A Tiny Test of Faith

After long deliberations and consultations, weeks of apartment hunting and fiery negotiations garnished with lengthy discussions and arguments, we decided to leave our Home of 8 years behind and move to a bigger and costlier new House. The most significant question in our mind was- Are we also succumbing to the soulless materialistic lust that outrace every one of us some time or the other ?. Have we also begun to confuse standard of living with hugeness of expenditure?. As one can sell anything to one’s own mind, we convinced ourselves that our decision was timely and apt and we moved out.

SEWA, Municipality, Cartons, Drills, IKEA, Home Centre, Pick up’s, Movers, Dust, up and down trips, bargaining, pleading, slogging………………Phew !!! it was finally over. Move over shifting…. Welcome to better living.

The relief was short-lived. Just two days into this new state of blissful existence, trouble surfaced- In the guise of a monstrous service room located just below my apartment. The room had a million electrical giants that heated up our tiles considerably. The reading on the AC stubbornly refused to dip below a particular point forcing the room to take ages to cool down. The cleaner who came to help us tidy the place clandestinely let the cat out of the bag- Two previous tenants had vacated the apartment since the heat made it un livable in summer.

CRASH…… Painfully crafted Dreams tumbled down. Fastened heart beats. Palpitation. Headaches

• Will this cause health issues?
• Should we move out ?
• No !!! can we endure the ordeal of shifting again?
• Will we lose lot of money in the process ?
• How can I communicate with this guy who speaks very little English ?

Now this is the very phase that I want to elaborate today. Our faith and conviction was tested slightly and we failed… miserably that too. I am a person who walks around preaching that the good lord knows best . From a hundred lecterns I have advised others that if we endure patiently, constantly asking god for help, and doing the right things, everything will eventually turn out good. I flaunt a phrase that I created myself- Anything bad that happens is a substitute for something worse that could have…..

But in those two days, we realized that we were merely paying lip service to these beliefs and that our conviction in this area was really wafer thin…..and this realization was frightening. It took just a minor issue to defeat us and leave us confused, clueless and disheartened. Though my heart was trying to remind me of these facts, it wasn’t sounding very convincing.

But what happened next was really amazing. Though we remained dazed, we started receiving refreshing help from all possible quarters. And when I say, all possible quarters, I am not exaggerating. My cousin Amit, Uncle Mohemadali, Friend and Mentor Adv. Backer ali, Colleagues- Mahmoud Ramadan, Khaled Al Salamouny, Ahmed Al Shabasy, Hasseb Shaikh, Dr. Syed Tantawy, Hassan Balgouni, Maher Al OLiwi , Seif, Muna al ali….

Each one gave me us a patient hearing. They consoled us and rushed in with their support and help, in their own special ways. To make a long story short- We finally forced the real estate guys to relent and they have started the process of fixing thermal insulation pads on the roof of the service room, a corrective action that will solve our problem. YIPEE!!!!!!!

Quite relieved, we went out to the park located next to our building for the first time. As Amaan was cycling around the park, Jia was having a great time in the children’s play area. As my wife and I positioned ourselves alert fully near the slide to protect young Jia, I mused…..”Look at how Jia is playing, feeling fully secure, confident in her conviction that we would prevent her from getting hurt. Why did we forget that Allah is there to protect us, from every harm ? Why didn’t we rely on his love and strength which is manifold more than ours?”

My wife answered quickly -“How can we be sure that allah will protect us? We have not been the most ardent believers. We are not perfect. We disobey him in so many ways every day”

My colleague Muna had a story to tell, in reply. When an ardent sinner says “Labbaikhallahumma Labhaik (Here I am at Thy service O Lord, here I am)”, The lord rejects his call. When he repeats this call, it is rejected again. But when he says it the third time, the lord orders the angels to open the doors of mercy for him and the sinner ceases to be.

So even if we have the most un glorious of track records behind us, lets rely on the lord completely and ask him for help from now on….. And I am sure that all the hurdles looming large in front of us, will just crumble and fall.