Last night, as I walked in a shopping center, I saw a cute little girl walking innocently in between her parents as if they have protected her from all the worries of life. I wondered what ‘tests’ in life awaits her in future. Even my aunt who died a week ago would have gone through this joyful stage of life when her parents were deceived by the thought that she would always grow up under their shadow and they would be able to support her through every difficulty in life. They must have enjoyed & shared many moments of joy together, ignoring the fact that life doesn’t always remain the same forever. They didn’t know that their daughter would grow up to become a mother whose young son, just after becoming a doctor would one night become a victim of misunderstanding and be shot dead in Ayyub Medical College on 6th July 2003. Then there would be a sight when the same daughter whose physical health they used to take so much care of, would be hitting her face and head so hard with her own hands that she would repeatedly become unconscious and fall on the dead body of her son, time and again. Then she would spend 7 years of her life recalling her son day and night letting her health deteriorate, till finally nature puts an end to her journey of this life.
What next ? Would she be living happily forever with her child ? No one knows except for the Examiner. We, as Muslims, know from our Prophet (saw) that the next stage would be that of questioning about this life, so intense that mothers would disregard their own children only to worry about their own destiny.
In spite of the examples that nature keeps on showing us in daily life, people like me fail to realize that this life is an exam hall where nature has marked a time for everyone to tear him/her apart with TESTS (which Allah promises that HE doesn’t put anyone in a pain beyond ones endurance). How should I develop that endurance which keeps me thankful to Allah (swt) even after a tragedy and prevent me from saying/doing anything that is forbidden ? The question is: Are we helping ourselves and our younger ones to develop our inner self, through the spiritual diet of the Prophet that enables us to protect ourselves from the detrimental effects of any tragedy in life ?! Or our time together is only limited to parks, ice creams and picnics. The ending is within our control, it is up to us to make it sad or to be glad to meet our beloved ALLAH (swt) by passing every test that HE puts us in, through the related ‘course work’ that only includes the Prophet’s lifestyle.