Blog - October 29, 2014

A Meaningful Story


I’m here again. Getting consistent right? *does the victory dance*. I came across this story on Instagram and I thought to share it with you guys. I was very inspired and touched and I learnt some important things which I hope you all would get too. The story goes thus:
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– -A Man Named Rashed (Extremely Heart-Softening! )- –
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This is a true story about a man named Rashed.
He tells his story as follows…
I was not more than thirty years old when my wife
gave birth to my first child. I still remember that
night.
I had stayed out all night long with my friends, as
was my habit. It was a night filled with useless
talk, and worse, with backbiting, gossiping, and
making fun of people. I was mostly the one who
made people laugh; I would mock others and my
friends would laugh and laugh. I remember on that
night that I’d made them laugh a lot. I had an
amazing ability to imitate others – I could change
the sound of my voice until I sounded exactly like
the person I was mocking. No one was safe from
my biting mockery, even my friends; some people
started avoiding me just to be safe from my
tongue. I remember on that night, I had made fun
of a blind man who I’d seen begging in the market.
What was worse, I had put my foot out in front
him – he tripped and fell, and started turning his
head around, not knowing what to say.
I went back to my house, late as usual, and I
found my wife waiting for me. She was in a terrible
state, and said in a quivering voice, “Rashed…
where were you?”
“Where would I be, on Mars?” I said sarcastically,
“With my friends of course.”
She was visibly exhausted, and holding back tears,
she said, “Rashed, I’m so tired. It seems the baby
is going to come soon.” A silent tear fell on her
cheek.
I felt that I had neglected my wife. I should have
taken care of her and not stayed out so much all
those nights… especially since she was in her ninth
month. I quickly took her to the hospital; she went
into the delivery room, and suffered through long
hours of pain.
I waited patiently for her to give birth… but her
delivery was difficult, and I waited a long time until
I got tired. So I went home and left my phone
number with the hospital so they could call with
the good news. An hour later, they called me to
congratulate me on the birth of Salem. I went to
the hospital immediately. As soon as they saw me,
they asked me to go see the doctor who had
overlooked my wife’s delivery.
“What doctor?” I cried out, “I just want to see my
son Salem!”
“First go see the doctor,” they said.
I went to the doctor, and she started talking to me
about trials, and about being satisfied with Allah’s
decree. Then she said, “Your son has a serious
deformity in his eyes, and it seems that he has no
vision.” I lowered my head while I fought back
tears… I remembered that blind man begging in the
market who I’d tripped and made others laugh at.
Subhan Allah, you get what you give! I stayed
brooding quietly for a while… I didn’t know what to
say. Then I remembered by wife and son. I thanked
the doctor for her kindness, and went to go see my
wife. My wife wasn’t sad. She believed in the
decree of Allah… she was content… How often had
she advised me to stop mocking people! “Don’t
backbite people,” she always used to repeat… We
left the hospital, and Salem came with us.
In reality, I didn’t pay much attention to him. I
pretended that he wasn’t in the house with us.
When he started crying loudly, I’d escape to the
living room to sleep there. My wife took good care
of him, and loved him a lot. As for myself, I didn’t
hate him, but I couldn’t love him either.
Salem grew. He started to crawl, and had a
strange way of crawling. When he was almost one
year old, he started trying to walk, and we
discovered that he was crippled. I felt like he was
an even greater burden on me. After him, my wife
gave birth to Umar and Khaled. The years passed,
and Salem grew, and his brothers grew. I never
liked to sit at home, I was always out with my
friends… in reality, I was like a plaything at their
disposal [entertaining them whenever they
wanted].
My wife never gave up on my reform. She always
made du’aa for my guidance. She never got angry
with my reckless behavior, but she would get really
sad if she saw me neglecting Salem and paying
attention to the rest of his brothers. Salem grew,
and my worries grew with him. I didn’t mind when
my wife asked to enroll him in a special school for
the handicapped.
I didn’t really feel the passing of the years. My
days were all the same. Work and sleep and food
and staying out with friends. One Friday, I woke up
at 11 am. This was early for me. I was invited to a
gathering, so I got dressed and perfumed, and was
about to go out. I passed by our living room, and
was startled by the sight of Salem – he was
sobbing! This was the first time I had noticed
Salem crying since he was a baby. Ten years had
passed, and I hadn’t paid attention to him. I tried
to ignore him now, but I couldn’t take it… I heard
him calling out to his mother while I was in the
room. I turned towards him, and went closer.
“Salem! Why are you crying?” I asked.
When he heard my voice, he stopped crying. Then
when he realized how close I was, he started
feeling around him with his small hands. What was
wrong with him? I discovered that he was trying to
move away from me! It was as if he was saying,
“Now, you’ve decided to notice me? Where have
you been for the last ten years?” I followed him…
he had gone into his room. At first, he refused to
tell me why he’d been crying. I tried to be gentle
with him… Salem started to tell me why he’d been
crying, while I listened and trembled.
Do you know what the reason was?! His brother
Umar, the one who used to take him to the masjid,
was late. And because it was Jumu’ah prayer,
Salem was afraid he wouldn’t find a place in the
first row. He called out to Umar… and he called out
to his mother… but nobody answered, so he cried.
I sat there looking at the tears flowing from his
blind eyes. I couldn’t bear the rest of his words. I
put my hand over his mouth and said, “Is this why
you were crying, Salem!”
“Yes,” he said.
I forgot about my friends, I forgot about the
gathering, and I said, “Don’t be sad, Salem. Do you
know who’s going to take you to the masjid
today?”
“Umar, of course,” he said, “… but he’s always
late.”
“No,” I said, “I’m going to take you.”
Salem was shocked… he couldn’t believe it. He
thought I was mocking him. His tears came and he
started crying. I wiped his tears with my hand and
then took hold of his hand. I wanted to take him to
the masjid by car. He refused and said, “The
masjid is near… I want to walk there.” Yes, by
Allah, he said this to me.
I couldn’t remember when the last time I had
entered the masjid was, but it was the first time I
felt fear and regret for what I’d neglected in the
long years that had passed. The masjid was filled
with worshippers, but I still found a place for
Salem in the first row. We listened to the Jumu’ah
khutbah together, and he prayed next to me. But
really, I was the one praying next to him.
After the prayer, Salem asked me for a musHaf. I
was surprised! How was he going to read when he
was blind? I almost ignored his request, but I
decided to humor him out of fear of hurting his
feelings. I passed him a musHaf. He asked me to
open the musHaf to Surat al-Kahf. I started
flipping through the pages and looking through the
index until I found it. He took the musHaf from me,
put it in front of him, and started reading the
Surah… with his eyes closed… ya Allah! He had the
whole Surah memorized.
I was ashamed of myself. I picked up a musHaf… I
felt my limbs tremble… I read and I read. I asked
Allah to forgive me and to guide me. I couldn’t
take it… I started crying like a child. There were
still some people in the masjid praying sunnah… I
was embarrassed by their presence, so I tried to
hold my tears. My crying turned into whimpering
and long, sobbing breaths. The only thing I felt
was a small hand reaching out to my face, and
then wiping the tears away. It was Salem! I pulled
him to my chest… I looked at him. I said to
mysel f… you’re not the blind one, but I am, for
having drifted after immoral people who were
pulling me to hellfire. We went back home. My wife
was extremely worried about Salem, but her worry
turned into tears [of joy] when she found out I had
prayed Jumu’ah with Salem.
From that day on, I never missed the
congregational prayer in the masjid. I left my bad
friends… and I made righteous friends among
people I met at the masjid. I tasted the sweetness
of iman with them. I learned things from them that
distracted me from this world. I never missed out
on gatherings of remembrance [halaqas], or on the
witr prayer. I recited the entire Qur’an, several
times, in one month. I moistened my tongue with
the remembrance of Allah, that He might forgive
my backbiting and mocking of the people. I felt
closer to my family. The looks of fear and pity that
had occupied my wife’s eyes disappeared. A smile
now never parted from the face of my son Salem.
Anyone who saw him would have felt that he
owned the world and everything in it. I praised and
thanked Allah a lot for His blessings.
One day, my righteous friends decided to go to a
far away location for da’wah. I hesitated about
going. I prayed istikharah, and consulted with my
wife. I thought she would refuse… but the opposite
happened! She was extremely happy, and even
encouraged me… because in the past, she had seen
me traveling without consulting her, for the
purpose of sin and evil. I went to Salem, and told
him I would be traveling. With tears, he wrapped
me up in his small arms…
I was away from home for three and a half
months. In that period, whenever I got a chance, I
called my wife and talked to my children. I missed
them so much… and oh, how I missed Salem! I
wanted to hear his voice… he was the only one
who hadn’t talked to me since I’d traveled. He was
either at school or at the masjid whenever I called
them.
Whenever I would tell my wife how much I missed
him, she would laugh happily, joyfully, except for
the last time I called her. I didn’t hear her
expected laugh. Her voice changed. I said to her,
“Give my salam to Salem,” and she said,
“Insha’Allah,” and was quiet.
At last, I went back home. I knocked on the door. I
hoped that it was Salem who would open up for
me, but was surprised to find my son Khaled, who
was not more than four years old. I picked him up
in my arms while he squealed, “Baba! Baba!” I
don’t know why my heart tensed when I entered
the house.
I sought refuge in Allah from the accursed
shaytan… I approached my wife… her face was
different. As if she was pretending to be happy. I
inspected her closely then said, “What’s wrong
with you?” “Nothing,” she said. Suddenly, I
remembered Salem. “Where’s Salem?” I asked. She
lowered her head. She didn’t answer. Hot tears fell
on her cheeks.
“Salem! Where’s Salem?” I cried out.
At that moment, I only heard the sound of my son
Khaled talking in his own way, saying, “Baba…
Thalem went to pawadise… with Allah…”
My wife couldn’t take it. She broke down crying.
She almost fell to the floor, and left the room.
Later, I found out that Salem had contracted a
fever two weeks before I’d returned, so my wife
took him to the hospital… the fever got more and
more severe, and didn’t leave him… until his soul
left his body…

And if this earth closes in on you in spite of its
vastness, and your soul closes is on you because
of what it’s carrying… call out, “Oh Allah!” If
solutions run out, and paths are constricted, and
ropes are cut off, and your hopes are no more…
call out, “Oh Allah.” Allah wished to guide Salem’s
father on the hands of Salem, before Salem’s
death. How merciful is Allah!
Courtesy : @muslimspouses on Instagram

I sincerely hope you have learnt a thing or two from this story. Irrespective of your religion, I think the main intent of the story is to enjoin us to as much as possible reduce or stop the vices we engage in and create a very strong relationship with our God. We should also try as possible not to mock others or feel we are above them because of an obvious deformity. I tagged it obvious deformity because I believe we all have deformities and some of us might think ourselves lucky because our deformities are hidden. It should then not be an avenue to make others feel less of themselves because they don’t have particular abilities we take for granted. This is a reminder to everyone, myself inclusive that we should be more mindful of how we talk and act around others. Think, Reflect, Act.
I’ll be back. BOS

Comments (22)

  1. October 29, 2014

    SubannAllah. Such a touching story. We are all guilty of this one way or another. May Allah guide us all.

  2. October 29, 2014

    Sheedah yes dear. Kolorun shaanu

  3. Anonymous

    October 29, 2014

    Mehn! This is too scary, because I'm also guilty of this, I mock people too.

  4. October 29, 2014

    Don't we all? Only God can help us

  5. halima odoba

    October 29, 2014

    Hmmm…touching story..almost had tears all gushing out..am happy kos he made peace wit salem bfor he passed away.its nt good to mock people wit obvious deformity..kos wat goes around comes around..thanks omotolanie

  6. Tola Badru

    October 29, 2014

    Can we say that the guy got what he deserved. Not trying to judge…..let's all be supportive of the next man. Allah will remain our strength.

  7. October 29, 2014

    Yw Halima. Thanks for dropping by

  8. October 29, 2014

    Yes Tola, Amin. Thanks

  9. October 29, 2014

    Subhanallah! This is poignant I must say!

    May Allah (SWT) guide us to his path and may we never go astray…Amin!!!

  10. October 29, 2014

    Amin. Thanks Jay

  11. Anonymous

    October 29, 2014

    Such a guilty act we all engage in. May Allah guide u arigt

  12. October 29, 2014

    May Almighty Allah reward u for sharing this.. Jazakumullah khairan…. I was touched

  13. Anonymous

    October 29, 2014

    This is disheartening and at the same time a big lesson 2 everyone of us. I av been able to deduce that no one is indispensable before God. Secondly, God does not promise anyone the next breath not to even talk of seeing the next day. It is also salient to note that we should always engage ourselves in issues that are of Paramount importance and not subjecting people to mockery like Mr rasheed. We are all guilty thou. Fundamentally, we should always remember that there are commensurate recompense to all our actions and inactions be it positive or negative. May Allah guide us in our actions and inactions. Amen!

  14. October 29, 2014

    What a touching story!! I almost cried… The story must have taught each one of us one thing or the other. If you do not mock people, then you are probably guilty of not trusting or being close enough to God (Allah). God has a reason for everything that happens to man…. I would think, God gave him the son in order to lead him back to His path, unfortunately, it took him 10 years to realize. May Allah continue to guide us (Amin).

    Thanks, Tola, for sharing. May Allah boost your wisdom (Amin).

  15. October 29, 2014

    Amin

  16. October 29, 2014

    Amin waiyakum. Thanks Mo

  17. October 29, 2014

    Comments so laden with meaning. May God help us to do right

  18. October 30, 2014

    Sighs* ALLAHU Allam. How more deformed can we be, to say that we are not deformed? Even the bible stresses it that we are as filthy rags when we say we are sinless… God got us all!

  19. October 30, 2014

    Yw Tunde. Aamin and you too

  20. October 30, 2014

    Yh God got us. May he keep guiding us right

  21. October 30, 2014

    Subhanallah. This is just to make the obvious clear, we humans should never take anything for granted and to protect our tongues….. and to Him we shall all return. May Allah not inflict us with trials we cannot pass. Ameeen. Very touching story, may Allah bless you for this dear. It's educating and at the same time inspiring. 

  22. November 2, 2014

    Amin Mueyna my beauty queen. Thanks for dropping by

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