“‘Why can’t girls be strong and smart?” asked Hannah, innocently.
Samrah Apa’s face turned red; however, being older and more sensible, she stopped herself from reacting. “What makes you think like that?” she asked her politely.
“Ali, Omar, and Hassan were teasing me that I cannot play computer games with them because boys are smarter,” Hannah said with her lips curled up.
“Have you not heard of Arfa Karim, a child prodigy from Pakistan, who became the youngest Microsoft Certified Computer Professional in the world?” Samrah Apa replied with twinkling eyes.
Hannah raised her head to show her interest and asked: “What does the ‘child prodigy’ mean?”
“A ‘child prodigy’ is someone who is so naturally talented at something that they become a master of that particular skill at an age below ten,” answered Samrah Apa. “Arfa passed the computer certificate course from Microsoft, when she was nine, and earned a pilot’s license at the age of ten. Her name was written in the Guinness Book of World Records”.
‘Masha’Allah,” squealed Hannah with excitement. “I want to tell my friends about her.”
“Hurry up girls, grandma is waiting for us!” mother called from downstairs. Both girls ran down and greeted their grandmother with big smile on their faces.
Grandma smiled back and hugged her adorable grandchildren. “Why are you as happy as larks?”
“Samrah Apa was telling me about Arfa Karim. Did you know she could fly a plane at the age of only ten years?”
“The same Arfa Karim, who has a science park in Lahore named after her – the Arfa Software Technology Park?” inquired Grandma with interest.
“Wow, what a wonderful girl! “Hannah could not hide her excitement.
“I remember she was invited by Bill Gates to visit Microsoft headquarters in USA. And upon her return, she became an icon in Pakistan. She was interviewed by various TV channels and invited to various international conferences; she also received awards from the President and Prime Minister of Pakistan.” Grandma sat down, with both girls listening attentively by her side.
“Did you know that Arfa Abdul Karim received the Fatimah Jinnah Gold Medal in the field of science and technology and the Salaam Pakistan Youth Award in 2005? She was also presented with the President’s Award for Pride of Performance. She is the youngest person to be presented with this award.” Mom told the girls, as she served Grandma honey water.
“How many countries did she travel to other than America? Samrah Apa asked Mom.
“The Pakistan Information Technology Professionals Forum in Dubai invited her for a stay of two weeks in Dubai. In 2006, Arfa attended the Tech-Ed Developers conference held in Barcelona on an invitation from Microsoft. She was the only Pakistani among 5000 plus developers in that conference. She was like a famous ambassador of Pakistan, telling the world how intelligent and smart Pakistani youth is!”
“Where is she now, Mom?” asked Hannah innocently.
“At the age of 16, Arfa suffered a heart failure, after uncontrolled shaking movements of the body and loss of consciousness. This epilepsy attack damaged her brain, and she was admitted to Lahore’s Military Hospital in critical condition, where she died on January 14, 2012, at the age of 16. She was buried in her ancestral village near Faisalabad,” Mom told the girls, whose faces became forlorn.
إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ
“We are all going to return to our Creator one day. We belong to Allah (swt) and to Allah (swt) we shall return,” Grandma patted the girls on their cheek to make them feel better. Then she continued:
“Boys and girls are both created different by Allah (swt) for their different roles in life. However, in the eyes of the Creator, the one who does more good deeds is rewarded regardless of them being a boy or a girl. On the Day of Judgement, no injustice will be done to them because of their gender.”
“As a rule, it is piety and only piety that makes a person better, nobler, and closer to Allah (swt): ‘Verily, the most honorable of you in the Sight of Allah is one who has At-Taqwa (persons who fear Allah much, stops himself or herself from all kinds of sins and evil deeds which Allah has forbidden, and loves Allah much).’” (Al-Hujurat 49:13)
Hannah nodded and squealed: “Bhaiyya! Guess what? I have a story to share with you.”
Grandma, Mom, and Samra Apa giggled. They knew the tables had turned. Now it was Hannah’s turn to bug the boys.
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