Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh everyone :)
Once upon a time there was this painfully shy girl, through out her teenage life all she wanted is to just fit in and because her extreme shyness it was difficult for her to make friends up until she was 15 and found a group of friends that stuck by her for god knows how long. In a way Ingrid was a late bloomer, at the age of 16 she was surrounded by friends. Like every other girl, all she wanted was to be loved, Ingrid wasn't extremely beautiful nor was she horrible to look at, she like to maintain good grades, she doesn't smoke, she doesn't drink, a fashion and make up enthusiast, a law abiding citizen and she would prefer to spend her time with her friends than going to a parties, that is how Ingrid is. She had a pretty standard high school experience, fell in love and got her heart broken, laughed, cried and whole she-bang. Through-out the years her friends come and go like seasons,constantly changing and keep telling herself this is a part of life.
One day she fell madly in love with the materialistic world and completely lost touch with her deen, music was huge part of her life, the quran and the hijab was so foreign to her. From the day she hit puberty, hijab was never a big deal..it never was. The things she have gone through in her life was a painful experience filled with insecurities, anger, paranoia and everything else in between and convinced herself that it is again, a part of life and it'll improve. she had come to realized that her days are always filled with laughter and the night will end with tears but could never find the reason why. why she was depressed, why she was insecure, why she was paranoid. She could never find a good excuse for it yet did not turn to the creator immediately.
On a fine Thursday afternoon, sipping her hot Milo in the office, made a sincere du'a to Allah for the first time in years and decided to learn about her lost deen and immediately fell in love with its teachings and donned the hijab almost instantly. Her 1st debut as a hijabi came to a shock for most people yet it was her best decision to date. Few months after she decided to embrace Islam, the answer to the long forgotten questions was answered. She could never find true happiness because she was finding happiness in all the wrong places, she turned to music for peace, turned to her friends for advice instead of turning to the creator of heaven and earth who will never turn his back on her, turned to the opposite gender for acceptance, turned to make up and expensive clothes to make her feel confident and beautiful.
She understood that she may not be the best muslimah or even a good example of a perfect muslim, 99.9% of the time, she fell short of Allah's standard that Allah has set for the entire ummah but she never lose hope in Allah's bountiful mercy and continue to strive to be a better servant. After so many years Ingrid finally found true happiness and peace :)
- THE END-
Just wanted to post something different, I sincerely hope you enjoy Ingrid's story :) hopefully I would have the inspiration to write more short stories, Inshallah.
