BaKhabar, November 2012, Page-9 [You Don’t Have to See the Whole Staircase + The Child who Brought an Open Umbrella for Prayer]

You Don’t Have to See the Whole Staircase

- - By Faiza Asad*

I felt a thrill of excitement when I received the email inviting us to write and share interesting information or stories related to the most beautiful book on earth— the Quran. Thank-you for this opportunity to promote the understanding of the Quran!
I would like to share my own story. I have never been a practicing Muslim; I spent my thirty years of life wasting time in activities like music and watching movies, far from my real purpose of life.
One incident changed my life and brought me closer to the Quran. About four years ago I was in the process of studying for my teaching career when I became very sick. I couldn’t eat properly for two weeks and my fever wouldn’t subside. Alhamdulillah, I recovered physically, but I found a great restlessness in my soul and heart. I had no idea what was going on with me because there was no one to guide me.
My aunt gave me a book of the prophet's duas for peace. I kept it with me. One day I felt that same helpless feeling of restlessness; I started reading those duas and instantly found peace.
My next goal was to read and understand the glorious Quran. I found some Quran classes, a quick review of the whole Quran that lasted for three months. Those three months were the best time of my life. They changed my whole outlook on life and convinced me that this world is nothing but deception.

My life was never the same again. I started praying five times a day and wearing hijab. But I was still apprehensive; still a slave to my nafs, I thought of my career and other worldly desires. This was due to my weak iman and the lack of support I received (you won't find too many people supporting or encouraging you to be attached to the Quran). I wanted to embrace the Quran and make it my only purpose in life, to leave my job and other worldly desires, but was I strong enough? No! I wasn’t! After lot of thinking and advice from other people, I chose to continue with my job.
During my three years of working I once considered taking off my hijab, but my Lord was with me. I was, and still am, such a sinner, but Allah never leaves our sides.
As time passed I began to see the harsh face of reality at work— the dual personalities, the backbiting, etc. I would be so drained by the end of the day that I had no time for my home, my kids, the Quran, or religious duties. I realized that in order to fulfill the responsibilities God had assigned to me I had to leave my job.
After I resigned things were not easy; Allah tested me. For a long time I didn’t know where to start, but then I started praying to Allah to give me hidaya, to keep me on a straight path, and to make me do things that were pleasing to Him. This required constant effort and hard work. Many prayers for the right path and constant connection with the Quran are what helped me sail through. The Quran brought a soothing comfort to my heart every time I read it.
I want those who are struggling to find the straight path of Allah to know that the journey is tough but truly worth it. Yes, you have to give up a lot of things to attain Allah's pleasure, but you never know how much time you’ve been allotted on this earth. Jannah is a special place, and you have to work hard to enter it, as if trying to gain admission to a top-notch university.
How do you work to enter Jannah?
Don’t put your main purpose in life behind you, thinking you have a lot of time and can do it later.
Spend every moment in obedience to our Creator.
Keep going and never look back.
Take small steps toward the only ultimate success. You don’t have to see the whole staircase— just take the first step and keep on praying.
Set your goals and priorities.
Be positive and hopeful of Allah. (Allah said, Whoever’s main concern is the concern of the hereafter, Allah will take care of his worldly affairs and all that is worrying him.)
If you fail a hundred times, try again a hundred times to get up. (If you give up, you can’t get up!)
Stand up for what you believe in, even if you're standing alone.
Don't ever forget that Allah is beside you.
I pray for all Muslims who are struggling in the path of Allah that you’ll never give up— keep going slowly and steadily and Insha’Allah you’ll reach your destination.
Source: http://understandquran.com/

The Child who Brought an Open Umbrella for Prayer

… By Professor Nazeer Ahmed

The rains failed again that year. It was the third year in succession when there was no rain. The crops had disappeared and the land was a brown swath of dusty rubble. Trees had lost their leaves years ago and stood out like silhouettes of cactus on the dusty horizon. There was a stream that skirted the village in years bygone. Now the riverbed was dry. Where once flowed clean, fresh water from the nearby mountains, there was now a bed of clay, cracked in a checkerboard pattern with gaps as wide as a foot. No one knew what had happened to the birds except for the vultures that circled the town, looking for a carcass or two of an animal that was left dying.
There was famine in the land. People walked around like sticks, sans flesh, surviving on whatever ration was brought to them by trucks, distributed by charities, located in far-away lands.
Desperate for help, the people of the village held a meeting under a big banyan tree that was as old as the village. “Let us pray”, said an elderly man. “Only God can help us now’
There lived people of many faiths in the village. There was a temple, a church and a mosque, each belonging to a different group. There ensued a big debate as to where to hold the prayer- in a temple, a mosque or a church. Each community pressed its respective position. There was no consensus. Exhausted, they decided that each group would go to its own place of worship and beseech the Almighty for rain.
The faithful decided to hold their prayer in the open, late that night, under the open sky, away from the town. It was a full moon night and the moon shone with its alluring brightness against a background of shimmering stars. The men gathered in a field by the river. The mullah was there with his white turban and so were the kazi and the muezzin. And there were the men who at one time were considered rich by virtue of the cattle, sheep, orchards and cultivated land they owned.
As the men formed neat rows for prayer, a child came running from the town, holding high an open umbrella over his head. Huffing for breath, he stood in the back row, umbrella still unfurled. The men could not but help turn around and wonder what was going on. Some were curious; others were annoyed because the umbrella created space between their shoulders where there should be none.
At last the mullah admonished the child. “Why did you bring the umbrella, O foolish child!” said the mullah to the child. “Don’t you see there is no rain and we have come here to pray for rain? Only a foolish one would stand on a clear night like this with his umbrella open”.
“Yes”, said the child. “I came to pray too. I am certain my prayer will be answered and it will rain. I have complete faith in God. That is why I brought my umbrella.”

News Photo: Indian Muslim children huddle under an umbrella after…

The mullah was dumb founded. The men had a sense of shame. Each one looked to his right and to his left and then he looked inside his own soul for that certainty of faith that was absent.
Who was the teacher here and who was the pupil? If you pray for rain, you must have certainty in your heart that it will rain.
“Verily! Through the passage of time
Humankind is at loss
Except such as those
Who have certainty of faith…”. (The Qur’an)

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