on the old man who wouldn't give up

There are no coincidences in life. Yesterday we were talking about falling down and getting up, and in today's khutbah there was the story of the man who refused to fall, who refused to let anything get in the way between him and Allah. Subhanallah.

*dialogues re-created for added effect*

The story goes like this. The khatib went to hajj recently, and in his hajj group there was an old man. He was very old, frail and ailing, suffering from lots of diseases. He must be 80 years old or more.

But there was something special about this old man. He wasn't born muslim. Even those of us who were born muslim take it for granted that we're muslim.

4 years ago, this old man happened to hear the azan, and something struck his heart. After that its all history. He became muslim, and at a ripe old age. Who says its too late for you to change. So this old man made a dream to save the little money he had from his meagre pension, so that he could go to hajj.

After he had saved enough (and it happened this year, so he could meet the khatib, who could tell this story to us, and i could tell the story to you. Allah is the best of planners), he went to hajj. This man had a wheelchair, and he brought it along. But disaster struck! When the plane landed in Jeddah, the wheelchair had not arrived.   

"It's OK uncle, we'll try and search for your wheelchair."

Did the old man say "sure, i don't feel so good either. Biasalah, dah tua (I'm an old man, you see)." ?

No, he did not. Instead, he said something like "If Allah wants me to go without my wheelchair, then i am pleased with what he has determined."

And the old man continued his journey, using a walking stick to move around. 

And before the day of 'Arafah, the old man's health deteriorated. His leg was painful, his back was painful, he had fever, and all sorts of afflictions. 'Arafah is the most important rite of the hajj. If you did not go to 'Arafah on the day of 'Arafah, your hajj was null and void. But the old man was very weak indeed. Unable to move, he just laid down in the hotel. 

And the whole of Makkah was starting to make their way to 'Arafah. He was alone. He wanted to go really badly.

Then the night before 'Arafah, he had a dream. He dreamt that he was on a motorcycle, heading towards 'Arafah. When he woke up, a miracle happened. He no longer felt any pain. No leg pain. No back pain. Nothing.

And coincidentally, another man from his hajj group came back to Makkah to check up on the old man. And guess what?

He brought a motorcycle along to carry the old man to 'Arafah. Subhanallah.

Like we said before, there'll be whispers all the time, asking us to go astray, to follow the easy way out. The old man had everything against him. He was in poor health, he was alone, he had no relatives.

But he made a firm intention to please Allah, and Allah helped him. May Allah grant him paradise. Amin.