In the furthest corner of the room he sits, silently listening as the teacher conducts the lesson. How beautiful he is, his very being reminding me of Allah. I remember when I first saw him, neatly dressed as per the sunnah, with a turban style which reminded me of Rasoolullah. Quietly every day he’d come in just before thuhr salaah and wait for the mu’addhin to sound the call to prayer. With every passing day, he’d come earlier and earlier, until he spent nearly an hour with us every day.
Amazing how I’ve come to love him. His very being a reminder of my habeeb, Muhammad S.A.W. A hero, my ray of hope and an example of what every striving Muslim should be. I’d look on as he stood before the prayer time clock in the masjid, and wrote down what I assumed to be the prayer times. I’d watch in amazement as this was his daily routine, and like clockwork every day, he’d be in mosque, awaiting the call to prayer.
His warm smile warming the hearts of all those he meets. His gentle words a reminder of how I should be. I’ve always looked upon him as my example, a hero of some sort. A man close to God, a man whose impeccable character totally outshines the rest.
So today I stood before him… at a loss for words, as my Allah provided me with the perfect opportunity to speak to him. I fumbled over my words as he smiled at me sweetly, not quite sure how to string a proper sentence together. Eventually, I asked his permission to enter the masjid in order to replace the quráns I’d borrowed. He smiles at me as if I were a little girl, then takes some of the quráns from my hand. Then he asks if I’d rather place them in the masjid myself & I agree. He sees my trepidation as I slowly enter the masjid, on edge because there’s another male reciting in the furthest section of the masjid, one of the areas that I need to be. In trying to assure me he says “Don’t worry man. There’s no-one here it’s just me, and I am no-one”.
NO-ONE??????? I scream in my head… This man is the legend of our masjid. As he grants me entry, I’m baffled at his modesty, his humility and his love for Allah.
He walks into the masjid, a face among the crowd. A little old man, aged 60 or so, smiling brightly as he enters the house of his Lord. A reminder to us all of who we should be. Young or old… surely a lesson to thee.