Winged Dreams

Chapter 28 : You Are My Inspiration to Dream

9th February, 2016

The entire chapter was written on phone so please ignore unintentional errors.

"Abu Hassaan said: 'I said to Abu Hurayrah: Two of my sons have died. Can you narrate to me any hadith from the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) which will console us for our loss? He said: Yes: Their little ones are the little ones (da'aamees) of Paradise. When one of them meets his father - or his parents - he takes hold of his garment - or his hand - as I am taking hold of the hem of your garment, and he does not let go until Allah admits him and his father to Paradise'."

[Sahih Muslim, Book 32, Number 6370]

A son of mine died and I felt intense grief over his loss. I said, 'Abu Hurayra, have you heard anything from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to cheer us regarding our dead?' He replied, I heard the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'Your children are roaming freely in the Garden'."

[Al-Bukhari, Book 8, Number 3]

Chapter 28:

You Are My Inspiration to Dream

For the longest of moments, Dina just sat on Bilal's lap, with him leaning against the headboard, his arms wrapped soothingly around her while she rested against his chest, his beating heart reminding her of the blessing that he was. If she was hurting over Anam, so was he, and unlike those times when the darkness of her grave room was all she had for company as tears gushed free, today, even this miserable moment, was so much better with Bilal with her. She had grown detached, and she still found it difficult to not close out anyone who wanted to help, but there was this inner strength she had knowing no matter what, her husband was with her.

The light from the night lamp casted its soft radiance even in the room that was otherwise dark and as Bilal looked down to see if Dina had fallen asleep against him after her nightmare, she spoke,

"Bilal, why does Anam call you by your name? She never calls you Uncle or Bhai, simply Bilal. Why is it so?"

It did not escape Bilal's notice that Dina was talking in present tense even though the little girl was no more, and he was quick to draw the connection that it showed how extremely hard it was for Dina to get over her death. However, not wishing to dwell deeper on the wound, now that Dina was actually willing to have a conversation with him first time in the past week, he replied, the memories of the little girl making it hard for him to speak,

"My family is extremely close to Shakeel's family, and Anam was the first child who was born after eighteen years in both families. And this justified why most of the time, even my parents were over at his place every time we got the chance. She was like a little magnet, attracting all of us towards her. When she started speaking after eighteen months, apart from Mama and dada, the first coherent word she said was Beeeelaaaaal. You should have seen the joy on my face, Dina, ya Allah, I almost cried listening to her call me by my name. A celebrity knowing your name is nothing compared to being the first name on the child's lips."

Dina looked up and finally, finally smiled although her eyes filled with tears.

"That is so beautiful," she whispered before breaking into sobs, "I miss her, Bilal. I miss her so much."

"Shhh. I know you do, Dina, all of us miss her. But can you imagine the place that she is in now? She was a baby, so innocent that in sha Allah, she'll enter Jannah without having to account for anything. How beautiful is that? And what's more? Since she was taken away from her parents as a young child, on the day of judgment, in sha Allah, she'll hold her parents' hand and take them to Jannah. Aren't these rewards so much more than the loss? We're hurting and we have every right to, but look around in the world, hundreds are dying of oppression in their motherlands. And while we, as an Ummah, are failing miserably, in sha Allah, if they're dying for the sake of Allah, then they are martyrs. They're blessed. The death of a martyr is something I pray for after every Salah because we're all going to die someday, but to die as a martyr is an honour. For Allah says,