AYSHA: The Super Star; She is the Best there is!

BismillaahirRahmaanir Raheem                                                  23rd Dhul Qadah 1437 A.H.

 

Assalaamu alaykum wa Rahmatullaahi wa Barkaatuhu brothers and sisters in Islam. It is my prayer that you are well by the unflinching, vast and endless mercy of Allah azza wa jal. We pray for Allah’s peace and blessings upon the noblest of souls; the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad and all of his household, companion and people. 

So, it’s been a very long time I wrote an article. Been caught up with publicizing my book; A Letter to the Maker of Laws (A Stage Play); you should get your copy. Smiles! And of course, laziness suddenly being my lot. Alhamdulillaah, I am finally getting this one done and I pray I am able to get the many things on my mind and in my notes put together in an article form for you to read in shaa Allah. I am thankful to two sisters especially who are dear to my heart; Muslim Hawa and HikmatIddrissu, they inspired me to overcome this laziness and get this done. I love you fiisabilillaah sisters.

Who is Aysha?

Aysha is a super woman, a newscaster – not an ordinary one but the kind that turned all the people in her country into time-keepers  watching out for the time she would appear on their screens to tell them the news of the day. She was the kind people watched with full attention and admiration. She was on everyone’s lips. She was the best and she knew that all too well.

Aysha had been brought up by her poor parents in a poor neighbourhood. Her parents still lived in this neighbourhood. Even the road to this community was a total mess. Aysha on the other hand had become successful at her career and she now lived alone in a luxurious house in the city. She had a luxurious car too. And let me guess; ‘a luxuriously fat account’ I believe. Keep smiling to Jannah!

A Glimpse into Aysha’s Life

Aysha had the habit of listening to powerful messages of success from inspirational speakers in her car. These messages serve as one of her motivations to soar to greater heights in life. She can repeat almost all the lines as they are spoken – yes! That is how much she had become used to them.

She has some favourite lines she speaks out before the start of her programme. She says to herself;

‘You will be fine! You always are! You will be this evening too! You are the best there is!’

And oh yes! She believed in that – her attitude said it all.

She will say to herself after watching the advertisement of her programme on TV before bedtime;

‘You are number one. Nobody at all can compete with you AyshaOsberk. You are the best. Nobody ever can get you down. Forget your troubles. Now, just get a good rest and start a new day and you will be better than ever.’

Among Aysha’s habit too is that – SHE DOES NOT PICK HER PARENTS’ CALLS. Yes! You read right. Aysha has succeeded in almost cutting her poor parents who loved her ‘too much’ from her life. She believed they contributed absolutely nothing to her success and so they should be shoved aside. When I look at Aysha in her very big and nice living room and bedroom, I feel like she is ignorantly preventing herself from enjoying the bliss her parents could offer her.

Imagine Aysha came home and her loving parents were those to welcome her, pamper her, listen to how her day went, laugh or cry with her, give her ideas even, and then she eats her mum’s home-cooked food – listen to her dad’s old tales. Plus get some kisses before sleep and even make people meet her parents…etc…

Gosh! Wouldn’t that be lovelier than such a pitiful lonely life?  

A man who comes into her life as her consultant called Sally, asks his spiritual master when he sees Aysha ignoring her mum’s call;

SALLY: Her mother is calling, why doesn’t she answer?

MASTER: She shuns them.

SALLY: Her own family?

MASTER: That and everything that reminds her of her old life and poor upbringing.

And yes! She dumped another person too. Someone she loved before. Her poor fiancé. She broke off the engagement with him. She tells him one day on her way back from her parents’ after being coaxed into visiting them by her godfather, the Chief Inspector of Police that;

‘I broke off with you because our lives weren’t just compatible anymore. We live in completely different worlds now.’

That was after he had crossed her path and tried to put her into her place whilst expressing his anger at her for what she did to him. He had mistaken her consultant and adviser, Sally, as a man she was introducing to her family because he had class and fame.

She complains about the road to her neighbourhood as she goes with Sally to see her parents briefly. She says;

‘Damn it! Damn it to hell! Ever since I can remember these roads were like this. Not asingle person ever came here to fix them.’

Then Sally replies her nicely;

‘You should help Aysha. You have the power. Do a report this evening to help your neighbourhood out with this.’

Then she says; 

‘Sally, do not interfere in my personal life if you please.’

He says;

‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.’

She retorted; 

‘So, what did you mean then huh?’

Now! She had only come to visit her parents because the Chief Inspector of Police after congratulating her and Sally for revealing a corruption scandal had spoken to her about her parents. Before the topic of her parents came up, the Inspector made her know how proud he was that she was able to expose the corruption case. Then she says;

‘Actually, Sally here helped me a LITTLE with this.’

Yes, to her, his help was little even though he was actually the one who brought the whole scandal out by teaching her what to do. Smiles! And interestingly, after Sally had explained the psychology behind how he could expose the man like that; she made it look like it was normal to know that but the Inspector had said;

‘No! No! Don’t just brush out Sally’s words like that. What he is saying about the man’s psychological profile is correct.’

Then the issue of her parents came in. She tells Sally about how the Inspector had helped her to become whom she was. The Inspector explained that his only role had been to talk to a couple of acquaintances about Aysha and that it is her efforts that contributed the greatest to her success. Then she mentions her father;

AYSHA: My father was so happy when I started doing this work.

INSPECTOR: But he is very sorry now.

AYSHA:(Surprised) Why?

INSPECTOR: He called me last night. You haven’t been to see him in months, he says. He misses you a lot. They said if they didn’t see you on TV, they will never see you at all now.

Then she cuts in by excusing herself to leave. But the Inspector says;

‘Aysha, my girl. I feel like a father to you. I trained you so I think I have some right to say this to you now. Don’t neglect your parents. They are very sad you know.’

That sent her to them…

This is how she describes the road to her community and the community itself to Sally after they left her parent’s house;

AYSHA:Forgive me Sally for dragging you all the way to this neighbourhood.

SALLY: I am a village boy myself Aysha. I love places like this. Your mum and dad have really missed you.

AYSHA:Sure, they’ve missed me. Actually, I have to come more frequently but I’m not who I used to be. They look at me in a different way in my own neighbourhood. It makes me uncomfortable and this places can be so depressing. Look at how ugly these houses are and the miserable condition of the street.

Yet, she believed that an advice from Sally for her to use her influence to get someone to help better the conditions of her people was an ‘interference into her personal life.’ Keep smiling!

The Aysha her Fans Knew and the Real Aysha

She is hosting a woman whose husband is abusing her greatly. Check that out;

AYSHA:(Sadly)So he actually beats you with an iron? (The woman nods) But why would he?

WOMAN: (Almost crying) He used to hit me all the time. He used to whip me with a cable and he attacks me with the iron too. He used to press it on my arms and hands when it was burning hot (then she cries)…the programme goes on…

AYSHA: (Almost about to cry) I beg your pardon here on behalf of my entire country because particularly, we the women of this country must join together to put an end to this violence against women here and everywhere. Thank you for your bravery and for coming on this programme…(etc. and she wraps up sadly).

And just when she was told that she was off the TV; she gives a huge hearty laugh…she is happy with herself for acting so well. Now, this woman who is ignorant of the real Aysha calls on her for help as she thanks her. She says;

‘Aysha Ma’am, may God bless you. Thank you so much for that. You really are going to help me now, aren’t you? (She cries).’

Aysha is pissed off and she says disgustingly;

‘Exactly how am I supposed to help you ma’am? Am I the city government?’

And she walks off…leaving the woman in her tears.

Whilst this show was ongoing, her boss had been speaking with Sally whom he had hired to assist Aysha get better. He believed she was on top of things in her country but she needed somebody like Sally who had had an international exposure in this field to train her so thatAysha can fit into the international standards as well.

She had come to meet her boss who introduced her to Sally as her consultant after she left the woman crying. She didn’t see any need for him and what new he could teach her because she believed;

SHE WAS ALREADY THE BEST…

And Sally had advised her about changing her wardrobe in order to look better on screen. She knew he could teach her then.

Her next meeting with Sally had been just before he helped her to expose the corruption case. She had come a bit late, dressed as he had suggested, to meet him and other reporters around. She sent her technician to check what was going in there in a rude manner and then she asked Sally for her first lesson.

SALLY: Lesson one. You should be more polite to your co-workers if you truly want to be a success.

AYSHA:Mr Consultant has just stepped over the line now. You are really going to tell me how Aysha behaves to whom?

SALLY: If you behave professionally, people will respect you, then they will continually want to do things for you because they respect you. This way, your performance improves and as the quality of your work increase, so the quality of the work you will receive.

Sally’s Master tells him something about Aysha one day. He says;

‘Her ambition is truly great but she herself is not as great as she thinks she is.’

She Chooses her Career over Humanity

One day, as Aysha left her house to work, she hit a sixteen (16) year old boy with her car. Just when she was about to call the police with her phone, she stopped – probably thinking about the consequences of such a scandal to her career. Luckily, she found the boy’s phone lying somewhere and she used it to call the police without mentioning her name and then she drove off – leaving the poor boy in his own pool of blood.

That was when her troubles began – She was determined to hide the fact that she caused the accident even though all the news were full of this scandal and the worse of it was that being the top newscaster that she was; she was expected to do series of stories on this poor boy and his family whom she later found out was a national soccer player and the only hope for his poor family.

She forcefully had to study the story by watching what the parents of the boy had to say about their grief. The mother’s boy is caught on camera lamenting;

‘…they left my son lying there like that and drove off. They are monsters. How could they do such a thing? Don’t they even have any children, a mother or father? Whoever did this isn’t even human…’

The crying super star sent the video backwards to listen clearly. The mother says;

‘…I raised my son to be a human being not to play soccer. I don’t care about his career or even how much he is appreciated. He is my child and he is a good boy. I don’t care about anything else. I just want my son to live…’

And then Aysha continued to cry like a baby. Her technical assistant who has never seen her emotional except when she acted; asked her whether she had started crying even before the real show began. Sally assured him that this time around, the strong hearted Aysha was ‘really crying.’ He was shocked.

And do you know the interesting part of this scandal? The mother of the boy she hit and run was the same woman who was on her show once about undergoing abuse in her marriage. Small world, isn’t it? If only she had treated her better!

The father whose son had been hit had pushed his son into playing soccer even though the boy wanted to be a writer so badly and he had such great writing skills too. His father had thought that he needed to make money and writing was not going to get him anywhere. But in the end, even as he worried most about whether his son who was in a critical condition could play soccer again or not, he changed over to accept what his son loved to do even before the boy’s full recovery.

Aysha and Sally had attended the farewell dinner of the Chief Inspector of Police and the old man had made a submission that hit Aysha to the core. He said;

‘I always tried to be at the top of my profession but everything does come to an end. In ten years from now, I will not be a successful Chief of Police but a simple retired cop. I have tried hard to be a good person and I shall continue to be a good person. Certainly, a person’s professional success, his reputation and his rank are important but if you don’t have a clean conscience in life, none of these has any value…’

The words were stabbing Aysha’s heart so much that she had to excuse herself. Then Sally had informed her that the boy who was hit was in critical condition and needed some blood type which was hard to get. Then Aysha rushes to the hospital to donate her blood to him – it was her blood type. But of course, she refused to meet with the boy’s parents after the donation. 

SALLY:Aysha, Ona’s father and mother are here. Would you like to meet them?

AYSHA:(Filled with fear as she stared at the parent’s back turned to her) No! No! I want to go home. I want to go home right away. I want to sleep and forget about everything.

SALLY: I don’t understand Aysha.

AYSHA: I am very tired ok. I want to forget everything (Then she begins to walk off).

Sally had advised her thus;

‘The solution is neither to forget nor to run away. I think you should listen to the voice of your conscience. Remember the useful advice of your mother from long ago. Just be true to yourself and listen to your heart.’

She was surprised because she had no idea that Sally knew it all and that he was from the spiritual realm and his mission in her life at the moment was to help her overcome her pride (don’t ask me about the spiritual thing…heheheee!)

Aysha had been plagued with nightmares but she was still battling between coming clean and jeopardizing her career. Then her fiancé and the Chief Inspector of Police had both come to find out from her behavior that she was the one that caused the boy’s accident and they both tried to coerce her in various ways to come clean but she was still behaving tough. And oh! She was now messing up on screen whenever she had to talk about the scandal. She had to host the boy’s father one day. Check this out!

AYSHA:…Mohammed Sir, we know your son Ona was a young rising star and a very talented soccer player. Could you tell us a little about his goals as a professional soccer player?(The man is quiet) Didn’t you have many career goals that you outlined together for your son, Sir?

FATHER: Well, I always wanted him to be a great player and have a bright future up till today. What I want to say is that I didn’t care what his wishes were or what he really wanted in life but now I see how truly wrong I was about this. What is important is not what I wanted for him but what he wants. I think what will make him happy and bring him great success would be ‘being a writer.’ And we as a family will support him as much as we can to realize this. Aysha, I now understand that our value could not be measured by the titles that come in front of our names (Aysha who had been almost breathless all the while suddenly breathed out – you can imagine). I almost made a terrible mistake. One that could have ruined my son’s entire life.

AYSHA:Errrmmm! Mohammed Sir, is there anything you will like to say now that all these have happened? Go ahead and tell us.

FATHER: As you well know, the person or persons who hit my son have not yet been found. In fact, the investigation is ongoing but I just want to appeal to the consciences of those persons who were the cause of this terrible hit and run accident on my son as he suffers in the hospital at this moment. How can a human being just leave a helpless 16 year old boy by the side of the road and drive off. It’s hard to understand. What sort of hard heartedness is this Aysha?

Then Aysha began to cry on screen saying she was sorry and then she left the man on the programme.

Then she had met with her fiancé at where they used to meet when they were young and he had almost forced her to go and confess after letting her know that he knew about the accident.

FIANCÉ: You hit Ona, didn’t you?

AYSHA: I did! And then I drove off.

FIANCÉ: But it is not a mistake that can’t be corrected. You can go to the boy’s family and explain everything to them. You tell them that you were afraid to speak until now. You are only human. I am sure they will understand.

AYSHA: It’s easy for you to say all these. You have nothing to lose here. Just think about what will happen if I do that. All the effort I’ve made up to now will be for nothing. My career will be over and what will people say behind my back? They will say I am a criminal; The Famous Newscaster, AyshaOsberk, Hit Some Kid and Left Him for Death…and then she invited his father to be on her news programme. A total scandal.

FIANCÉ:(Angrily) I can’t believe what you said. Your ambition has blinded you here. You seriously injured a boy. He is struggling for his life now. His family is miserable and what are you doing? You! You’re thinking about your career now.

AYSHA:(Also angry) I got where I am the hard way, Nusret. Of course I don’t want to lose everything I have gained. You just wouldn’t understand this ok.

FIANCÉ: No, I don’t understand and I don’t want to. This can’t be you. You weren’t like this. The things you own, this car, that house, your new life, your new associations; look at what caused you to acquire these things. You turn your back on your family and our love. On our love. You just threw away my love!

AYSHA:(Shouting)That’s enough! (Then she begins to run to her car) I don’t have to listen to this anymore.

FIANCÉ: Don’t go! How far are you going to run now? How far huh!

And do you know the funny thing that happened. As Aysha drove away crying vigorously, her car began its drama again. It began to recite;

‘Let us repeat together. I am successful. I believe in myself. Nothing can stop me doing what I want to do. I can overcome any obstacle. What is important is my…’

Then Aysha pulls out the cassette screaming at it saying;

‘You haven’t succeeded in anything. Not a thing!’

And then out she throws it through the window…and then she goes off to her dressing room to express her grief at herself breaking the mirror and trying to use a piece of it to cut her wrist. Then Sally appears telling her not to do it. She was shocked because it was very late and he should not be around. 

SALLY: I know you caused the accident Aysha.

AYSHA:Yes, I did it and then I went right on with my life as if nothing had happened. Like some horrible monster.

SALLY: But you didn’t act exactly like that. If you hadn’t cared, if you had killed the humanity that fills your soul, you wouldn’t be in this state now.

AYSHA: May be. But what good is it? Now, I can’t be the person I was nor can I go on living this stupid life as if nothing had ever happened at all. I’m finished. It’s over.

SALLY: No! You now understand, you are aware. Your core values and your essence are still part of you. You just need to take a step back and see your family. They have raised you to be strong in such situations, to hold fast with your values and to cherish your life and the lives of others before all.

 

And then he was gone…disappeared! (Don’t ask me about that either…smile to Jannah!)

Sally and his master are caught at one point saying;

MASTER: Fame can make people think that they are something they are not. Then they become slaves to money, titles or material possessions. They want always to be praised and applauded. They live in continual fear of losing these things.

SALLY: Then, is it worth it to live with such a burden at all?

MASTER:No, it isn’t but as long as you can’t unburden yourself, you just go on adding one sorrow on top of another.

SALLY: In that case, she still has a lot more to suffer.

MASTER: It is her CHOICE!

The Chief Inspector of Police had come to tell her parents about the fact that it was Aysha who hit the boy and that she needs them because she was breaking down. Her parents wondered if she would come when they called. He assured them that he believed that she would come now because she cannot handle the situation herself. Then Aysha came right there crying and confessing. Her mum advised her thus;

‘…there is a way to atone for everything. You just have to see your fault…’

Then Aysha explains her crime. Her mum added;

‘Aysha, listen darling. You have to own up to your mistakes as well as to your successes. If you did something wrong, the solution is not to run away and ignore it. Go! Go to the mother of the child you hit. Talk to her. Tell her the truth.’

She agrees as her father and the Inspector look on. She requested an arrest after she sees Ona’s parents. She goes to Ona’s mother and Sally and his master put it beautifully as they looked on;

SALLY: She both confessed and asked for forgiveness and she also turned her back on her fame.

MASTER: She threw the luggage off her back and on to the ship. Now, she will succeed in her repentance because whoever understands their own powerlessness is reinforced by their true strength.

SALLY: And whoever finds God, what could he possibly lose?

And the Chief Inspector of Police had come with the policemen to arrest her. As she gave her hand to be arrested, he shoved them off and held her like the daughter she was and they walked off. Luckily, the court had pardoned her as Ona’s family did not press charges against her. She was finally relieved and happy. One of the reporters had asked her;

‘So would you go back to your profession now?’

She replies;

‘The only thing I do know is; right now I am going back to live with my parents.’

She was happy and Ona and his family came to see her. Ona tells her that it was good she hit him because she had helped his dream of becoming a writer come to pass. He gave her a copy of his book that had been published and the family told her that he is going to be writing for magazines and his other books too are going to be published. They agreed to be friends.

Aysha goes to see Nusret who brought her a bouquet of flowers…

(Story from an episode of the Fifth Dimension)

And so the end was blissful. The lessons in this story are profound and I pray that you don’t just read it but reflect on every aspect of Aysha’s life and try to inculcate the lessons in your life as well. It is lengthy but you read it – May Allah azza wa jal ease for you all of your affairs and grant you the best of everything both in this Dunya and the Akhira. Aameen Yaa Mujeebud’dua Yaa Allah! Rubaba is grateful. Do remember her in your du’a always.

Jazaakumullaahukhairan!

Love fiisabilillaah

Rubaba-ElhaamMmahajia-RahmaSabtiu-Morla

www.strivingbeautifulsoul.blogspot.com
www.mmahajia.blogspot.com

www.letterstomydotas.blogspot.com
www.rubabawords.blogspot.com
www.beforehermarriage.blogspot.com