I remember there was one particular week last year when things were getting pretty tough. In addition to the problems I was facing, a depressed friend who I was trying to look after had 'attempted suicide' (I put this in quotes because he knowingly took a dosage of paracetamol that wouldn't harm him), and I had to be the one who picked up the pieces afterwards. I'm not even sure his parents knew what was going on at that point, but I knew that I didn't need this. That Friday I had an exam which I was trying to revise for whilst on my placement out of London, and also at the same time I was the lucky guy who acted as an intermediary between a friend of mine and the friend of a girl he liked. Things were becoming all too overwhelming, and I was lucky that the Quran competition that was due to be held on the Wednesday was postponed; I don't know if I could've coped with the added travelling to/from London, the intensity of the Quran competition (which yes, was my own choice, but still), and the emotional strain I was under at the time. This week was but one example of what I faced during my fourth year.
Alhamdulillah I got through all end of year exams unscathed, and here I am now in my final year, only months away from being a doc. Although life problems aren't in short supply, I thought I'd share my experiences of the week that just went by, which I think proves that if you try your best to show patience, good things will happen to you. It began with the news that a close friend of ours had passed his retakes; this friend had himself gone through so much during the year, culminating in him losing his mother, and on top of that learning that he failed one of his exams. We did our best to help him out, but you could tell the strain it was all having on him. So hearing of his success did make my day. Then I heard my Quran teacher had got his PhD; he successfully defended his thesis (which apparently you have to do do get one), and the years of work he's put in have finally paid off. The bittersweet thing is that now he's going to go back home to Saudi, which means that we have to hurry when it comes to getting my ijazas from him.
The above news would be enough to keep me happy all week, but that Friday something extra special happened. As we were arranging our weekly Quran lesson through our Whatsapp group, we hear that we'd be receiving a special guest that week: Abu Bakr Alshatiri!!!!! Like, THE Abu Bakr Alshatiri, the world famous Quran reciter, who is one of the only two Quran reciters I ever listen to. The Quran circle was beautiful, and he listened to me recite and didn't feel the need to correct me at all. He led maghrib and isha, and he sounded just like he does in all his recordings. There was another Quran reciter there, and voice was also breathtaking mashaallah. That next morning, I had to check my phone recordings to see if I'd dreamt it all or not!
During the weekend, I was using a memorisation technique Abu Bakr Alshatiri suggested we try out. As I sat in Regent's Park Mosque (a place I usually visit when I want to be alone), I noticed that all around me people were using sign language. It was surreal! I later learnt that it was the annual meeting of the UK deaf Muslim group. So there I sat, repeating to myself the last page of surah al-an'aam, a surah for one reason or another, I had spent ages trying to memorise (apparently it's the hardest surah to learn and retain). Maghrib time came, and what did the imam recite? Yep, the last page of al-an'aam. It was moving. I actually felt like it was a message from Allah to keep going. Yes, I did shed a couple of tears.
After the prayer, I went down to bathroom, and I saw a friend of mine who works in security tending to a man who'd slipped and fallen in the wudu area. When I approached, he was one of the deaf Muslims. I tried to put myself to good use (lesson of the evening: I need to learn sign language), and ended the evening having felt slightly useful in life, as well as meeting loads of the people from the deaf group. A pleasant end to a nice week alhamdulillah. (The man was alright by the way, just a minor head injury and a broken wrist.)
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