FATHER GOES TO MECCA, MOTHER COMMITS VICE

FATHER GOES TO MECCA, MOTHER COMMITS VICE

WITH today's society the way it is, with its multitude of social ills, I think I should tell a story that's somewhat appropriate. The story is about the dispute between a pious husband and his wife, who chose to lead her life in way that is against the tenets of Islam. What is a lesson for us all is that, the truth was on the side of the husband in the end, and more interestingly, how it became so apparent soon after his return from performing his Hajj.

     The husband and wife worked as administrative and diplomatic officers and were seniors in a government agency. They were rather wealthy and rented a rather large house in an exclusive area in the city. They both had their own cars. The couple finally became parents to two children after seven or eight years of marriage. They were in their 30s at that time.

     Although the husband was not so pious, but we could say that he knew something about religion. Occasionally he would attend religious talks organised at his work place. However, his wife did not have the same interest. She preferred the modern way of life... wearing mini skirts, pants, with her hair flying everywhere. In addition, she was a boss for a company, so she wasn't interested in being religious or even tudung-clad.

     After given birth to two children, the wife suggested that they bought their own house. Her aim was so that they could live a more settled life, and one that was even grander. In the end, they managed to get a house in an affluent part on the boarder of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. The price of the house was betweer RM160,000 to RM200,000. After a year, they moved to their new place. At that time, their youngest child was two years old, while the other was between four to five years old.

     They couldn't describe their excitement. Not only did they own a big house, but it was also on top of a hill. Even more exciting, the view was picturesque. Behind their house were hills and a lot of greenery; while at the front was a field.

     When the number of residents in the area grew, they gathered to set up a religious committee. The local residents, council and religious department donated money to the committee so that they could conduct religious activities and build a mosque. Unknown to the couple, the open piece of land in front of their house was actually a site provided by the developers for the construction of a mosque. In less than two years, the mosque was  built.

     For the rest of us, having a mosque in front of our house is something to be embraced; but for the couple, it became the cause of their discord. The wife could not stand being woken up at 5.00 am by the sounds of azan and the call to prayer for Fajr. She got very upset for losing sleep. Meanwhile, at night, religious talks were held. Furthermore, the loud speaker also faced the direction of their house. As they could not stand being 'disturbed', the family often went out for dinner.

     In the beginning, the husband seldom went to the mosque. Since it was just next to the house, and his friends and neighbours constantly persuade him, he eventually relented. Whenever he was at the mosque, the ustaz would give him plenty of advice. It made him think deeply. He realised now how far he had deviated from the religion. When he realised his past mistakes, his advised his wife to change their lifestyle. He really wanted to repent and turn his family into obedient servants of our Creator. Unfortunately his wife refused to listen to her husband's advice.

     "We didn't move to this new house so you could become a pious man. We want you to become more sophisticated, have a house, a car. Now you're going the reverse... you go the mosque, spoiling the livelihood in the house. If you're going to be like this, what's going to happen to us?" snapped the wife.

     This happened every day. Their marriage was filled with arguments and they grew distant with each other. As the arguments become more heated, the wife threatened to run away from home.

     Bored with her behavior, the husband said, "Never mind... if you want to run, go ahead. But I'm very disappointed as I was planning to take you to Mecca." The husband thought that if he mentioned the word 'Mecca', his wife's heart would soften, but the opposite happened. As soon as he mentioned it, she became angrier.

     "I may be a Muslim but I'm not ready to go to Mecca. We will go when we're old. Anywhere, our children are still small, how are we going to survive? We're just moving up in the world," replied the wife.

     Unable to stand it anymore, she finally decided to leave their home. The husband, feeling responsible, asked that his wife remained in the house while he went off to rent a condo.

     The children would occasionally stay with their father, and sometimes with their mother. But because the father would often go to the surau, the children preferred to stay with their mother. So they lived apart for two to three years. The children also grew up during that time. Unfortunately, they continued to accuse the father of being unfair... that he was in fact in the wrong.

     Although their relationship had gotten rather cold, the husband tried to repair their marriage, which was close to disintegration. He tried so hard but when it got to the point where his wife refused to carry out her duties as a wife, the husband grew tired. In the end, the divorced (upon the wife's request) and the husband remarried. Consequently, his children hated him. Taking their mother's side, they opted to live with her.

     At the same time, the husband had married a beautiful, tudung-clad and religious graduate. Alhamdulillah, their marriage was happy and they have a child. Not long after, he took his new wife to Mecca. When he got to Mecca, the man sought for forgiveness over and over again. He also prayed to Allah that his ex-wife would return to the right path and asked for the truth to be shown in the conflict between them. He was disappointed as his ex-wife and children regarded him as being wrong while the path he had chosen was one that was required by Islam.

     Allah is great. What he desired was shown upon their return from Mecca. The day after, the man was shocked to see both his children sobbing uncontrollably by the side of his house. It seemed that Allah had granted his wish. The man asked his children why they were crying. According to them, their mother had turned immoral, acted like a high class prostitute and was co-habiting with other men.

     The children finally realised that their father was not the bad person, but their mother. They began living with their father and his new wife from then on. Their stepmother accepted them like her own child and in fact, looked after them better than their own mother even did. In the end, the man's ex-wife was caught for close proximity with another man, sentenced in the syariah court and fined. The husband meanwhile, became a pious person, a philanthropist, while the children excelled in their studies. They even went overseas for their education.

     I know of this as the man was actually one of my pupils. I often gave talks at the surau where he lived. In our conversation, he told me that he started to get closer with the religion during the period when the mosque was conducting a course in Hajj.

     It was from then onwards, he began to understand the philosophy behind the Hajj. He recalled the story about Prophet Adam who made a mistake in heaven, looked for his wife (Eve) for 40 years, and upon finding her in the field of Arafat, cried for 12 years asking for Allah's forgiveness.

     The man said, if the Prophet of Allah could cry for the Creator's forgiveness for 12 years for making a single mistake, why couldn't he, someone so wealthy and whose home was right in front of the mosque, go to the mosque? Since then, he was determined to go to Mecca.

     The man also told me that since becoming more diligent in frequenting the mosque, and subsequently, Mecca, he noticed how blessed his life had become. He made many donations, and money was no longer poured into entertainment centres or eating out. His life had suddenly become more peaceful.

N / F : FROM "THE BEST COLLECTION OF STORIES FROM MECCA", BY MASTIKA.