Friends Of STAR

Pakmat stretched his right arm and pressed the snooze button. He did that without looking. For the last forty five years, since the day he reached puberty he has been doing the same thing. In the beginning few years, when he was seven, it was his mother who set the alarm every night before bedtime. When he turned twelve, his mother died, then it was his elder sister who set the alarm. A year later when he left home and became a student at a boarding school, out of guilt, he set the alarm himself.

Always at 5am! Always for the same reason - to wake up for Fajr prayer.

Pakmat has progressed over the years; from round faced alarm clocks with big bell, then to square faced with buzzing sound with radio option, and when he was at the University he graduated into a user of digital ones! One thing, and one thing however has remained the same. He has always been finding his target - the snooze button!

Fajr, alluded him, or as his wife often said, he escaped Fajr prayer.

It was on the morning of Eidul Fitr in 2002 that from her kitchen Makcik Senah noticed a difference. Pakmat's alarm clock kept on ringing. She mumbled a few words to herself, sniggering "Orang Tua dah Pekak agaknya! Dah tak dengar alarm!"

It was exactly when she was cracking one egg open into her frying pan that she began to feel butterflies in her stomach. Her knees went weak. She turned off the gas cooker and ran to their bedroom. She was fearing the worse...

She pushed the bedroom door ajar and peaked inside. There on their marital bed of thirty years was Pak Mat - his mouth open and foaming. His hands at his neck. His eyes wide opened, with only the white visible. Makcik Senah crumbled into a heap besides the bed. She passed out.

From that day on, the alarm, from PakMat's bedroom never rang again.

That was eight years ago.

Today, Makcik Senah stayed on longer than usual on her Sejadah after her Fajr prayer. She held her hands to her face. Her body shook. She talked with Allah, her constant companion since that fateful morning.

"Ya Allah....Kau ampuni lah dosa suami ku. Sesungguhnya dia manusia yang lemah ya Allah. Ampunilah dosa ku dengan suami ku...kerana aku juga manusia yang lemah ya Allah. Sekali pun aku tidak mengejutkan suami ku untuk bangun bersolat Subuh Ya Allah...ampunilah dosa kami ya Allah~!"