“He
Who created Death and Life, that He may try which of you is best in deed: and
He is the Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving;-
Surah
Al-Mulk 30:2
Yesterday,
was truly a sad and also a blessed day. It started out with me receiving news
that one of the sisters had lost her 4th baby. Going through
miscarriage is tough for any mother but to go through it four times, is
something else. Still, this sister accepted her fate and believes that God has
better plans for her. She is comforted by the fact that her unborn baby will be
waiting for her in Jannah and will intercede for her on Judgment day.
The Messenger of Allah, peace and
blessings of Allah upon him, said, "Indeed the miscarried fetus will
confront his Lord if He enters his parents into the Fire. So it will be said to
him, "O fetus which confronts his Lord! Enter your parents into Paradise."
So he will drag them by his [umbilical] cord until he enters them into
Paradise."
[Ibn Majah]
The Messenger of Allah, peace and
blessings of Allah upon him, said, "By the One in Whose hands is my soul,
the miscarried fetus will drag his mother to paradise by his [umbilical] cord
if she was patient [with the miscarriage], hoping to be rewarded."
[Ahmad]
The
physical labor pain that this sister endured when she miscarriaged in fact will
expiate her sins, In shaa Allah. Surprisingly, there were no tears from her,
just a smile that indicated she was at peace and have put her entire trust in God Al
Mighty.
“ Narrated 'Aisha: (the wife of
the Prophet) Allah's Apostle said, "No calamity befalls a Muslim but that
Allah expiates some of his sins because of it, even though it were the prick he
receives from a thorn."
Sahih Bukhari
After
receiving news about death, I later witnessed a ‘re-birth’.
Later that evening, I was blessed to be able
to witness a brother reciting his shahada. It was truly a surreal experience! This
brother, brother R, have been studying about Islam and last night, God had
opened his heart to accept Islam unconditionally. Brother R suddenly announced last
night that he wanted to become a Muslim (the way God had planned things,
MasyaAllah!) and Alhamdulillah, the Wise Owl was also present so brother R
recited his shahada in front of the Wise Owl.
While brother R was reciting his
shahada, I felt goose bumps on my skin, and not only that, chicken bumps, duck bumps, turkey bumps, all the bumps that can
exist, I felt it! It was a wonderfully humbling experience. Tears of joy flowed
freely amongst us. The atmosphere was electricfying.
I asked brother R how he felt after.
He told me, “the feeling is indescribable but I feel tremendous joy. I also
feel light as feather and so relieved. It’s wonderful!”. SubhanAllah! The mercy
and blessings from God is indeed mighty and great.
Brother R is like a new born baby,
free from any sins. He has been given a new blank book of deeds. Ooooooo how I
envy him! In fact, I told him that!
“Say
to the Unbelievers, if (now) they desist (from Unbelief), their past would be
forgiven them; but if they persist, the punishment of those before them is
already (a matter of warning for them).
Surah
Al-Anfal 8:38
Hakim
ibn Hizam said to the Prophet SAW,
"You know that in the days before Islam I used to maintain family ties,
free slaves, and give charity. Will I be rewarded for any of those
deeds?" The Prophet SAW replied,
"You accepted Islam with all the good you did in
the past."
Hadith
- Sahih Bukhari (#70) and Muslim
Narrated
Abu Sa‘îd Al-Khudri Allah’s Messenger said, “If a person embraces Islam
sincerely, then Allah shall forgive all his past sins, and after that starts
the settlement of accounts: the reward of his good deeds will be ten times to
seven hundred times for each good deed, and an evil deed will be recorded as it
is unless Allah forgives it.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Vol.1, Hadith No. 40A).
See! Now
you understand why I truly envy brother R? Who wouldn’t want to have their
slates wiped clean?
According to Islam, children are
born with natural faith in God Al Mighty, which is called ‘fitrah’. A person
who grew up in a different religion and embraces Islam later in life, is known
as ‘reverts’ because they have returned back to the original faith i.e. Islam.
When
thy Lord drew forth from the Children of Adam - from their loins - their
descendants, and made them testify concerning themselves, (saying): "Am I
not your Lord (who cherishes and sustains you)?"- They said: "Yea! We
do testify!" (This), lest ye should say on the Day of Judgment: "Of this
we were never mindful":
Surah
Al-A’raf 7:172
In fact, to me, ‘reverts’ are not
just people who embraced Islam in their later years but also those who were
born a Muslim but never practised. If a person was born a Muslim but have never
lived as one or know anything about Islam, then, they are no different than a
non-Muslim. That is why when a born Muslim, finds his or her way back into Islam
after being strayed, I believe that they too are ‘reverts’. They have returned
to original faith.
Sometime we get too caught up with
trying to share about Islam to the non-Muslims that we tend to forget our own
Muslims brothers and sisters who are in need of help. You see, it would be easy
for a non-Muslim to ask questions about Islam, however silly the questions are,
because people would assume that being non –Muslims, they are ignorant so it is
forgivable but for our Muslims brothers and sisters, they are ashamed to ask
questions for fear of being ridiculed. More often than not, they get statements
like, “how come you don’t know this, you are supposed to be Muslims?” Sometimes
they get taunted for their lack of knowledge. Now this can lead them away from
Islam instead of bringing them closer.
We must understand that each of us is
given different level of knowledge and understanding by God. If a brother or
sister, whose knowledge is less than ours, comes to see us, then it is our duty
to share with them our knowledge. We are in no position to judge them as their
life path is different from ours. They have been sent to us by God for a
purpose and if we turn them away without helping, we will be answerable for our
action on Judgment Day. Remember, EVERYTHING happens for a reason.
So while we celebrate welcoming a
new brother or sister into Islam, do not neglect those who are already Muslims
but lost their way. Sometimes, their stories of their journey back to Islam is
more miraculous………
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