21. Aaryan

After parking the car in the garage, Aaryan went inside the house, following his father. His head was still so heavy, his heart was still in grief, and there was a new reason added to it.

All the way back from the hospital, Aaryan had been thinking about how he sleep every night in peace and his father had to stay awake and work. For the first time, he realized that he might not always be right when he says his parents have done nothing for him. Aaryan felt like something had changed and, suddenly, was feeling caring for his father. "Baba, have you taken your medicine?" He asked gently. His father looked at him with a strange gaze. He stayed silent for a moment and then his face glowed with happiness "Yes, My son, I have taken them" he said patting a stiff hand on him at the shoulder "Okay, Baba. You can go and sleep, I will lock the house" he said, his voice was still so low "Okay, Beta" his father was laughing and he realized that this was after a long time when he had made his father smile. Aaryan wasn't smiling himself, he was still startled by everything that was happening.

After locking the doors, he stood in front of his room. He was thinking about Mary and what she said to him. It was still unbelievable how a brother could do this to a sister but now, Aaryan was helpless. Mary told him not to do anything, but he could never leave her like this. There was a way to help her and that would put his father's life in danger. Aaryan was so confused and he was tired of everything. He needed to clear his mind and talk to someone but when he thought about it, there was no option. He won't talk about these type of things with Raheel. Taha was a choice, and that was why Aaryan never wanted to lose him but they weren't friends anymore. In a world filled with people, Aaryan was still alone.

His eyes landed on the door on the right, it was Amara's room, and after a moment of thinking, he decided to go to her. Amara was a sensible child. She was so thoughtful and maybe a person, who would help him in this darkness and show him some hope.

Aaryan knocked at the door. In a second, the door opened. "How is she?" Amara asked as soon she opened the door. "She is okay." It felt like a lie to him. Amara breathed in relief as if she was dying to hear it. "What happened to her?" She asked and he lied again "She fell from the stairs"

"Did she get injured badly?" Amara sounded anxious. "Yeah, but there is nothing to worry about." He hated himself for lying every word leaving his lips. "I hope so," She said silently. The siblings stood in hush and Aaryan did not move. After a while of Aaryan standing there with a numb face. "Do you want to come in and talk?" Asked his sister, Aaryan nodded and entered the room. "Take a seat." Aaryan stood on the chair while Amara walked to the bed, took the Holy Quran that was on the pillow, kissed it gently, and placed it on the top shelf. "Were you reading the Quran?" Aaryan asked slowly "I was really worried about Mary. My heart was troubled by the thought of something happening to her, so I started the recitation." Her voice was so calm while talking about it. Aaryan said nothing in reply, and Amara sat on the bed. "Ryan, is there something you want to talk about?" She asked. There were so many things to talk about, so many things to say out loud, but Aaryan said none of them. "Are you okay, Bhai?"

"Hmm," Aaryan mumbled in his mouth. "Tell me what happened?" She asked, but Aaryan was not sure which thing was affecting him the most. "Nothing," he said. He was not ready to say anything and his sister now appeared anxious. After a long moment, Amara spoke again

"Are you suffering from something when you sleep?" Amara said as if she already knew what that something was "How do you know?" Aaryan asked, shocked. "I knew it," she said slowly. "The way you woke up today, I thought something was wrong," Aaryan said nothing in reply but stared at her. He needed her to explain his situation "You are suffering from sleep paralysis, right?" he was left startled. How did Amara know about it? Instead, he asked, "Amy, do you know what is happening with me?" Amara nodded. "Sleep paralysis is mysterious to this world, they all know it's supernatural. Even the scientists are unable to figure out what it is or how it happens, but our religion has told us about it." Amara drew a long breath in. "Don't get afraid of what I am about to tell you, okay?" Aaryan blinked his eyes in agreement, and Amara sounded really serious and a little scared. "So it's because of a ghost." Aaryan laughed then. Because it was actually that funny. "Are you playing a prank on me?" He asked "Ryan! We do believe in the existence of ghosts, unlike most of the people around us." They do, and so did Aaryan, but something like that getting in contact with him was unbelievable and unacceptable. Still, it made sense because after every attack he would find no one in his room so he stayed hushed and listened to Amara "It's an evil spirit called

Jinn Al Kaboos.

He sits on a person's chest if he has been neglecting prayer or other duties and sometimes it's because of some other reasons" his eyes fell open as the shock hit him. Aaryan had never thought about it. Even though he was not practicing his religion and knew there was no need to do it as he would be just forgiven because, after all, he was a Muslim but why did his sister's words feel so scary? Now he wasn't only afraid of the ghost but of something like not being a good Muslim, and it had never happened before. He had never seen Amara lying, and there was no way she was lying right now. "Don't worry, it's normal. So many people have it but we got a cure as well" She said happily. No, she didn't sound happy because of the cure but because she was talking about the religion with her brother and Aaryan knew it "So, we will start with two things for now, all you have to do is to make wudu and read ayat-ul-kursi before sleeping" And just then something entered his head. Aaryan suddenly remembered the day when he opened the Holy Quran and he made ablution before it. So making wudu before sleeping was the reason he didn't get sleep paralysis that day? If it was true then it was shocking to him "Make wudu?" he asked, already feeling the answer "Yes, it is a Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad (SAW) to make wudu before you go to sleep" Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam he said in his brain and a smile appeared on his lips "I will try" he didn't promise anything but Amara still grinned broadly "In Sha Allah" In Sha Allah and again it was only in his brain.

Something was happening to him. Something like he wanted to know about his religion for the first time since he got conscious.

There were questions now. He wanted to ask questions about the Holy Quran because Amara was a Hafith of the Quran; she had memorized it and had so much knowledge. Aaryan wanted to ask her where he could find the things connecting the Book to science because he was still so curious

"I got something for you, Ryan," she said, fetching him from his thoughts. Amara stood up from the bed, took a book from the bookshelf, and passed it to Aaryan. "What is it?" He asked taking it from her hands "Something you will find interest in" Before looking at the book he stared at his sister and there were unshaded tears of happiness in her eyes "Well, Okay" he just said that, left the bed and walked into his room

Entering his room, the first thing Aaryan did was to make proper Wudu, unlike the last time. As he stepped back into the room, he saw the prayer mat, and for a brief moment, he thought of praying Isha on his own, but the prayer was too long, and he decided to pass the thought to Fajr. He manipulated himself because the book on his bed was looking way more interesting than the prayer. Aaryan jumped on his bed and read the title of the book out loud "The Quran and Modern Science: Compatible or Incompatible? by Zakir Naik" Just the title felt so interesting to him- there was a question. He never told Amara about him being interested in the Quran linking with science then what happened? Maybe by a rare possibility, Amara had seen that the Quran in his room was now covered with a cloth, meaning he had touched it. This science was the actual reason why he read The Holy Quran that day, to find something about science from it, maybe this was the only reason Amara gave him a book like that

So, on his journey to find the truth about how science and The Holy Quran are related, he began to read. It started with some introductory lines and how great the Holy Quran is. One of the things that caught his attention was

"And if you are in doubt, as what we have revealed to our servant, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) from time to time. Then produce a Surah (Chapter) somewhat similar to it. And call forth your witnesses and helpers if there are any besides Allah, If your doubts are but true. And if ye cannot"

"Woah," Aaryan sat up. "This is just incredible," he said to himself as those words were like an open challenge to anyone, going against this book or calling it fake.

As he continued reading, he got more attached to it as if power was attracting him towards it "Albert Einstein said "Science without religion is lame and religion without science is blind"

"Damn, did Sir Albert Einstein really say that?" It was even more interesting now, and he couldn't help himself but read more of that book. He read about how the heavens and the earth were separated, explaining the Big Bang theory in a nutshell, 21: 30. How the universe was smoked, 41:11 and scientists now naming it as gas. The merging of day into night and night into day made 31:29. Even about the bees and their communication method Quran 16: 68-69 which was only discovered by scientists in the 1920s. Aaryan hooked up to it. In an hour he read almost half of the book and then at a point he stopped

"The Qur'an says in Surah Naml, Chapter No. 27, Verse No 17 and 18, that:

"Before Solomon marched, the hosts of Jinns, men, and birds, and when they reached a lowly valley of ants, one of the ants said get ye into your habitation, lest Solomon and his horses unknowingly will trample you beneath the feet "People will think… What kind of a fairy tale book is the Holy Qur'an? This book… the Holy Qur'an… it's speaking about ants... ants talking among themselves, it's a fairy a tale book.

Today we have come to know that any animal or any insect which has the closest resemblance to that of the human being… It is the ant. The ants bury the dead the same way as human beings do. They have a sophisticated method and division of labor, where they have a manager, supervisor, workers, etc. They very often meet to chat. They have a sophisticated method of communication. They have a marketplace where they exchange goods. And when they store the grain in winter, and if the grain begins to bud, the ants cut the bud as though they knew that budding will cause rotting of the grain. And in Monsoon, if the grain gets wet, they bring it out in the sunlight to dry. Surely, you might have seen the ants carrying grain in the sunlight to dry as though they knew that humidity would cause the development of the root system, which would cause rotting of the grain. So the Qur'an speaks about the advanced nature of the ants, 1400 years ago."

And his tongue, without a stop, said, "Allah hu Akbar." Every word he read was giving him chills. Aaryan was unaware of what was happening to him, but his heart started to feel at peace. The words were having an impact on it, and he felt like his chest was exploding. At that moment, he wanted to yell to the world how great the book was And how great his religion was. Aaryan was so happy, and as countie to read. He kept on getting blown out by the things mentioned in that book.

When it was the time of dawn he suddenly felt sleepy. He knew there was something he was forgetting, maybe some sort of promise he made to himself. There were pages left in the book but the sleep overtook him.

That time was peaceful, he kept on getting this thought that there was something he was missing, but he couldn't even open his eyes, and then he slept in peace. Nothing was on his head. He didn't have any sleep paralysis attacks that night.

Aaryan woke up to a smile. He was still grinning, so happy about the book he was holding, even in his sleep. When he tracked the last night he reache

d Mary. He sat up on the bed and his smile vanished from his lips when he remembered about her and what happened last night. Aaryan had forgotten about her for the night. This book caused a distraction

Aaryan now wanted to call her, go to her home, and check how she was but Aaryan could never do it as Matthew could know and–

There was no chance that Mary would come to take classes today so the only thing he could do now was to wait for Mary to come to him

Aaryan went downstairs after getting ready. He found his family on the breakfast table. Silently, he walked towards them and took his seat. His parents and sister could not hold their smiles back when they saw Aaryan willingly coming to the table. He might be changing. Maybe he just needed to clear his head because once again, Mary was consuming his mind. He was anxious and could not do anything to calm himself down "What's for breakfast," He asked stopping himself from drowning into worry. "Chickpea rice, your favorite." said his mother. "I love them." He repliedabnormally with a grin, "Sure, Ryan." Amina gave him a soft stare and then served him the chickpea rice. All of them were eating in silence when Yusuf asked "Is your classmate okay?" His face fell. He was doing his best to behaviouand he inhaled the sorrow. "Yeah," Aaryan said and there was no need to explain anything to anyone. All of a sudden Aaryan lost his appetite yet he forced himself to eat unlike any other time when he would just walk away

After breakfast Aaryan stood up "Let's go, I will walk you to the university" He said to Amara and she just finished her plate in a second "Let's go, let's go" Amara was just in front of him, and then after a second she appeared at the door tugging her bag over the shoulder