“The servant will continue to be tried until he is left walking upon the earth without any sin.”

[Sunan al-Tirmidhī 2398, Grade: Sahih]

It’s 4:30pm on a Friday afternoon. I have just come off the phone to a counselling service. I never thought I would ever need the assistance of a counselling service in my life. I always saw myself as a jolly old fellow who didn’t let the worries of the world get on top of him. But this was different. This wasn’t a worry that was bothering me. This was an addiction that was killing me. Killing me inside, slowly. Killing my soul and breaking down all of the defence barriers that it has to ward off such evils from oneself.

On the way home that evening there was only one thought on my mind. That thought was my wife. The only woman in my life that has stood besides me through all of my trials, through sun, rain and snow, through thick and thin. She has remained faithful to me in spite of all the pain that I have caused her. I love her dearly but I fear the day that she decides she has had enough and decides to leave me. That will be the day that the world ends for me as there will be no purpose to live any longer. What good is a life without your lover beside you, your partner being there to hold your hands, your companion to share your days and nights with?

I entered the house to picture the beautiful scene inside. The most picturesque scene that anyone could wish to see. There she was in all her glory, my wife, surrounded by my three children, sitting on the living room sofa reading to them from our collection of children’s books.

I stood in the hallway for a while just staring. I realised how careless it was of me to have jeopardised all of this for the sake of something so shallow and hollow. She looked back at me and smiled as I stood there gazing towards her. That same smile that she had the very first time that we met. That same smile to which I fell in love those many years ago.

“Aren’t you going to come in?” she said, looking away from the book and the kids for a moment.

I put down my bag and entered the room, grateful to God that He had blessed me with another day in her company. I said I silent prayer as I walked up to her and kissed her and the children. “May God keep us together, may this love last forever, please oh Lord, grant us our ‘happily ever after.’”

God only knows how much she deserves that ‘happily ever after.’ She has faced so much trouble in her life since marrying me it’s amazing that she can still stand strong and proud and is able to take on each day as it comes.

If anyone deserves a ‘happily ever after,’ it’s her.

To be continued …

©Islamopdia – Written anonymously, ‘Confessions of a Serial Cheater’ is a collaboration between Islamopedia and others to raise awareness of the issue of infidelity in marriage. Although the characters and the narrative are fictional, the story is based on true events and reflects the pain that many women (and men) have to suffer due to the selfish actions of one partner. The purpose of this series is to stop anyone engaged in such activity before it’s too late and deter anyone thinking of committing such a sin before they fall into it. NB: Anyone having trouble in their relationships should seek professional help from qualified scholars and counsellors.