My Ramblings

1.1.2021

 

Page one, 2021. Another 364 pages to plough through till the year ends. God willing, Insha Allah we will all reach there. Well, not all of us .  Some will  bow out , the numbers we are not certain  of. Who amongst us will make it , only Allah knows.  Its Allah’s work. We don’t’t know what lies ahead, what’s in store for us. We can all plan, but Allah knows what is in store for us .

 

Indeed your Lord is the Doer of what He wills (Quran 11:107) 

 

When I was working, both at schools and at the training institute, strategic planning, tactical planning were  the order of the day for the heads of schools , for the teacher in the classroom. The input, the output / expected results and the contingency plans are all well mapped out. We make predictions on how many of our students are going to make it , how many topscorers, the average and those who below average.Sometimes what we planned worked to the letter T, sometimes not. So we have the postmortem… what went wrong. What need to be improved on etc. 

 

But if only that personal planner that is determined by the Almighty is given to us on the day we were born, wouldn’t  it be wonderful. To be able  to know what lies ahead, what’s in store. What age we will die and how we will die. 

But it is  not how things works. 

 

“And He created all things and determined them in full determination” (Quran 25:2)

 

Looking back to 2020, how many us ever imagined that the whole  world one day wake  up to the fact that a microscopic organism would rule the world and cause the whole world to literally shut down . Total choas. While the majority of us acknowleged that we need to do something about it, listen to the scientists , there are others who think it is all a hoax. Be it a hoax or a reality, at the end of the day, it is Allah who created this microorganism, not man. It is Allah who decides what is to happen and what will happen.

 

“Indeed your Lord is the Doer of what He wills” (Quran 11:107) 

“He is the Doer of what He wills “(Quran 85:16)

 

This means that everything in existence occurs because Allah wills it to be. 

 

So let us stay patient in these hard times. One of the best remedies for tough times is to be patient. It requires that we do not resort to complaining , but remember Allah often. We know from the Quran that when we remember Allah in good times, Allah will help us in tough times. We learn that lesson from the story of Prophet Yunus (peace be upon him) when he was swallowed by a whale.. Out of His mercy, Allah finally relieved him out of that calamity. He tells us in the Quran: “Had he not been of them who glorify Allah, he would have indeed remained inside its belly( the fish) till the Day of resurrection”( Quran 143:144)

 

And as the pandemic continues, let us continue with our  Muslim practice of quarantines in the form of lockdown, self-isolation and physical distance. And InSha Allah, with Allah's help we may find a vaccine to slow down the effect of this micro-organisms on us. 

 

The Holy Prophet (pbuh) said, “If you hear of an outbreak of plague in a land, do not enter it; but if the plague breaks out in a place while you are in it, do not leave that place”(Bukhari,#5728). He also said, “Do not graze a sick herd with a healthy one,( or, Do not put a sick patient with a healthyperson ‘( Bukhari #5771;Muslim.#2221)

 

The Quran relates, “he has succeeded who purifies it”(Quran91:9): “Truly, Allah loves those who keep themselves clean (Quran 2:222): ‘clean your garments ‘(Quran 74:4)

 

The Prophet (pbuh) emphasized and elaborated on this in several Hadith: “cleanliness is half of faith” ( Muslim, Hadith #223): “ No salat is accepted without Wudu’( Muslim,##433). The prophet urged hygiene and handwashing, even cleaning nasal cavities every morning. 

 

Praise be to Allah. 

 

Allah has decreed everything that happens in the universe according to His prior knowledge and the dictates of his wisdom.  This is al-Qadar.

 

May Allah protect and heal those that are in pain, help those who are in need, make it easy for those suffering, and guide those who are lost. 

 

 Ya Allah, I know this is your plan, please help me through it. Aamiin