A prophecy fulfilled

‘Are you sure you mean the man who just passed us? He is selling a number of odd things, I don’t think there is anything there to interest you.’ She replied, not heeding my request.‘Please call out to him Asabe, if he goes deep into the market, it will be hard to find him. And […]

‘Are you sure you mean the man who just passed us? He is selling a number of odd things, I don’t think there is anything there to interest you.’ She replied, not heeding my request.
‘Please call out to him Asabe, if he goes deep into the market, it will be hard to find him. And yes I’ve seen something I need from among the odd things he sells.’ I replied.
‘Ok’ she said before finally raising her voice to call out to the odd-things-vendor. ‘Now I wonder what you will buy when he comes.’ She added.
‘Please let me have the three-headed whip.’ I requested, when the man arrived near us.
‘The three-headed whip Bint, are you planning to buy a horse?’ Maryam asked from the back seat.
‘No, I need it for the children.’ I replied, asking the price when the man handed it to me.
‘For the children? But surely you don’t need a three-headed whip for your angelic and obedient children.’ She protested.
‘But I do. Otherwise whose children will I need it for?’ I answered.
‘In that case pick a single headed whip Bint. Don’t do anything you could regret later.’ Maryam suggested.
‘No, I will be taking my first choice.’ I insisted, paying the hawker and starting the car again.
‘But what for, what could they be doing that requires such an archaic and brutal punishment from you?’ Maryam demanded.
‘Let’s just say I made a promise to Little Bint that I will never say another word to her when I see her with my phone again, rather I will beat her up with a three-headed whip. And I am determined to fulfill this vow.’ I said.
‘You mean this whole thing is because LB uses your phone? Haba Bint when did you become a monster mum?’ Asabe queried.
‘When I found out that my daughter is totally addicted to twitter and instagram. For someone without a smart-phone I don’t even know how she learnt to use them. But the long and short of it is, the moment she returns from school, she goes for my spare phone. She doesn’t even look for food. And you have to get her off it before she will go and pray. Before you didn’t need to say a word, LB will rise to pray when she hears the adhan; and she will ask for food the moment she arrives from school. But not anymore.’ I explained.
‘But that’s nothing new Bint. We are all battling the same thing from our children. Yet we haven’t all rushed to the market to get the first
monster whip we can find.’ Maryam protested.
‘Maybe you don’t see the need to and that’s understandable since your children are all older than LB. She is barely ten years old, yet she is totally addicted to social networking. When you hear LB mentioning moving from one figure to another, be sure she is boasting about her twitter followers. I indulged her in the beginning because the phone was my spare one so I didn’t need it much; and because, as the last born I thought she was lonely since her older siblings are fond of leaving her to herself.
But I had no idea what was to come. Now LB has discovered intagram.
She does nothing but snap pictures of herself to post on instagram.
Selfies are her obsession and it doesn’t matter what time of the day or night, when Little Bint feels like posting something she will do it. One night, I woke up from sleep around 2am and she was there by my dressing mirror, her face heavily made up with powder and lipstick.
She didn’t see me so she remained busy posing one way or another, taking selfies.
At last, I spoke up. I warned her that at night we are not alone so she mustn’t keep doing things because she believed I was sleeping and no one could see her. I told her that Jinns could see us even if we couldn’t see them. That worked and for the next few days, because she got really scared and went off that crazy night vigil. But soon after, she was back at it again. Last night, she removed the phone from under my pillow, where I kept it hidden and went straight to instagram.
She was still browsing, when I woke up and saw her. That was when I announced the ban. I warned her to keep off my phone from now on. I told her to go back to her un-smart little phone and just talk to her friends the normal way. I then threatened that if I ever saw her with my phone again her body will pay, because I will beat her up with my bulala. And that’s when I made the decision to buy a whip the moment we were able to make this market outing.’ I explained.
‘Well, scaring her off the phone sounds like the right step to take, but how long will that last? Since you are already talking about an addiction, she will soon start using her older siblings’ phone whenever they are home. So we will have to think of a more lasting solution than whipping.’ Asabe argued.
‘Well if that prophecy is true then there is really nothing anyone can do to stop the menace from spreading. It is an event foretold.’ Maryam said enigmatically.
‘What prophecy?’ I asked taking my eyes off the street to face her in the rearview mirror.
‘You know that prophecy by Rasulillah, Sallallahu Alayhi wa salam (SAW), in which he said that towards the end of time ‘There will appear among the people ad-Da’maa’ and the companions asked ‘What is ad-Da’maa’ and he, SAW, replied ‘It is fitnah (tribulation) that will that hit every face and enter every home.’ Now Nabiy Muhammad SAW didn’t say more and his companions didn’t press for more information.
But over the centuries, scholars have been trying to fathom what this tribulation could be. Until the advent of the internet and all those things it brings into our homes and minds.
Present day scholars are all agreed that ad-Da’amaa is the internet and its by-products. The BBM, Twitter, instagram, whatsapp and all other social networking instruments. They believe that these things are double-edged swords that bring some good but also a lot of harm to people. And they are there in almost every home, hitting every face.’
Maryam concluded.
‘Believe me I feel inclined to agree with the scholars on this. I mean the rate at which all people, both young and old, are getting hooked to this social networks is frightening. It can only be the fitnah our Rasulillah, SAW, was referring to.’ Asabe concurred.
‘You know, whether it is the prophesised ad-Da’amaa or not, one thing is certain, these social media are a fitnah; especially for our little children. Even the older ones, we have to continuously monitor and guide because we just don’t know when they will fall into the trap of dirty and immoral adults camouflaging as social contacts. But with people like LB, it’s a total ban. I can’t have her continue this way or else I won’t be able to recognize her one day. And this is why my three-headed whip will come in handy.’ I declared, stopping the car in front of Asabe’s house.