SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2024
FARHEEN SHAH
I see the sister next to me, devotedly praying her taraweeh (congregational prayers), but weeping profusely. I ask myself, "Is her agony much greater than my grief and despair"? "Is she in more need than me for forgiveness from her Lord, for succour and alleviation of her pain"?
I immediately see the verses of the Holy Quran flashing into my mind "We will surely test you with something of fear, hunger, loss of health and lives, but give glad tidings to the steadfast (Baqarah 155-157).
My self-introspection in Ramadan has impelled me to dedicate this article to every sister, who has been walking on this face of this earth. Sisters who are toiling this Ramadan to surpass their tribulations, endeavouring to assemble the shattered pieces of their hearts and souls.
Ramadan the most awaited period in a person's life is that light that can illuminate the sisters who have already lost hope in themselves. Every sister knows well where her shoe pinches. She knows how her gruesome circumstances have made her numb. She knows how she has been left aloof amidst so much hue and cry. She knows how she has been betrayed and forbidden in her marriage, where she had given her heart and soul out. One has engulfed the bitter truth, that she cannot make sujood. As her body fails to do so, her ailments progressing and her muscles deteriorating at the tick of the clock. Despite of so much combating, yet she wears a gleaming smile. Consoling herself that her Lord will accept her distorted endeavours.
I write out this trivial piece, in an effort to conjure the fallen spirits of a sister who cries every night to her Creator, pleading to answer her queries. To a sister who has been sanctioned her death certificate from her doctor, breathing her last few moments. To a sister who has been relentlessly craving for a baby for years, yet has to endure probing comments from the ignorant. To a sister who has miscarried and felt like a piece of her heart been uprooted and snatched away from her. Moreover to the sister, who has lost the apple of her eyes. Her near and dear ones, whom she covets to see just one last time. To tell them how much she loves them, loved them or how much she could have loved them!
The sister away from her family, undergoing gruelling treatment of cancer and wishing for death, as her pain is beyond endurance. The sister who has shed her sweat out to shield her modesty. The sister who has been widowed, yet flapping her wings in buoyancy in her turbulent storms. That precious sister, who has been divorced for a fault she is unaware, devastated, crawling to get back on her feet, one step at a time. My heart earnestly goes out to the sisters in Syria who have pulled up their socks and resolved, "We shall not lose hope in the mercy of Allah". The sisters in the refugees who at the cost of their lives, have been deterrent in not letting their children go asleep hungry every night.
My dear sisters, our grievances may be mountain high, but we must remember the ayat from our Quran: "Verily in the remembrance of Allah, do the hearts find rest"! Solace and relief is near, if we truly believe in his Divinity. He is the best of Planners. Who knows our needs before we can know it ourselves. He is Ar Rahman, the One who can confer upon you ease, who can relieve the futile burdens you are weighing on your heart and souls. We must remind ourselves that our religion ‘lslam’ gives us the prerogatives above any other man. We hold the utmost throne as queens of our homes. And for our steadfastness, know that humongous reward awaits us in Jannah, a place of eternal bliss, devoid of such nakbas which we are undergoing now.
This temporary life will come to an end at the blink of an eye. So hold on to Allah, in the darkest hours of your life. When you feel, the entire world has deserted you. But with firm resolution, that we are too important, for Our Rabb to be forgotten by Him.
These thoughts are a strong reminder, to myself first, that we can never sense the pain of others, unless we intervene in their lives. As the saying says, "The grass is always greener on the other side". But my elder sister nails it well by saying, "Because the grass is superficial and deceiving".
As we proceed further in this blessed month, let us all take an oath to be more benevolent, to mitigate someone's anguish where we can, and to remain more steadfast. Walk out of your house like a shepherd and help someone's soul heal. A smile and a kind gesture to an ailing sister, could be that rekindling hope, she has been seeking all her life. Love you all my sisters for sake of Allah.
