By: Romana Akhtar
When the air around you becomes suffocating and you find it hard to breathe.
When you can’t make sense of what’s happening around you and everything that you thought made sense goes awry.
When relationships become sour…when you lose your sense of right and wrong.
When the people you know, wore a cloak of righteousness change….Where do you go? Whom do you rush to? How do you make sense in a senseless world?
There is so much confusion and panic. Where do you find your peace?
In a sujood…In quiet moments of reflection, when the world fades away with all its cacophony and tiresome jokes.
Who do you lean on, when you are too tired to stand, and cannot carry the load any more that is weighing down your shoulders pushing you to the ground?
What was the worry of this dunya that drove my Prophet (PBUH) in the lonely solitude of the cave of Hira.
Did his thoughts also squander in the quagmire of events happening around him?
Was his heart also that fragile that it felt shattered at the cruelty he saw around him…Was the noise too much?
What did he seek in those lonely hours by himself, looking far into the horizon …feeling the soft breeze caressing his skin?
Did it comfort him and take away his worries, uplifting him with hope that better days would come and everything would be alright.
From where did he get the courage to get up and move forward, not just for himself, but all those who were down and trodden…trampled under the hardships of life?
How did he become a beacon of light that showed and enlightened the dark pathways of this life?
How did he become a mercy to not just mankind, but jinns and animals too.
What was it that changed him… “Allah chooses to Himself those whom He pleases, Allah chooses to Himself those whom He pleases, and guides towards Him those who turn (to Him)” Surah Shuara ,Verse 13.
When the going gets tough and the load that is breaking your back; these moments of solitude are a welcome relief to go back to Allah and lay our soul bare exposing to Him our utter weakness and helplessness in the greater scheme of things.
It is only Allah (SWT)who heals and fixes things. You alone we worship and you alone we ask for help.(Surah Fatiha)
Never fail to trust a known God in an unknown world. In these times we must renew our complete trust in Allah and rely on Him completely as the best disposer of affairs. “And put thy trust in Allah, and enough is Allah as a disposer of affairs” Surah Ahzab, Verse 3. a disposer of affairs” Surah Ahzab, Verse 3.
By Romana Calgary ( AB)
