In the Heat of the Moment....

“Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.”John Ruskin

It has been swelteringly hot these last few days. The heat is so unbearable that my eyes would become watery. I was just mentioning about it casually to my hubby one day. He pondered on my remark, looked at me solemnly and then replied, “what we are experiencing is just heat on earth and yet we feel that it is unbearable, so can you imagine how the heat in Hell would be?”…errrr…Gulp! Ouch!!!

Sigh! As much as I hate to admit it, he does have a point. I think if we are ever given a glimpse of what kind of heat to expect in Hell, we will not be complaining at all. The thing is I am such a diva when it comes to heat. I am, what people call “Wax Queen” because I melt under the sun. I literally wilt and am practically useless if the heat is too strong for me. I have minimised my whining about the sun and heat considerably over the years but sometimes, ‘in the heat of the moment’, my composure slips. Hey, I am only human, of flesh and blood, I’m made!

The Wise Owl had once told me that nothing is created by chance and nothing happens by co-incidence. God has His own reasons to create everything and everything has its own purpose.

“He cannot be questioned for His acts, but they will be questioned (for theirs).”

Surah Al-Anbiya 21:23

If we think about it, we are pretty hard to please. When it rains every day we complained about the rain and getting wet but when it is hot, we also bemoaned about the weather being too hot. Luckily Malaysia only has 2 types of weather i.e. rain or shine. Imagine if we have 4 seasons weather like UK then, our list of grouses will be so much longer!

When I stopped and thought about it, I realised that I am actually fortunate, despite whatever weather God sends down to earth. When it is hot like it is now, I can still shade in my house and hibernate in an air conditioned room. If it rains, I can still run for shelter and sit comfortably, sipping coffee, whilst smelling the fresh air. We do not have typhoon or earthquake or tornado or other severe weather conditions, unlike in other countries. However hot it may be, we are still the lucky ones.

            The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:

“Do not curse the wind. If you dislike what you see of it, then say, “O Allah, we ask You for the good of this wind and the good of what is in it and the good of what it is ordered to do. We seek refuge with You from the evil of this wind and the evil of what is in it and the evil of what it is ordered to do.”

[at-Tirmidhi]

I have read about war torn countries where people, especially children, die due to severe weather conditions. They do not have a proper shelter or adequate protection against the severe condition. Their fate is very much worse than mine.

Like the Wise Owl said, there is always a reason for everything, we just need to open our eyes wider and search for it. If we are lucky, we will be given insight or knowledge as to the reason for its occurrence, but we are not, then it does not mean that we should just sit and whine.

“It was narrated on the authority of Abu Hurayrah, May Allaah Be Pleased with him, that the Prophet SAW,  said: “If the weather is very hot, delay the Zuhr Prayer till it becomes (a bit) cooler because the severity of heat is from the raging of Hell. Hell complained to its Lord saying, ‘O Lord! My parts are eating (burning) one another.’ So Allah Allowed it to take two breaths, one in the winter and the other in the summer. The breath in the summer is at the time when you feel the severest heat and the breath in the winter is at the time when you feel the severest cold.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

 

SubhanAllah! Seriously! After this, whenever I feel like complaining about the weather, I shall remember this Hadith. The severest heat is just Hell letting out a breath!!! What I am experiencing is not even the severest heat. If Hell were to exhale a very deep breath, I know I would be charred or scorched to death!...oooooo just the thought of it is enough to give me nightmares for months…

 

I also found out that severe weather and weather changes are also one of the signs of Qiyamah (Day of Judgment).

 

“Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (way peace be upon him) as saying: The Last Hour will not come before wealth becomes abundant and overflowing, so much so that a man takes Zakat out of his property and cannot find anyone to accept it from him and till the land of Arabia becomes meadows and rivers.”

Sahih Muslim #2208, Kitab Al-Zakat

 

So the moral of the story is,  I should just keep my mouth tightly shut, whatever the weather condition is and be thankful to be alive to experience it….