Earning Pleasure of Allah through Sincerity and Sabr

This 19 year old has no functional limbs and barely has hands. Her name is Rahma Haruna, a resident of Lahdin Makole village, Kano, Nigeria. Her brother carries her around in a plastic bowl for alms.

Photo Credit: Sani Maikatanga

Despite odds, she does not fall short of giving thanks to her family members:

“I am lucky to have very understanding and loving parents. You know I can’t move from where I am kept; it is my brothers, sisters, mother or daddy that are always carrying me around. They are always trying their very best to see that they take care of whatever I want and this has run for the last 19 years.

If one observes closely, our sister Rahma is teaching us three important lessons:

#1. Smile‬, despite odds. Do not self-pity.

Saying is easy and practicing is tough. We know. But if you look at the Seerah of our Prophet (pbuh), he went through lot of struggles in his life ― almost all his children died at young age, he was abused and ridiculed by the people of Mecca, abandoned by his relatives, was driven away from his home, went hungry for days et al. Despite this his companions said The Prophet (pbuh) greeted everyone with smile. Thus smiling is a highly recommend Sunnah. It brings people together and helps in creating a stronger bond. A companion narrated,

I have not seen anyone who smiled more than The Messenger of Allah. ~ Tirmidhi 49/4002

Secondly, giving charity has one of the highest virtues in Islam. Smiling is a form of charity as The Prophet (pbuh) said,

Every good is charity. Indeed among the good is to meet your brother with a smiling face ... ~ Tirmidhi 27/76

#2. Adorn your ‎hijab‬. Allah loves those who are sincere.

Allah commands a woman to adorn hijab. Quran explicitly mentions this in two places. No woman is excused from this, except girls who have not attained the age of puberty. Many believe hijab oppresses a woman but in fact it elevates the woman and gets her into a higher rank, in the eyes of Allah. Quran states:

O Prophet! Tell your wives, your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (veils) all over their bodies. That is more suitable, that they will be known and not be abused. ~ Quran 33:59

A Muslimah that does not wear hijab is committing a major sin, as she is going against the commandment of Allah and His Prophet (pbuh). A major sin is not forgiven by Allah unless the believer sincerely repents, in his/her lifetime. In one Sahih Hadith, The Prophet (pbuh) said,

Allah does not accept the prayer of a woman who has reached puberty unless she wears a hijab. ~ Abu Dawud 2/641

#3. Never think of taking your life. No matter how low you are. ‬

Your life is Allah's property and not yours. It was He who created you, breathed life in you and brought you in this world. Since you don't own your body, you have no right over it, and as a result suicide is forbidden in Islam and considered a major sin. More so the Quran clearly states:

Allah does not ‪burden‬ a soul beyond that it can bear" ~ ‪Quran‬ 2:286

That means trials and suffering are the means to test mankind how sincere they are in their Imaan (faith). Given the above verse, if Allah is testing you it means He knows that you have the capacity to endure the trial.

Then elsewhere the Quran states after a believer has passed the test of life, Allah provides relief to the person, forgives his sins and raise him higher in the rank. See here.

For indeed with hardship there is relief. ~ Quran 94:5

We highly recommend you to ponder on these 3 messages Allah is teaching us, through Rahma. Tawakkul (reliance/ trust) in Him is part of a Muslim's belief system. How many of us are sincerely practice patience and have courage like our sister Rahma is demonstrating? Her current life may not give her the pleasures of this world, but she definitely has caring and loving parents whom Allah has blessed. They too are being tested by Allah and their reward, if Allah wills, will be nothing but Jannah; for showing their care towards Allah's creation and practicing patience (Sabr)! For the Quran says:

O you who believe! Seek help in patience (Sabr) and prayer (salah). Indeed Allah is with the one who is patient. ~ Quran 2:153

So next time if you don't get what you want in life, remember your sister Rahma. Then thank Allah for whatever He has given you out of His Mercy, and be contended with it. "Why me" cannot be your reaction if you are a believer in His infinite wisdom. Also know that the verse below is repeated 31 times in The Quran, the most repeated one. Goes to show the importance of why Allah is constantly reminding us of His blessings. Plus refer to His message in #11 here.

Then which of the blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny? ~ Quran 55:13

Labels character , Patience , Short Story

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Helping humanity understand Islam better, and help them become a practicing Muslim.

We are aware that the theme — 'FearTheFire' — is negative but guess it is important to face the reality when most of our near and dear ones have gone astray in the 21st century. Painting a rosy picture would be fooling ourselves, when Allah has mentioned,

"The day when they see it (Qiyamah), it will seem (to them) as if they had lived (in this world) only an evening or a morning..." ~ Quran 79:46

The caption 'Inch wide. Mile deep.' represents Hell Fire where many creation of Allah will remain in a confined terrible space forever. Hence imperative to #FearTheFire.

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