“You were born to whine and whimper!” Saad pulled a face, and laughed out loud at Sarah. Sarah’s face turned a rich shade of red but she replied to her classmate with dignity: “And you must grow up soon, Saad, before they send you from grade 8 to preschool.” With that she whisked around, and left the school cafeteria with her friends.
Ali and Omar were watching it all, and as they approached Saad and the rest of the guys, Saad said: “Oh! You should have seen the look on her face, Ali. Poor Sarah…” He looked like he was having the time of his life, bursting into peals of laughter. Ali simply stared at him.
Sensing that Ali and Omar were not too impressed with his antics, Saad asked: “What’s the matter, guys? Have you joined the feminist group or something? You two look really upset.”
“Saad,” Omar said in a very serious tone, “it’s nice to have fun, but not at another person’s expense. Why do you always pick on the girls? It’s just poor taste.
“That’s because they have no brains,” Saad said. “Besides, boys are better,” he added.
Ali, now clearly furious, could not help saying: “Really? Then you know very little about being a Muslim, and have no clue about your history. We have had the most intelligent women and girls.”
“And you, I suppose, know them all,” said Saad.
“I know Asma bint Abu Bakr (rtaf),” Omar said, “She was so intelligent. When the Prophet (sa) and Abu Bakr (rtam) migrated from Makkah to Madinah, the disbelievers were trying to hunt them down to kill them. Then Abu Jahl Ibn Hisham went to Abu Bakr’s (rtam) house looking for them. His daughter Asma (rtam) met him at the door. Upon being questioned, she misled Abu Jahl by saying she did not know where her father was. Abu Jahl got very angry. He slapped Asma (rtaf) so hard that her earrings fell to the ground. She was the one who took food for the Prophet and Abu Bakr (rtam) to the cave of Thaur, where they were both hiding. At home, when Asma’s (rtaf) blind grandfather Abu Quhafah complained that Abu Bakr shouldn’t have left his daughters alone in grief, Asma (rtaf) comforted him. She placed stones in front of him to feel, and told her grandfather that her father had left them gold to look after themselves. Though they had nothing in reality, she was sensible not to cause grief to her old grandfather.”
“Girls are not only smart,” said Ali, “but they are also brave. Allah (swt) is the Creator of both boys and girls.”
Saad smiled nervously before turning and walking away. Omar and Ali took their seats and munched on their lunch. “That should take care of him for today at least,” said Ali.
Omar grinned impishly. “Yeah, and if he comes back, I have a couple more stories to narrate. Saad will never make fun of anyone again.”
Ali and Omar chattered on, feeling quite proud of themselves.
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