on messages that come from everything and everyplace.

'From random people' is the last place you'd imagine support to come from. 

googled 'random people' and found this picture. exactly what i imagined when i said random people.

Yet everything can come from everyplace, because God has control over all things. You can say that lots of times,

'God has control over all things. God has control over all things. God has control over all things.'

But feeling it is a different thing altogether. 

Okay, back to 'the thing'. lol, saying it like that made it sound inappropriately like a giant blob from outer space, when the feeling is like riding on a fluffy unicorn.

A little bird sent me a message on facebook:

"...straight 2 de point i'm actually kind of having bad time over the past 2 years...but today i take a look at ur wall.. suddenly i felt like some of my burden are gone.. all ur posts really gives me motivation n new hope.. feeling of start anew… thank you

ps:if i ever wrongly send this message 2 u, please ignore as i don't really remember abg ikmal's face.. maybe u just happen 2 have the same name with him... but still, thank u"

Maybe the person wanted to send this to another ikmal and mistakenly sent it to me. If so, thank you for your mistake. hee hee. 

Along this 'path of thorns', nothing is easy. I've heard stories of the crossing of the bridge (siraat) on the day of judgment. Narrations say it is as thin as a strand of hair sliced into 7 (longitudinally), sharper than swords, with clawing hands on the sides trying to pull us down into the depths of Hell that awaits those who fall off the bridge.

Yesterday that description finally struck a chord.

Those that Allah promised Heaven, on Earth their lives were a torturous crossing. The line they thread on was so thin and so sharp, with enemies clawing on all sides, and even the slightest lapse could mean Hell, that to thabat (stay firm) was a great test. 

So on the Day of Judgment their crossing is going to be easy. The narrations say that the fastest will cross as fast as lightning.

A man asked the Prophet, "Say to me in Islam a saying that i would not ask anyone aside from you" And the Prophet SAW replied,

"say, i believe in Allah, and then stay firm (istiqamah)"

And when the Prophet went to Ta'if to spread the message of Islam, he was booed and jeered and pelted with stones until blood flowed. Exhausted and dejected, he took shade. This was the lowest point in his life, aside from the battle of Uhud. Suddenly a young christian slave by the name of Addas came to him and the Prophet asked him where he was from. 

"Nineveh."

Rasulullah told him that was the homeland of Prophet Yunus as, and Addas, awestruck with knowledge that only a Prophet could know, kissed Rasulullah's feet and embraced Islam.

If anything else, that was random. Or we could give it another term, since randomness is against our faith. God, al-Latif (the subtle), sends His help with any random stranger He wants.

So keep moving forward, my fellow callers. We are butterflies,and our small, insignificant wing flaps could cause a hurricane on the other side of the world.

"Teruslah bergerak, hingga kelelahan itu lelah mengikutimu.

Teruslah berlari, hingga kebosanan itu bosan mengejarmu.

Teruslah berjalan, hingga keletihan itu letih bersamamu.

Teruslah bertahan, hingga kefuturan itu futur menyertaimu.

Tetaplah berjaga, hingga kelesuan itu lesu menemanimu."