The Gema Shahadah Aisyah
A Soft Heart Can Break

The chanting of the holy verse from the mosque accompanied Umar's journey from the bookstore to the house. The sun nearly sinks in the western horizon producing a purplish orange tinge in the sky. Umar had to rush home so that when Kyai Abizar came, he was already home. But Umar actually drove his bike slowly because he did not want to waste the view this afternoon. Umar enjoyed the twilight accompanied by the sound of tonggeret insects that perched on the branches of cherry trees and trembesi on the left right of the road.

Umar was amazed whenever he saw the sky and the stars that adorned him. God rules everything in great detail. He does not let the plain sky without anything, God made the stars as decorations along with the moon that illuminates the night.

Suddenly Umar remembered Atalie helping the beggar. Apart from the clothes Atalie was wearing, it turned out that she was a good girl. Atalie instantly gave her the shoes and all her money without a second thought, Umar was a little surprised when he saw Atalie doing that.

"Don't judge book by cover?" Umar seemed to question the proverb. "Stay, closing the law is the duty of Muslims."

Umar shook his head strongly trying to brush off Atalie's shadow on his head.

The aroma of spices and banana leaves bursting from the kitchen made Umar second-guess what his ummi cooked. The combination of the aroma of lemongrass, galangal, bay leaves and banana leaves is smelling increasingly concentrated. Despite trying it, Umar could not think of what dishes were being made in the kitchen.

"Assalamualaik." Umar stepped into the kitchen.

"Mosur." Everyone in the kitchen answered my greetings. They are Maryam, Khawla and two people who used to help cook and clean the house.

"What do you cook?" Usually Umar went straight to the room but this time he was very curious about the delicious-scented dish that made his saliva flood.

"People are fierce." Maryam showed me a packet of banana leaves freshly removed from the steamer.

"Well, can't wait to eat." Umar saw the newly lifted tofu from the frying pan.

"Mas, let's pick the chili in the back." Ali appears carrying a container of rattan, just as he receives Maryam's order to retrieve the chili in the back garden.

"Let's be good." Umar took the container from Ali's hand.

Ali smiled widely as he did not have to pick the chili.

"Take your sisters." Maryam.

Finally Ali followed Umar to the garden to pick the chili by force.

"Don't frown, doing Ummi's orders must be sincere."

"Yes, it's." Ali forced a smile, he had tried sincerely but he did not like gardening even though it was just picking some chili. "that was yesterday Mas Umar?"

"Which one?" Umar picked green chili for fried tofu companion.

"The thighs look." Ali accidentally saw the woman who he said was Umar's friend because the students crowded at the gate until he was curious.

"Astagfirullah, did you see yesterday?" Umar had guessed that it was not only him and the female students who saw Atalie.

"Yes." Yeah." Ali looked down, really he accidentally saw that. May Allah forgive him.

"Yes, he's a friend of Mas's." Umar could not dodge, yesterday he claimed not to know Atalie but after seeing the kindness of the girl he felt guilty for thinking bad.

"Kok Mas Umar befriended a woman who did not close the aurat?" Ali never saw Umar have a female friend. Atalie was the first woman to come here and confess to Umar's friend. Even the student Umar taught, no one dared to come.

"Mas doesn't know either." Everything just happens. Umar also did not expect that Atalie would come when he only loaned books. Can you call it a friend?

Shortly before the adhan magrib reverberated, Abizar came with his wife Aminah and his two children—Idham and Hilya. Abizar is the founder of Al-Amin boarding school in Lumajang. Since he was young Abizar was close to Zaid until he finally married and moved to Lumajang.

Abizar and Zaid embraced each other and asked each other the news after a long time without seeing each other. Because they are busy with their respective boarding schools, they cannot visit often.

"How are you Ummi?" A veiled girl kissed the back of Maryam's hand.

"God always gives health, Hilya you have grown into a beautiful girl and sholeh." Maryam still remembers the last time she met Hilya just graduated high school and has not made a face veil.

"Aamiin Ummi, I'm still learning a lot to be like Ummi."

"Is this Umar?" Abizar saw Umar coming, although he had not seen him for a long time, but he could still recognize Umar.

"Yai Assalamualaikum." Umar kissed Abizar's hand and then linked his hand to Aminah. He also greeted Idham Hilya's sister.

Hilya glanced at Umar for a moment, she praised the man inwardly. Not only handsome but Umar is also a good man, he is the ideal husband type of all women.

They delayed the chat because it was already in magrib time. Everyone rushed towards the mushalla to establish the congregational magrib prayer. As a guest, Abizar had the honor of being a prayer priest.

******

Various dishes are served on the dining table. The delicious aroma of the spice makes saliva flood the oral cavity. Chicken with ferocious asem and chicken sweet sour sauce is very suitable to eat with warm rice plus tofu and fried tempeh and potato paste from the garden itself.

Zaid led the prayer before he started eating. They enjoyed the dish together as well as the santri who were in the other room. Santri has a separate dining room.

"Now what semester is Hilya?" Ask Maryam.

"I'm semester 7 Ummi."

"Have a husband?" Zaid.

Hilya almost choked on hearing the question but she immediately gulped down a bit of water. Hilya answered him with a misguided smile. A smile that could only be seen from his pair of eyes.

"Hilya is still in college, what about Umar?" Abizar threw a look at Zaid.

"I haven't thought about it yet Yai." Reply Umar. "If God had a love match, I would have married."

"Khalid was married shortly after college."

"Right, Mas Khalid is luckier than me."

"Don't say that, you just choose what kind of thing you'll find." Tukas Khalid's.

"What kind of wife criteria do you want Umar?" Aminah also asked questions.

"I don't have any specific criteria, which is important that he wants to come together for the love of God and care for others." As he said that suddenly the shadow of Atalie appeared in Umar's mind as if his mind said that Atalie was the right wife for him. "And shut the aurat." Umar denied his own thoughts, he did not even know Atalie well. How could Atalie be the right wife for her. Nope-no. Umar was out of his mind because he thought that way.

"Of course." Sahut Zayd.

"Then wait for Hilya to graduate from college." Canda Abizar who provoked laughter from the others.

Hilya noticed the smile that rose on Umar's face and looked down at the food on her plate that was almost finished. I don't know why Umar's smile made Hilya smile.

After the meal the men moved to the living room while Maryam and Khawla cleaned the table.

"Hilya the plate is put down, don't wash." Maryam prevented Hilya from washing the dishes from their meal.

"It's okay Ummi."

"Don't let Ummi and Mbak Khawla wash."

Hilya kept washing dishes and dirty containers in the sink. He feels bad if he does not help washing dishes. He used to do it at home anyway.

"Please take this forward." Maryam asks Hilya to bring petis to the living room.

Hilya had no choice but to obey Maryam to bring fried tofu with a companion of petis sauce and green chili.

"Well there's still petis, our stomachs are really going to fill up after we get home from here." Excited Abizar saw Hilya put a large plate of petis tofu on the table.

Zaid let them try to know the petis made by Maryam.

When he was about to sit down, Hilya felt that something was stuck. He saw a book on the sofa he was going to sit on.

"There's a book." Hilya held up the white and green book.

Umar looked at the book in Hilya's hands, as if he was no stranger to it. Umar had seen it before. But he felt he did not have such a book.

"Have you?" Zayd saw Umar.

"Not the Bah." Umar.

Khalid also did not feel he owned the book.

Hilya gave the book to Ali who had looked up at her hand.

"Holy Word for Morning Awakening." Ali read the title of the book in his hand, he frowned. "what is this book?" He had never read a book like that.

Umar turned his back, he remembered yesterday that Atalie had brought two books. That means Atalie's book missed on the couch. Umar took over the book in Ali's hands.

If there was a chance to meet again, Umar would return the book to Atalie. Umar also did not know where Atalie lived.

******

Several times Umar reached out to open Atalie's book on his desk. He was allowed to open the book without the permission of the owner. Wasn't it not a diary containing one's personal news. That means Umar can just open it and read a few pages.

"Holy Word?" Umar asked himself.

Umar put the book in his bag so that if he accidentally met Atalie on the street, he could immediately return it.

"Armgh!" Umar complained because his knee hit the table as he was about to get out of the chair. Umar's throbbing knees made him aware of something. Umar took out the book and opened the first page.

A pair of netra Umar widened and felt heated like pricked thorns.

"Atalie non muslim?" Umar spoke to himself again. Umar did not want to accept it but the reality was contrary to what he expected.

The book in Umar's hand fell to the cold floor of his room. Cold as Umar's heart now, he did not know what he was feeling but his heart felt uncomfortable.

Umar has no right to be sad or angry knowing Atalie who often comes to his studies turned out not to be Muslim.

So Umar could not blame Atalie's clothes because he was not a Muslim. Atalie had no idea who Aisyah was. Umar should have realized that early.

There was no way he would fall for the girl. Umar had a thousand reasons to deny these feelings and they had never known each other before. Umar doesn't even know what it's like to fall in love. Umar was only disappointed because he had high expectations of Atalie. At the sight of Atalie, Umar wanted to improve the girl's appearance and embrace her with kindness advice.

Umar felt heartbroken—broken who had no idea what the cause was. How could this soft heart of his break?