HIS Subtle Plan

It was sizzling that Friday noon – typical of the gulf summer. I left my house to attend Jumah prayer at the masjid in the next neighborhood. When I started my car, I could see mirage at the end of the road ahead of me. I turned on the AC with desperation. Just as I was about to drive, I saw a man walk pass our lane. He was small, thin and was carrying a couple of grocery bags in both hands. That the bags were very heavy was evident from the stiff and brisk manner of his walk.

He wasn’t from my neighborhood, so I knew he had a long distance to cover to reach his destination on foot. I had a convenient mode of transport. I had shelter from the heat of the blazing sun. I had plenty of space in my car. I wanted to help him; to lighten his load; to shorten his difficult tread; to offer some cool respite from the sweltering air, but, I didn’t. I couldn’t. ‘If only I was a man, or was not alone in my car, ya Allah, I would have assisted your servant,’ I said earnestly in my heart.        

I drove on towards the masjid. My heart still restless and anxious for the man I didn’t help – or couldn’t help – my mind still imagining him walking with his heavy load in the sun. ‘Ya Allah, you know what is in my heart and you know my intention and limitation,’ I conversed with All-Hearer.

The nagging feeling didn’t go away. I reached the neighborhood block where my intended masjid was. About half a km away, I took a turn into the service-lane. Suddenly a black shrouded form caught my side-vision. I don’t know why or what prompted me, but I stopped and reversed till I could see clearly. Dressed from head to toe in a black khimar, was a woman who was walking briskly and purposefully in the direction of the masjid. This was most strange. Women dont usually walk to the masjids here and that too during the middle of the day. Now, I’ve never done this before (i.e. stop or talk to strangers on the streets and offer them a lift), but because I was so conscious about what I was unable to do a couple of minutes ago, I grabbed this opportunity.

I rolled down my tinted window to show her that I’m a female, offered  my salaam and asked if she was heading towards the masjid. She was a bit stunned but replied in the affirmative. I asked her to join me in my car. She readily accepted. In two minutes we were both inside the masjid, alhumdullilah.

She was thankful for the lift. I had another Being to offer gratitude to. So overwhelmed was I that I had to offer the sajda as-shukr (prostration of thankfulness). I was in awe of how Allah listened to the words of my heart that didn’t even reach the tongue. I was touched by how beautifully HE removed my restlessness by providing me with another viable opportunity. Never before have I seen women, in this area, walking to the masjid during the day time. HE created this situation for me.

We are all expertly woven with each other in a complex network, spreading outwards and inwards, merging, entangling, so that the path taken by one, opens the way for another and subsequently opens the heart of yet another. And the intricate chain continues to link our lives according to HIS master plan i.e. destiny.

I realized then, the meaning of His Name – Al-Lateef.  The Most-Subtle, the Most Considerate. One whose knowledge encompasses all the secret and hidden matters and HE understands the most subtle things. The One Who is Kind to his believing servants, guiding them to that which would benefit them and taking care of their interests through means that they are not even aware of.        

That unknown man, that stranger woman and I did not begin our day knowing how we would affect each other. But Al-Lateef knew and planned.

Alhumdullilah.

Mum’s Birdy Legacy

My mother never throws away left-over or old bread. The idea of food landing in the bin is heart-breaking to us all. We would rather that it be consumed by any living creature than go to waste. Every day my mother collects the stale bread, tears them into small pieces or crushes the hard ones into crumbs, places them in flat open containers and carries them out in the back yard along with a water can. She pours water in the tray containing bread pieces to let them soak and soften. The dry crumbs are left as they are. Along side these two, she places a bowl of water.

This is food for the birds. And this has been regular practice for years. As a result, everyday literally hundreds of birds visit us in two-shifts to partake in the feast. The Laughing Doves relish the big moist pieces while the flocks of House Sparrows peck on the crumbs. The Red & Blue Vented Bulbuls stake claim to both ‘dishes’. Occasionally, the Hoopoe, Parakeet, Common Myna & Tree Pipits also drop by to grace the banquet with their presence, if only for the water.

Our mornings and afternoons are infused with the chirps & twitter of ‘mum’s birds’, as we call them. By evening, the trays are empty. For my mother, this is her way of earning ajr from Allah. Any deed, however small, that serves or benefits the creatures of God is reward-worthy.

Recently, my mother had to travel for a few days. I was sitting by the window checking my email when I turned to peek outside. The contrast of the scene struck me. The place was deserted. ‘Mum’s birds’ weren’t there. Obviously, why would they come if there is nothing for them? I was saddened and felt guilty. I wondered where they must’ve flown to searching for food that day after being used to coming here. I went to the kitchen, took out the previous day’s bread from the fridge & did what I had seen my mother do all these years. I didn’t want mum’s birds to go away.

 As I went out to place the container of bread & water, I prayed to Allah that He would accept this act on my mother’s behalf. I was but only a follower; she had initiated the practice. Alhumdullilah, the birds returned by afternoon & our backyard once again resounded with the chirrups of those lively creatures.  

It is from the Mercy & Generosity of Allah that HE not only rewards us for our good action, but also accounts and rewards for the deeds of others who we inspire. Whether we are aware of it or not, present or absent, living or dead, if we inspired or initiated a good deed to be followed by others, we continue to reap the benefits of that repeating action. The impressions & traces of our actions continue to be counted for us.

إِنَّا نَحْنُ نُحْىِ الْمَوْتَى وَنَكْتُبُ مَاَ قَدَّمُواْ وَءَاثَارَهُمْ وَكُلَّ شىْءٍ أَحْصَيْنَـهُ فِى إِمَامٍ مُّبِينٍ

“Verily, We give life to the dead, and We record that which they send before (them), and their traces, and all things We have recorded with numbers (as a record) in a Clear Book. (Quran 36:12)

Prophet Muhammad (Sallullahualaihiwassullm) said:

“(Whoever starts (or sets an example of) something good in Islam, will have a reward for it, and a reward equal to that of everyone who does it after him, without that detracting from their reward in the slightest.”  [Muslim]      

Let us look at the legacy we want to leave behind.

Read ‘Lasting Impressions’ to learn about some of the wonderfully inspiring examples of impressions people are leaving around them.