Love, Marriage and Hadith: A Triumph for My Sister
My sister is a highly educated woman and very devoted to Allah
Almighty. Unfortunately we disagree most of the time. I have become wary
of getting into arguments with her about Islam because she is very
persistent and will not lose a debate inspite of my considerable skills
at argumentation.
A few years back her life was shattered by the cataclysmic death of her
college going son in a car accident during a storm on the highway which
swept him away along with two of his friends.
The tragedy changed my sister's life in strange ways which
indicates how mysterious the power of Allah is. My sister is now a
constant visitor to her Beloved's house in the far away city of Makkah.
Sometimes she goes there to spend the last ten days of Ramadan,
sometimes for the lesser pilgrimage [Umrah] and sometimes with the
tumult of millions hungering for salvation [the Hajj]. Along the way she
makes new friends, the hijabi types, in South Africa and in the mosques
of Damascus.
She is constantly preaching the spiritual message of the Hadith
of the greatest of all men, Muhammad, peace be on him. I often wonder
how a highly westernized woman, immersed in developments in the medical
sciences, could change so much and accept the deeply traditional wisdom
enshrined in the Hadith.
Now comes my sister's greatest triumph. She carried out her
American-born daughter's wedding according to the Sunnah! She and her
husband invited relatives, friends and acquaintances to their daughter's
wedding. The young man who married my niece accepted Islam and learned
its basic teachings most conscientiously. [Both are medical graduates,
just about.] The task before my sister, on the day of her daughter's
wedding, was to keep both her Muslim and non-Muslim friends happy and
yet not violate the Sunnah: quite a task and quite an accomplishment!
The nikah was performed by an 'Alim from Lebanon. He spoke well
about love and tranquility in the words of the Qur'an. Then my sister
taught the large audience what she calls the LOVE Hadith of the Prophet,
pbuh. These authentic Hadith indicate how Muhammad, pbuh, expressed his
love for his wife 'Ayesha, r.a.. All these ceremonies from Hadith easily
replaced the jahiliyya ceremonies of our national cultures. Members of
the audience made the same symbolic offerings of love and then added a
few dollars of SADAQA to help the needy. Finally my sister reminded the
assembled guests about the miracle of Zam Zam water which was given to a
woman [Hajira, r.a.] who would not accept defeat in the vast expanses of
the Arabian desert.
The Imam from Lebanon was extremely humble and finally [I suspect
at the instigation of my sister] urged me to lead the maghrib prayers
out on the lawn immediately after sunset. I tried to get out of it by
saying that I had forgotten my prayer cap in my car, at which he took
off his own cap and gave it to me. [While we prayed, the non-Muslim part
of the audience watched the glow of the sunset, a beauty from Allah
which no artist can match.]
A non-Muslim lady at the gathering asked me, with reference to the
bridegroom: Why is it that those Christians who marry Muslims embrace
Islam. Why can't they remain Christian? I told her that Muslims love
Jesus, pbuh, and Mary, pbuh, so by embracing Islam, Christians do not
lose Jesus, pbuh. They keep Jesus and Mary, peace be on them, but they
gain Muhammad, pbuh, the Seal of the Prophets. So, they win everything
and do not lose anything. She said; Now, I know what's going on!
I have an envious fear that my sister is moving ahead of me in
Islamic spirituality. I merely talk and write about the Beloved. She
visits the House of the Beloved in Makkah! What goes on there remains a
mystery between her and the Beloved.
With Kind Regards
Mohammad Usman
Jeddah-SAUDI ARABIA
The sayings of our beloved Prophet Muhammad <http://muhammad.net/>
(peace be upon him) 'Acquiring (religious) knowledge in company for an
hour in the night is better than spending the whole night in prayer.'
< Al-Tirmidhi;Narrated: Abdullah ibn Abbas (r) >
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