The first time I read a novel related to Islam was the Muslim Funeral, which was in college. After reading this novel full of Afghan Islam, it is difficult for a person without faith to deeply understand his beliefs. But it does not prevent empathy with the characters.
Mariam is Hamila, an illegitimate daughter, who was born after Zalille raped a domestic servant. In Afghanistan, a traditional patriarchal society, illegitimate daughter is a symbol of shame. Her father regards her as a great shame, and the company every Thursday is just a way for her father to make up for his mistakes. Until 15 years old, Mary Yam ignored her mother's block and went to the big city to find her father's house. Her father refused to meet her, which made her an illegitimate daughter understand that everything was just an extravagant hope. When I got home, I found my mother hanged herself in despair because Mariam left. Happy childhood was carefree under the protection of my mother, and it disappeared like a bubble after my mother died. Mariam regretted her departure. Her mother was desperate and didn't want to live any longer.
As a half orphan, she was sent to her father's home. Within two days, her father and his three wives married Mariam as quickly as possible. Mariam's entreaties still failed to change her father's mind, and she accepted Rasheed, who was 30 years older than her, in despair. She thought she could get rid of her father's shadow, but she fell into a more tragic situation.
Mariam works hard at home, works hard and obeys her husband. Because many pregnancies naturally ran away, she couldn't have another child, and she didn't get the respect and kindness her husband deserved. The abuse and domestic violence of her husband made young Mariam live in fear every day.
It was not until Laila arrived that Mariam began to get angry. Compared with Mary Yam's uneducated appearance, Laila is definitely a woman with bright spots. Born in a well-off family, my father loved my mother and received a good education. People are also very beautiful, and there is a childhood friend. If there was no war and regime change, if no parents were killed, and if she was not pregnant, she would not have married Rasheed, let alone listened to Rasheed's lies about the death of her childhood friend Tariq. Mariam is full of hostility and hatred for the arrival of beautiful Anabel, and the two people behind her are simply incompatible.
Rashid began to pay attention to the beautiful Lila with all kinds of hypocrisy, until Lila gave birth to a daughter and failed to give birth to Rashid's dream son, and her attitude towards Lila went downhill. When her husband found fault and abused Mariam, Laila tried her best to stop her husband from beating Mariam, so that Mariam could feel the warmth of someone standing up for her for the first time in her life. Gradually release the affection for Lila, but I didn't expect two originally hostile people to turn their enemies into friends on the night of tea date. ?
When I saw Mariam holding Lila's daughter Azsha there, as a mother with her daughter, my tears rolled in my eyes.
Every morning, when Asha first saw Mariam, her eyes were always on, and she began to wriggle and shout in her mother's arms. She stretched out her upper arm and asked Mariam to hug her. Her hands opened and closed anxiously, and her face showed a look of love and tension.
"Look at you," Laila would say, handing her to Mary Yam from her arms. "What's the hurry! Be quiet. Aunt Mariam is not going anywhere. Coming, your aunt. Do you see it? Go ahead, here. "
As soon as she reached Mariam's arms, Asha would immediately put her thumb into her mouth and bury her face in Mariam's neck.
Mariam held her stiffly and shook her with a puzzled and grateful smile on her lips. Mariam has never met anyone who needs her so much. No one has ever expressed love for her so innocently and unreservedly.
? Aza made Mariam want to cry.
"Why do you attach your heart to an ugly old woman like me?" Mariam buried her mouth in Asha's hair and muttered, "Huh? I am a nobody, don't you know? A countryman. What can I give? "
But Aza will only mumble more happily and bury his face deeper. When she did this, Mariam almost fainted with joy. Her eyes will be filled with tears. Her heart will float. Mary Yam was inhuman all her life. She was disheartened for many years, but she found the true feelings in this little creature.
Later, Laila fled with her daughter and Mariam, and was recaptured by Rashid, and three people were abused for this.
Soon Lila will be pregnant and give birth soon. In the new round of political power, the requirements for women are more stringent. Hospitals only look at men and look for hospitals that only accept women or lack medicines. With Mariam's company, Laila gave birth to a son.
Not long after, Rashid's shoe store was burned down and her family became increasingly poor. In the turbulent years, two children are about to starve to death, which Mariam does not want to see. She wanted to ask her rich father for help, but she was told that his father had passed away.
No matter how much Asha cried, she was finally sent to the welfare home by her father. Laila was beaten by police soldiers many times to see her daughter, just because she is a woman without a husband. In order to see her daughter, she wore a thick sweater on a hot day, just to alleviate the pain of being beaten and increase the possibility of seeing her daughter.
? Seeing dear Tariq was unexpected for Lila. Laila, who was beaten by Rashid and lost a tooth, looked shy, and Tariq, whose mouth was cracked, also lost a tooth. The two exchanged hearts and understood that their love did not disappear with the passage of time.
At this time, Tariq knew an important news: Azsha was his daughter. Can't wait to see his daughter. He has made an appointment with Lila to visit Lila in the welfare home the next afternoon.
The meeting with Tariq was finally revealed to Rasheed by Laila's son. Let Mary Yam cry, but Rasheed still chased Laila. Laila was choked to death by Rasheed, and let Mary Yam beat Rasheed, but he just wouldn't let go.
For the first time in 27 years of marriage, Mary Yam sincerely wants to live according to her own ideas: she doesn't want anyone to take Lila away! In order not to be killed by Rashid, she killed Rashid with a shovel.
Laila begged Mariam to run away with her, and if Mariam wanted, Laila would do anything for her. Mary Yam calmly refused. She really wants to watch Asha grow up and help Asha look after the children, but she wants to make Lila happy. Because she wants to make sure that Lila can be rescued in her own way.
So far, Laila has never seen Mariam again.
The arrested Mariam refused to meet anyone. In prison, she became the only prisoner arrested for killing her husband, and also became the big sister in the hearts of women in prison. They were very kind to her.
She dreamed that her father was finally willing to drive to pick her up. She dreamed that she and her godfather Mullah were walking on the grassy banks. She also dreamed that outside the mud house where she was born, a mother was calling her home for dinner. She hopes to meet Lila and sit down with her for a cup of tea or some cookies.
At the last moment of the execution ground, she had no regrets and fears, and her heart was full of peace.
She thought of her status in this world, the illegitimate daughter of Hamila born to a humble farmer, something that people didn't want, and a pitiful and regrettable accident. A weed. However, when she is about to leave this world, she is a woman who has given and accepted love. She passed away as a friend, companion and guardian. As a mother. After all, she became an important person in the eyes of others. No, it's not a bad way to die, Mariam thought. It's not that bad. For a life that started illegally, this is a legal end.
For Mariam, death is also a relief.
Laila, who married Tariq abroad, will never forget Mariam. Finally, their family returned to Kabul.
Laila came to the village where Mary Yam lived as a child. Under the guidance of Mullah's son, Laila found the mud house where Mary Yam once lived. She closed her eyes and felt the way of life of Mary Yam. When she opened her eyes, she was in tears.
Before leaving the village, Mullah's son gave Lila a box, which Mariam's father gave to Mullah to help Mariam keep it before he died. After the Mullah died, he gave it to his son for safekeeping. Now that Mariam is dead, the Mullah's son thinks it is appropriate to give it to Laila.
Laila took three things in the box: a letter, a purse and a video tape.
The video is Pinocchio made by Disney. My father promised to take Mariam to his own cinema when I was a child, but I never made it.
?
? Father's letter to Mariam is more like an old man's awakening after years of war and the death of his loved ones, and his regret for his daughter Mariam, who is heavily in debt. The confession letter so late made me burst into tears and my voice choked, so I couldn't read it. I also fully understand that the old man found Mariam's home before his death, but Mariam refused to see him.
Mariam's life is too miserable. This confession is too late. . . This regretful fatherly love came too late. . . The child recognized as the lawful father came too late. . . It's too late to apologize now. Mary Yam regretted it before the execution, thinking about what her father might say to herself if he didn't refuse to visit him in Kabul. She wants to know. But a dead father is better than nothing, right?
The letter explained that the money in the cowhide bag belonged to my father, and sold the rest of the land and left Mary Yam her inheritance.
I can feel that my father still likes Mariam, but in the traditional patriarchal society, face and fame make my father's love mixed with hypocrisy.
This story happened in Afghanistan around 2000. Incredibly, in such a fast-changing, progressive, affluent and peaceful world, we enjoy education, family warmth and all the unrestrained life. It is unimaginable that somewhere in the world, a country called Afghanistan is still at war, where there are deaths, riots, deaths, refugees, jihad, Taliban and regime change. . . Until today, the status of women in Afghanistan is still underground, and many areas still need to wear burqa that can only show their eyes. In fact, the eyes are still separated by a layer of yarn. Women can't go to work, can't be seen by people other than their husbands, and are beaten and scolded by their husbands in the street. . . Wait a minute. Ignorance still exists today.
Mariam represented many women in Afghanistan at that time, and also represented some Afghan women now.
Mary Yamshun's simple body contains noble qualities, which come from faith and herself. This quality is like oxygen hidden in the air, like blood hidden in the body, everywhere. This is a belief that neither Rasheed nor the Taliban can destroy. Finally, this kind of thing also helped Mary Yam's liberation and Laila's rescue.
Mariam is in Laila's heart, where she shines like a thousand suns.
Can a thousand brilliant sunshine dispel the darkness brought by the smoke in Afghanistan? Only love can let us see this brilliant sunshine.