Sabahat Ali Rajput, Missionary
We all know the story.
There was once a man who helped an elderly lady carry her belongings to her destination. Along the way, the woman continuously expressed her outrage about a certain person rumoured to use the wizardry of his words – so she had heard – to spellbind his listeners into his new religion.
“I should warn you of this man,” she insisted.
“Beware the magic of Muhammad.”
The entire way, the Prophet of Islam, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, carrying her load, listened patiently. He did not utter a word about his identity.
Finally, when the two desert-dwellers reached their destination, he revealed that the sly sorcerer she warned him of was in fact standing before her.
Gobsmacked and utterly dumbstruck, the lady, half in horror and the other in awe, responded with words which sent ripples through the sands of time forever:
“Muhammad,” she stammered, “has cast a spell on me.”
She also later became a Muslim.
The magic of morals has always been the bread and butter of the miracles of Islam.
Today, while much of the Muslim world seems to have lost its way along the winding road of time, there is a community of Muslims who seek to keep the ancient alchemy of Muhammad, the Messenger of Allahsa alive.
As world leaders start to pacify the public with forecasts of gradual liberation from lockdown, the symptoms of quarantine are still very real for many.
One such woman in Ontario, Canada, relates her unspeakable desperation at 2 am. Her son is prone to allergic reactions which result in seething agony in his abdomen. A few nights ago, her son began to experience what she describes as significant pain in his abdomen and had to go to the hospital. There, doctors administered the necessary medication and he was discharged.
That’s when things took a turn for the nightmarish.
“Around 2 AM,” the woman describes, “my son began to experience terrible pain again.”
When she called 9-1-1, she was met with a brick wall. Not only did the hospital not have the medicine – they would not have it until the next day.
“They told me my son would have to spend the whole night in pain.”
After all, at 2 am, where does a mother turn when even a first-world hospital wholly fails to help, and that, too, during a country-wide lock-down during a global pandemic?
In an email to the National President of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association (AMYA) of Canada, Zubair Afzal Sahib, the woman recounts how her story of helplessness transformed into one of hope.
“I have always been an atheist” she began.
But when she found herself at a loss for what to do in the middle of the night, she underwent a powerful change of heart.
“I had no car or any other alternative.”
That’s when – in the midst of every closed door – she decided to knock on a door she didn’t even believe was there.
“I thought to myself that God says that He exists and works through His angels.”
So, she put forth the ultimate ultimatum:
“If I am helped by God tonight, I will believe in the existence of God for the remainder of my life, and so will my children.”
After making this promise – what she describes as a challenge – she picked up the phone and called the “Neighbourhood Helper Line,” an initiative set up by the Canadian branch of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association to help anyone who needs it in these troubled times.
On the other end
Ansar, who oversees a department of the AMYA called Khidmat-e-Khalq, which literally means “serving God’s creation,” got the call in the middle of the night.
“I was so exhausted from some extra work I had to do in the day that I missed the first call.”
Then his phone rang a second time and Ansar picked up. “Neighbourhood Hepler Campaign – how may I help you?”
The voice on the other end was heavy with desperation and emotion. It was a woman asking where this operation of helping people was located and if it had any volunteers in the city of Milton.
Today Ansar recounted the story to me over the phone.
“I tried calling the concerned person in Milton but couldn’t get a hold of him. I called the woman back and asked how grave her situation was and if it could wait until the early hours of the morning. But she told me her son was in a lot of pain and she didn’t know what else to do.
“I had no idea if she was an Atheist or a believer. I have no idea what conversation took place between her and her Creator just then. All I know is that God put in my heart – nailed it into my heart – that I have to help her.
“I drove out to Milton, which is about 35-40 minutes from where I live and got the medicine. I didn’t even knock on her door. I just put it outside her house and messaged her that it is there for her. I went home, kept my fast, and slept.”
The lady recounts in her email to the national president of AMYA Canada:
“That man, who lives in Vaughan (another city) drove past 2 AM to Milton, purchased the medication from the pharmacy and dropped it to my door. That is when I was convinced in my heart that God truly exists. I want you to know that because of that one man, I will never have atheistic thoughts again, as I am 100% convinced there is a God. And from now on, my children will also grow up believing in God.”
She closes the account with the following words:
“That night, I was helpless. My husband was in the U.S and I did not have access to a car…The Neighbourhood Helper Volunteer truly came like an Angel to me.”