An – Nisā
***
After dinner, the family broke up into their night chores. Amir’s duty was to his studies. A small lamp offered enough light to read the pages of his holy book.
For a long time, he had observed that the book was full of reprimands and punishments directed at unbelievers and those who, despite believing, failed to adhere to its countless rules of conduct and worship.
The memory of the Bowl of Stones flashed across the pages and faded to the image of the young woman and his strange feelings for her.
“Was his sin from lust?” The whisper barely found his ears as he turned to the book of An-Nisā, The Woman, and read it, hoping he would find some revelation. In verse twenty-seven, he read, ‘Allah doth wish to turn to you, but the wish of those who follow their lusts is that ye should turn away from him – far, far away.’
Anguish distorted Amir’s face. His eyes only saw when he cast the stone at the widow in the pit of rocks. Again, he heard the hollow sound reverberating from the quarry as he and others struck her with the force of their ignorance and fear of the judges.
The judges condemned her as a whore who broke her covenant with God to remain chaste. Yet, the men behind him had whispered the actual crime was the lust of the fat judge who promised him death for his weakness.
Why do I feel such a strong connection between the widow and the girl in the alley? Amir was determined to find out. It was a sign, a revelation that opened a path to his repentance and Allah’s forgiveness. Maybe this woman in the colorful dress would help him escape the Red Scorpion Judge’s promise to martyr him in a cause Amir did not believe in.
Hyperion Sky 
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