in Aung Syke, Su made up her mind to spend a few days with Rafiq’s family. As she was quite aware of the situation over there, she took extra clothes and small amount of the daily requirements with her. Although large portion of the mob went back to their homes because of the rain and storm, some of them took turns to continue the siege, and among them were Than Kin’s robe wearing monks. Su felt like those monks had been inciting violence against the Rohingya families. So, before returning to Yangon, she decided to talk to Than Kin about the situation. Meanwhile, in order to keep the spirit up, from time to time, she kept telling Rahim, who had lost his old self, and was in a sea of disappointment. Nonetheless, he struggled to convince himself that things could not continue like this for long, eventually the situation would come back to normal. Su reassured everyone that the international community was bound to come forward to assist the Rohingyas. Quite often she was also having conversations with Karim. The more she talked to Karim, the more she was amazed by his calm composure, wit and gentle nature. She could hardly find any similarities between the appearances of Karim and Rafiq. Karim’s appearance had many of the features of his mother. Like his mother he had a round face with a dark complexion. On the other hand, Rafiq looked more like his father. By looking at Rahim’s sharp features and fair complexion, one could easily imagine how handsome this man had been when he was a youth.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Su was impressed by the hospitality of the Mollah family even in such an extremely adverse situation. She could never spend more than a few hours with Rafiq, though she had met him, numerous times. She never saw Rafiq performing salat. This is why she was amazed to see all other members of the Mollah family performing salat. After such horrendous experience, still they had no grievance against Almighty. They call Him Allah. When she had an opportunity to ask Hajera Begum, she said, “Everything in the universe belongs to Him. Therefore, whatever He hands out, we must accept with utter humility. No one has any say here. If we are wronged, and don’t get justice in this life, surely He will give us justice in the hereafter. It is His solemn promise, and He is true to His promise. So, there’s no reason for us to be disappointed.” The man they believe to be the messenger and the closest friend of Almighty, their love for him amazed her the most. Whenever anything about him was discussed, they would become highly emotional. To them his honor was their sacred attire. Once Karim was compelled to say, “No Muslim will ever tolerate any kind of insult to our Holy Prophet. If you must, humiliate us, but we will never tolerate any kind of humiliation to our Holy Prophet. Our miseries are nothing compared to what our beloved Prophet went through for mankind. Hence, depression might engulf our hearts for a while, but in the end, it can never defeat us.”
Upon hearing this, Su kept wondering about the influence of this man over one and a half billion Muslims of our time. It’s quite a miracle for a man who lived fourteen hundred years ago. It is utter stupidity, trying to destroy that influence, because what they have in their hearts cannot be seen or touched, let alone be destroyed. Perhaps Almighty Himself has instilled this love for this man in every Muslim’s heart.
On the first night of the riot, when Su stared at Karim’s wife, sadness engulfed her heart. Kulsum was a pretty lady. Unfortunately, her beauty had become a cause of constant terror for her and her family. In this state without any rights, she and her unborn child could become the victims of those hyenas outside. If a man from the mob wanted to commit such a crime, not much could be done to stop it. The thought of it made Kulsum chronically depressed. Su understood the cause of her anxieties and terror. Earlier she conveyed to Su that in the past an associate of Than Kin had expressed vulgar intentions to her on several occasions. Till three in the morning Su heard these tales of humiliation from Kulsum, in the same bed with her. She felt, she had found a sister in Kulsum. Every time she had tried to reassure Kulsum, the wretched woman presented to her a sad smile in return. She kept telling Su not to endanger her own life because of them. In response Su said, whatever she had been doing, it was for the well-being of her own family.