I’ve stood at the same bus shelter almost every single day for as long as I can remember. Today, for the first time – I think – ever, I looked up (as opposed to staring at my phone or on the road). And for the first time, I noticed the many branches scattered across the shelter’s roof.
I was reminded of the day I was doing some work on an outdoor bench, when a loud crack was heard and a section of the tree that shaded me collapsed. Yes, on me. Or more specifically, around me. Because somehow, by His Grace, the section of the tree was shaped in a way that its branches surrounded me in an embrace. The suddenness of it stunned me, and I froze as kind hearted men came running to lift the branches, and concerned women frantically brushed my clothes now covered with panicking ants.
“Alhamdulillah,” said my friend when I narrated the events of the day, “Must be the wirid you read in the morning.”
Oh. I did not think about it that way; I thought I was well.. lucky.
The roof of the bus shelter, the wirid, and the countless other things that protect us from falling branches – how many times in a single moment are we truly aware of what goes on around us that shield us from harm’s way? How many accidents have been averted by our Rabb while we fumble or sleepwalk our way through life? One of the quotes seared in my mind will always be that of Shaykh Hamza Yusuf’s, where he said that he does not complain of any plane delays because for all he knows, it’s Allah’s way putting him out of harm’s way.
If we think this way of the All Merciful and All Knowing, then what follows is an understanding that all the “harm” that He does allow to happen in our lives are purposeful. And the purpose?
Always, to draw us close, to keep us safe from real harm – that of the Hellfire.
May we be of those who are aware, of those with gratitude, of those protected from the Fire. Ameen.