Inspirations

The Mug

A few days ago, my toddler daughter broke my favourite mug. I loved that mug. It was given to me by a group of dear sisters as a gift and I always drank from it. The decoration of multicoloured swirls would brighten up my mornings as I drank warm soothing citrus flavoured English tea.

So, she broke it. Oh well, I thought. I’ll have to use another one. The thing about this particular mug is it was slightly larger than most mugs and so I could have an extra dose of much needed caffeine whenever I drank from it. I searched my kitchen cupboard for a similar sized replacement and noticed a white mug at the back. Out of all the different coloured mugs in the cupboard, I felt compelled to choose that mug. Moving the other mugs out of the way, I took hold of the mug and placed it on the kitchen counter.

Standing there alone, I read the words on the front of the mug. Suddenly feeling dizzy, I felt as though my heart skipped a beat. Time stool still and now my heart was pounding in my chest. My mind began to replay images from a few years ago – images of a beautiful warm smile. Images of laughter. Images of someone crying. Images of sheer happiness – images of a beautiful person dancing.

As though my mind was taking me on a journey in time, I fast forwarded to what could be and saw images of myself in my last moments. Images of myself sick and dying. Images of myself lying in a pool of blood in a car accident. Images of myself being prayed upon. Images of myself wrapped in white cloth being placed in the ground.

At that point, staring at the mug, I felt it hard to breathe. The panic and realisation that the one thing certain in this life WILL happen to me seemed so real. Death. The powerful feeling of helplessness, fear and anxiety engulfed me as I thought about my life ending. Only for the next phase in my existence to begin. I pictured my deeds and my mistakes and the panic swept over me.

One of my children ran into the kitchen bringing me back to reality. The click of the kettle reminded me of this dunya. As I poured the boiling water into the white mug, I prayed and made dua for a kind soul that had departed from its body at a young and tender age. I read the inscription on the mug once more and the tears began to cloud my vision…

BarakaAllahu lakumaa

Hikmah and AbdulQadr

Sunday 17th July 2011

At the tender age of 23, Hikmah died in June 2012 – not even seeing one year of marriage.

The white mug – a gift to all wedding attendees – a reminder of life and death. A reminder that everything will perish. A reminder that as I saw my dear beloved Hikmah being washed and shrouded, that I too will one day be placed on a table with nothing but my shroud and what I did in this life. I don’t know when that will be.

With that in mind, I encourage myself and all of you to WORK HARD in this life. And correct your intentions along the way. Sacrifice your money, your sleep, and your time in doing as many good deeds as possible before death suddenly taps on your shoulder. There will be no escaping it. There is no time. There is no guarantee of when it will be. Make firm decisions to act and do good deeds for the sake of Allah – after all, they’re the only things we’ll be taking with us.