An Angel
By Shariffa Carlo Al Andalusia

Asalaamu Alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatu wa maghfirtuhu.  I greet you
all on this great Ramadhan night in the greeting of our beloved Prophet.
Tonight, I was blessed with a gift of insight.  I had slept a bit, and
woke in the middle of the night unable to continue sleeping.  I started
to read a story in the Reader's Digest.  On the surface it was a sad,
tragic story of loss and death of a children mended by a selfless act.
But when I really looked at the story, I was able to see much more, and
the true sadness of it all really hit me.

The story, in short was of a man who wrote a book about, among other
things, a woman who had lost a child and had mourned this child by
placing a flower at the base of a stone angel that adorned the child's
grave.  This image was so powerful to so many of the readers of the
story that they, who had also lost children at an early age, wanted to
know where this angel resided.  They wanted to also place flowers at
its base to "remember" their own children.  From  his "great
generosity"  he commissioned the sculpturing of an angel for these
people.  It was placed in a cemetery and has been visited and is still
visited by thousands of people annually.

How far the human nation has fallen that they have to travel to a carved
idol to find comfort for what we, as Muslims, know is actually a great
blessing in disguise.  True, the loss of a child is a painful test, one
which, I, alhamdulillah, have been spared, and pray I will always be
spared, but in it is also a huge bounty of blessings.  We have been
promised:

Narrated Abu Sa'id: The women requested the Prophet, "Please fix a day
for us." So the Prophet preached to them and said, "A woman whose three
children died would be screened from the Hell Fire by them," Hearing
that, a woman asked, "If two died?" The Prophet replied,  "Even two
(would screen her from the (Hell) Fire. "And Abu Huraira added, "Those
children should be below the age of puberty." Sahih Bukhari:
Volume 2, Book 23, Number 341.

Allah shows us that we do not need to look further that to Him to gain
perspective on our "tragedies"
We all know the story of  the Prophet Musa and Khidr, where Khidr killed
a child because it was Allah's decree to protect the deen of the
parents. (18:60-82 and Sahih Bukhari: Volume 6, Number 249).

Allah has taught us that in tragedy comes good.  We just have to be
open to see it.  Reflect on the story of  Abu Talha:

Narrated Anas bin Malik: One of the sons of Abu Talha became sick and
died and Abu Talha at that time was not at home. When his wife saw that
he was dead, she prepared him (washed and shrouded him) and placed him
somewhere in the house. When Abu Talha came, he asked, "How is the boy?"
She said, "The child is quiet and I hope he is in peace." Abu Talha
thought that she had spoken the truth. Abu Talha passed the night and
in the morning took a bath and when he intended to go out, she told him
that his son had died, Abu Talha offered the (morning) prayer with the
Prophet and informed the Prophet of what happened to them. Allah's
Apostle said, "May Allah bless you concerning your night. (That is,
may Allah bless you with good offspring)."   Sufyan said, "One of the
Ansar said, 'They (i.e. Abu Talha and his wife) had nine sons and all
of them became reciters of the Quran (by heart).' "  Sahih
Bukhari: Volume 2, Book 23, Number 388.

We do not need to go to idols or statues or great Wisemen  or any such
nonsense to  make sense of the moments of our lives, we need only see
the wisdom Allah provided us in his great book and through His beloved
Prophets.

We may do so, without meaning to do so, by trying to rely solely on
ourselves when a trial occurs.  We may "idolize" ourselves, thinking we
have the power to affect a change in our conditions.  Or, like these
people who were looking to the angel for relief  for their grief, we
may place too great a value on the worldly, including those who fill
our lives briefly - the small loans from Allah among us.  We may act
like they are ours to keep, not just ours to briefly enjoy.   I fell
into this trap myself recently, and I thank my friends for helping to
guide me back to remembering to rely SOLELY upon Allah.  May Allah
magnify their blessings for through them, I saw the value of
surrounding ourselves with strong believers who will gently
push us back towards the path when we start to fall.

You see, recently, I, too, experienced a small trial, not nearly on this
scale, where I was less than patient.  I forgot the lessons Allah had
given me, and it was not until I sincerely recited the dua: "O Allah, it
is your Mercy that I hope for; so do not leave me in charge of my
affairs even for a blink of an eye and rectify for me all of my affairs.
None has the right to be worshipped except you.",  that I was able to
attain a measure of peace, and my trial was lifted completely.
Alhamdulillah, Rabi Al alameen.

I thank Allah for the Wisdom to finally give up my petty attempts to
rectify my life alone, and giving me the foresight and wisdom to
leave my affairs to Him.  I pray he always guide me so, and always
protect me and guide me in my trials.  Most importantly, I thank Allah
for His guiding me to Al Islam, without which I would be of those who
are lost with no salvation.  Ameen.


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