Religion Creates no Boundaries in Love

1. Everything’s fair in love… and religion. I uncannily discovered this, or dare I say, through the unexpected love story that I witnessed. It was a lesson that unfolded before my young eyes, challenging the beliefs I had been raised with and opening my mind to the unpredictable nature of love. It was about Aunty Zino.

Aunty Zino lived in the only self-contained apartment in our compound. Single, alone, rich, beautiful, and quiet. She worked with PZ Cussons and loved her hair cropped low on her head. It seemed long flowery gowns caught her fancy because she had many of them and wore different designs to work every day.

My family used free PZ products because of her. She would bring them home sometimes and give them to us. In those moments, we felt rich as we used the Elephant extra detergent, Stella pomade, and Imperial leather soap. We became the happening tenants because of her.

She seemed to like us more than other tenants. for some wonderful reasons, She would come home from work and come over to our flat to gist with Mum, sometimes they would stay on our verandah or hers.

Mum would always invite her to our numerous special church programs and Aunty Zino would accept or decline as she deemed fit. She never returned the favour and never invited us to her church.

Mum would cook on special occasions and include Aunty Zino’s portion which she would serve in one of the big white ceramic plates we owned with matching covers. She would then put it on a tray and ask me or my elder brother to go and give it to Aunty Zino.

That always caused a tiff. We all wanted that golden opportunity to go to Aunty Zino’s apartment. Such visits were always rewarded with money, so my brother and I would fight to go and deliver the food. Those squabbles prompted Mum to create a timetable so we could take turns running such errands.

One day, Aunty Zino came home and told us she was getting married. My mum was elated and told her how much she had been praying for her to meet the bones of her bones. It was not right that she was still single, a beautiful Christian wealthy woman like her.

We were happy for her and jumped on the invitation card she brought later on. It was when we opened the card and read the names that we saw the difference.

Deborah Zino and Ismail Mubarak

Which one is Ismail? Is he a Muslim?

Our questions were left unanswered as we watched Aunty Zino go about her wedding preparations. Mum helped out in any way she could as her wedding fathia drew close.

She indeed married a Muslim. That was the first time I was witnessing a Christian marry a Muslim.

The day she came to pack all her belongings, she told Mum hurriedly, “I know you would be surprised at my decision. I am 43 and not getting any younger. Ismail is the only man who has shown great interest and love for me. I want a husband and children if I can still have them at this age. I want to be a married woman. Don’t worry about the different religions. I will still be a Christian, we will respect each other’s religions and live peacefully. He loves me and I love him too. I think that is all that truly matters.”

My mum only smiled as saw her off to the packing van outside of the gate and waited till it pulled out of our street.

READ ALSO: Embracing Love After Life’s Hardest Trials

About Author

Maryann Ijeoma Nwokoye

Maryann Ijeoma Nwokoye is a creative writer, storyteller and development communicator. She is particular about using her skill in communication to see that this world becomes a better place and for men to turn their spears into ploughshares.

Beyond writing and storytelling, she is enthusiastic about human development. She has also managed programs for Non-governmental organizations that are focused on human development through technology and entrepreneurship.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication and a Master’s degree in Applied Communication (In View) with a core interest in technology and development communication.

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