MUSLIM BY FAME, KAFIR BY FAITH
BY
SANNI KAY. YUSUF
I felt some strange, light pain on my right foot. The affected toe called for a scratch which I gave to it with a finger. So interesting it was, not knowing it was an inducement for the wound to deepen. Minutes later, I couldn’t bear the pain than take some analgesic. The activeness of the pain relief spanned just a few hours while the pinch took position again.
I got to work the next day but could not work. I had started limping, albeit not so noticeably. I unavoidably dressed down to the office rather than dress up ethically. Fortunately, though lamentably, an internal indefinite strike was ignited by the labour union – a factor which fast-tracked my return home.
Within a twinkling of an eye, the entire foot had grown into unwanted corpulence, thereby escalating the lameness – like a knock-kneed fellow. The sudden, accelerated growth of the wound surprised me, so was my consort. We therefore, resolved to seek a medical remedy. At the hospital, the toe was diagnosed of a mere infection and I was placed on a three-day injection.
Little did I know that as I was taking drugs and injections, the infected toe was rather growing fat inside and almost half of the foot had been greeted by pulse. All efforts by a neighbour-nurse to get rid of the pulse proved abortive. The pain rather lingered. It had escalated to the leg. The right had doubled the left in size. At that point, limping or laming wasn’t easy to come by, let alone walking. That was when I realised I was in for a severe ailment.
Polytheistic pieces of advice and perplexing tales of similar incidents began falling into my ears. ‘This is not an ordinary wound. It is spiritual. Maybe you had stepped your foot on a charm targeted at snaring you. So you shouldn’t rely on medicals,’ said muslim sympathisers. Invariably, ‘e fi ese ile to.’ Hmm!
‘Even if it was spiritual like it confusingly seemed to many, I had to explore medical option to the fullest before resorting to ruqyah (Islamic antidote for spiritual attacks), not the polytheistic ese ile.’ I admonished myself. A call was put across to my doctor to tell him the situation of my injury. He told me never to wait till the following day before I surfaced before him. Not minding that it was at the death of the night, I made it down to the hospital in company of my queen and a friend.
Lo and behold! The wound had greatly deteriorated internally like it had extremely doubled the leg in size, too. Like a surgical operation, the foot was incised amid unprecedented pains. It was the first time I would sight a surgical blade – small but sour! I could never imagine how a mere infection could dig a deep, large hole in someone’s foot like the crab would create a haven in the ground. It took the doctor hours to pack the loads of thick pulse out of my foot. At some point, I felt dead. But the doctor proved his expertise as a Deputy Director of a general hospital.
I couldn’t believe my eyes in the end. It became a gory open wound – so deep that the daily dressing which took almost seven weeks was like going through an unsuccessfully repeated surgery! The swollen leg finally returned to normal and I gradually recuperated from the wound.
Hmm! What would have been my fate if I hadn’t acted contrary to my advisers’ ill-empathy? Perhaps my case would have ended like many who had their legs damaged and/or amputated on account of their ignorance and unfaithfulness to their Lord. Alhamdu lillaah for Taoheed!
Many are muslims without Islam. Many are muslims by name, by fame, but are kuffaar (unbelievers) by faith. They are muslims to fellow creatures but are kuffaar to their Creator. They don’t miss their daily worship (solah), but eemaan (faith – the first pillar of Islam) is missing in their hearts. They are muslims when things are rosy. But when trials befall them, the ‘muslim’ in them evaporates – it disappears so instantaneously that one wonders if they had ever practised Islam.
They are quick to forget that the originality of a muslim’s eemaan is largely determined by his ability to persevere during trying times. Allah never promised 100% prosperity, as He didn’t promise 100% trials. He does it however he likes. He, Allah says:
“Verily, those who say: ‘Our Lord is (only) Allah,’ and thereafter stand firm and straight on the Islamic Faith of Monotheism, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. Such shall be the dwellers of Paradise, abiding therein forever – a reward for what they used to do.” Q46 V13-14.
“And certainly, We shall test you with something of fear, hunger, loss of wealth, lives and fruits, but give glad tidings to the patient – who when afflicted with calamity, say: ‘Truly, to Allah we belong and truly, to Him we shall return.” Q2 V155-156
Relying on other than Allah is shirk (associating partners with Allah), and the end-result of shirk is hell, as frankly indicated in the following verse:
“Verily, whoever sets up partners with Allah, then Allah has forbidden Paradise to him, and the Fire will be his abode…” Q5 V72
Yaa Rabb, the unquestionable Possessor of the universe, safe us from kufr. Do not afflict us with trials that will throw us into kufr. May we never end our lives on kufr. Aameeeeen!
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