AMIRA MOHYUDDIN: A STRONG MUSLIM WOMAN

 

When someone who used to be a teacher to you became your friend, the friendship meant so much more. 

I didn’t get the chance to be close to a great person by the name of Amira when I was still her student because I wanted to have gaps with my teachers. 

However, there is something that is still fresh in my mind as if it happened yesterday. 

I was stressed with my studies. I really wanted to quit. 

Along with other problems, at that age, I even wanted to die. 

I remember texting her that I wanted to quit my studies. 

It was a really gloomy Sunday. She called me, asking if she could come and visit me. I said no because I didn’t want to burden her on her weekend. 

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Then, I can still recall entering her room. 

There was a round carpet by her desk. She asked me to sit on it with her and talk. 

She understood that I couldn’t endure with Landscape Architecture anymore and that I wanted to quit. 

Wisely, she just gave me a very simple advice – do only one thing at a time. Up to this day, I carry her advice every time I have too many things to be done.

She was the person who helped me go through depression as someone who was transitioning into adulthood...

She mastered the art of being a true feminine woman without having to learn it - her modest attire, her smile, the way she speaks, beautiful words that she carefully selected during conversations...

Your heart could easily be melted by the softness of her voice...

Years went by without contacting her until I saw her while I was buying lemang for Eidul Adha. 

It was a really fateful evening. From there, we exchanged numbers and became friends. I went to her house once and spent hours there, playing with her kids. 

At that time, Aqiel, her youngest child, was still a baby. Alia, her second youngest child, was still shy with me. She just observed me from a corner.

Then, visits to her house became countless. Sometimes, she would serve me with food that she experimented. 

I even had the chance to be amazed at the ability of her eldest son, Amirul, to cook us lunch one time while the other one, Aiman, was taking care of Aqiel. It was a tasty meal, I must say. 

She was not only a great woman, but a wonderful mother...

We became close because we share one thing in common – we believed in one particular brand for food supplements. 

I even took her to see a nutritionist in order to heal her cancer through natural healing. From there, she took care of her diet. 

Surprisingly, she became healthier. 

Maybe, because of that, she had stopped her visits to the doctor.

She managed to hold an event on time. She was excited about it and took me to have dinner with her and family near her house. 

I helped her to distribute brochures for the event to my colleagues. Even though I couldn’t make it to the event, it was a success.

Then, she started her playschool. I thought it was great for her because she was so good with children. 

I loved watching her with her own kids. She was a natural and becoming the owner of the playschool was perfect for her.

For quite a while she seemed healthy to me. I did text her one day asking her if I could help her out with her playschool that she owned. 

Quickly, she asked me to come over and help her with the kids. She asked me to read stories for them and Alia wanted my attention and bullied everyone else. 

I remember asking those kids to count the number of birds, flowers in each page of the story books.

On another day, I helped her with an editing job that she hated to do. 

I used her laptop in her playschool while I could see her singing and playing with those kids, including Alia and Aqiel. 

I remember playing with Aqiel and Alia in the cyber café while she was emailing the finished work to the client. 

I feel sad at the thoughts of it.

The last time I saw her was when her husband offered me a job almost six months ago. 

I was indecisive. 

She and her family even took me to dinner to discuss it over. It was the first time I introduced her to my mum. 

I was thrilled to see Aqiel because he was the cutest thing ever! 

Even my mum agreed.

It was the last time I ever saw her. 

I didn’t keep in touch with her because I had issues of my own. 

However, I do think about her and her kids. What amazing is that she didn’t only become a friend to me, she even made me feel as if she and her whole family are my relatives. 

I would feel welcome being at her place. Her husband would sit with us and join our conversation.

It was sad to see her playschool no longer in business. She had become ill so quickly. 

I did text her but she replied that she wasn’t in JB so I couldn’t see her. 

It was the final contact that I had with her. 

As a normal human being, I do feel the regrets of not being able to care for her as I should be but I feel grateful that I was given the chance to meet one true muslima and a wonderful friend. 

May Allah bless her always…

To me, she embodies a true feminine woman.

Al-Fatihah…

Love,

Aleda

Article edited on 17th February 2019.

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