Letters To My Precious Mother... (5)

    
Corn fields of Dammaj

Well now that we had arrived & rejoicing with my son (who I had not seen for over 1 ½ years), I asked Allaah to strengthen me and make this transition easy amidst so much of mixed emotions, new country, culture etc. Hmm.. No matter how disciplined or strong or how much will power we have, in truth without exception, in all instances, every human being is dependent upon Allaah’s protection and Mercy. We need Him.. He doesn’t need us!

Words of wisdom of my teacher and dearest friend Umm Aslam as-Saylaani came to my mind: ‘Life is problem solving… you solve one problem and thereafter get ready to solve the next, so box on with life!’ How true.. our solar batteries in the house were both being temporarily revived after a sudden death. There are no guarantees for anything indeed! SubhanaAllaah! A simple incident like this shows how very very much we are dependent on our Lord for EVERYTHING! The house that we moved in was supposed to have solar panels which supplied electricity and the batteries seemed to have died before the 5 year warranty period was over! It is not even 3 years and these fellows are dying! Does it have to happen now, as we arrived? What a welcome! 

Well, what is the best thing to do at this point in time when my Panic alarm bells were sounding all over me? Where do I pack and run?? In Sri Lanka of course, I’d pack and go to my mother’s place until the water supply was attended to or electrical circuits were repaired… one rush from my home to my Mum’s in a Tuk Tuk or my brother would pick us up.. but here where do we go? What are we going to do for electricity? Without electricity there will be no water??

    

This is when I appreciated the value of Ilm. Ilm played a MAJOR role indeed as my advisor, companion, comforter, guide! Alhamdulillaah I focused on why I was TRULY here in Dammaj, traveled all this distance from my home… for what purpose…? I had to RELY on Allaah (azzawajal) and Him ALONE to get through all the obstacles! I realized that it was Sabr, sabr (patience) and then Ihtisaab (hoping for the reward of Allaah) is what is needed in my situation.  

I had read recently that the sabr (patience) we exercise will place the slave in the ma’eeyah of Allaah, subhanahu wa ta’ala (i.e., Allaah will be with him), as confirmed by Allaah’s  statement: {Allaah is with those who are patient}. This is a special ma’eeyah, one of support, help, and it is more special than the general ma’eeyah: {He is with you wherever you are}. This is the general ma’eeyah, as for the special ma’eeyah, it is: {Allaah is with those who are patient}. Likewise, along with this (special) ma’eeyah, Allaah, tabaarak wa ta’aala, has made (the patient one) from those whom He loves: {Allaah loves those who are patient}.

Submit.. submit to the will of Allaah, have patience, hope for the reward of Allaah and ward off the wass-wass of Shaytaan. I was certain that this was a test indeed and that with hardship comes ease and that with hardship comes relief and that Allaah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala), is the One who can remove this adversity and distress by reviving these batteries and NOT the paramedics!! Smile!

“{If Allaah touches us with adversity, there is no remover of it except Him}.” Along with sabr I must have ‘yakeen’ (certainty) that Allaah will bring ease for us soon. And the One who brings ease after hardship i,e, removes the hardship, and lifts the distress is ONLY Allaah, subhaanahu wa ta’aala in ALL situations! Indeed the ones who are successful are those who are patient!!

To be continued bi’ithnillaahi…