A Voyage Within Qalb

Chapter 25: Aligning Paths With You

"No matter what happens..." The Imam at the Masjid had told him. "It was already destined to happen. The good, the bad, the happy and heartbreaking, the monotony and the surprise — everything."

"Then what does it mean that we have a choice?" Joseph had asked. Surely, if he chooses to do something wrong, it means he was destined for it, right?

"You have a choice, that is true." The Imam has spoken. "But there is also the fact that He Knows what you are going to choose while you don't. That makes all the difference in the world."

He Knows what you are going to choose while you don't.

While you don't.

Joseph suddenly felt like he needed to try praying by himself for the first time. He had been to many masajid before but he had never prayed by himself, away from everyone in a darkened ICU room. And so he did. He stood for the longest time after takbir, reciting in the pattern he had heard countless times, then came the ruku and two sujood before he was up again. Never before had he felt like suddenly all his worries began to lighten.

Sure, he probably had a lawsuit before him. But he was going to get through it, he would find the exact cause perhaps. Sure, he earlier thought he was the only caretaker of his family but he had forgotten that everyone's well being rested in Allah's Hands.

And no matter what happens, he knew he must have patience — because this life is only for a short duration. It is a fleeting moment, perhaps like a speck of time in the realms of reality. With the help of Allah, he knew he could overcome any difficulty. It was just the matter of a few moments on this ever changing, quickly eroded world.

When his head of department called for him early morning after a week of ICU care, Joseph was told that it had been taken care of. The son was explained that the only disease they couldn't treat at this hospital was old age, and Mrs. Marie Adams had almost zero chances of surviving either way. Though monetary compensation was also given, Mrs. Marie's son agreed to never bother Dr. Joseph Maud for something he didn't do.

Once again, Joseph was stunned at the effect every prayer made. It almost seemed like Allah said "Be," and it was. As the weeks began to dissolve, he realised what a drastic change salah had brought to his life — two of his sisters were employed, another was accepted at a university and the younger two along with his father had opened a flower shop right beside their farm house outside Inersaw City. They would go to school, come back and help their father (who suddenly developed a liking for gardening) tend to the flowers.

He felt like he was favoured, like he was being given so many things without asking for them. And to think, he hadn't even officially become a Muslim yet. That was when he knew that Allah truly knows what is in the hearts of people — and he had to please his lord, he had to become a Muslim.

Faith, if asked for, dawns in the strangest of places. He thought. For me, it was a ICU Ward. Fortunate are the ones who are born with it. And perhaps for the first time since forever, he was finally aligning paths with Allah swt's religion.

• • •

Just that morning, Leila had looked through one of Kareena's latest poems. It reminded her a lot of how she felt when she had put a Band-Aid on Laeeq's finger. It was surreal, and he looked so much like an innocent yet surprised kid that she felt like giggling. But as soon as she sensed that the vibes were getting a little too personal, she decided she'd get Fatima and ask her to mark her for the First Aid classes.

Yet, every time she read the poem, she felt something stir in her heart, and she wondered if the heart needs wounds for such beautiful words to pour out of it.