Fifth Story: The faraway travel
My wife told me the following real life story related to her by one of her friends.
I did not care much about covering up my modesty, or performing my prayers in their proper times. On the other hand, my sister used to perform all her religious duties, and observe Tahajjud (mid- night prayer) and other nafl (optional) acts of worship. Many a night I woke up late and heard her voice reciting the Holy Qur’an, or performing prayers. I remember how several times she found me watching video movies, and reading Art magazines at the time of prayers, she smiled and said: Dearest sister, why are you wasting your time watching these low level movies instead of performing your duties?
Didn’t you read the saying of the All-High:
(كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ وَ إِنَّمَا تُوَفَّوْنَ أُجُورَكُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ ..) سورة آل عمران 185:3
(Every soul shall have a taste of death: And only on the Day of Judgement shall you be paid your full recompense …) “Qur’an 3:185”
She continued: Why don’t you heed Allah’s warnings? Don’t you believe that you are going to die? At that point I replied that I was still young and have all my life ahead of me, and that Allah is The Most Merciful, Most Beneficent. I can not forget her answer for the rest of my life; she said: Dearest sister, our life span is in the hands of Allah. Who can guarantee you that you are going to survive your current year? I am not sure that I will survive the next few seconds! My long trip may start very soon. You and I should be prepared for such a trip. Imagine what you will do if someone asked you to prepare yourself for a tourist trip abroad! The least that you will do is to make sure that you have a valid passport. Our long trip is no less important than such a trip. In fact it is the most important trip we will ever encounter. I started weeping then, and asked her to stop scaring me about her tales of death; was it not enough that I was scared of the dark? She would then try to soothe me and would say: I am not trying to scare you; all I want you to do is to remember that we are all leaving sooner or later. Remember that our ultimate destiny is either hell or heaven, and remember the saying of All-High:
(...فَمَن زُحْزِحَ عَنِ النَّارِ وَأُدخِلَ الجَنَّةَ فَقَدْ فَازَ ... ) سورة آل عمران 185:3
(… Only he who is save Far from the Fire and admitted to the Garden will have succeeded…) Qur’an 3:185
Less than a year after that discussion, my sister contracted cancer and died. I remember when I was talking to her on her death bed she told me: Pray for me dearest sister, my trip is far away and my supplies are limited; now I know the true meaning of the saying of the Exalted:
( وَالَتفَّتِ السَّاقُ بِالسَّاقِ ، إِلى رَبِّكَ يَوْمَئِذٍ الْمَسَاقُ ) سورة القيامة 75 : 30-29
(And one leg will be joined with another: that Day the Drive will be [all] to thy Lord!) Qur’an 75: 29-30
I was devastated at first; I cried until there were no more tears in my eyes. My tears were shed over my lost days, rather than over my dead sister. I was really sorry for the days which I wasted without performing my ordained prayers, I was really sorry for the times which I spent going out without properly covering my modesty. At that stage I repented to Allah a true and proper repentance.
to be continued ensha'Allah