I KNOW THE REASON, USTAZ...
HAJJ season is here again. This year, I'm sure that my best friend, Mat, would be appointed to go to the Holy Land again to carry out the fifth pillar of Islam, as a favor for someone. Each time he went there, I always prayed that the duties entrusted upon him would be carried out perfectly. I didn't want some past incident that happened to reoccur. I know that Mat too didn't want it to recur.
This took place when Mat was still an imam in the southern part of the country. At that time, he was just approaching 40. Actually, throughout the years that he had been involved in this Hajj service, everything had gone smoothly. Nothing unusual ever happened, until...
One morning, Mat was visited by a businessman who asked for his to perform the Hajj on behalf of his recently deceased son.
"Don't worry about the money, ustaz. I will have it ready as soon as possible," said the businessman, sounding sad, possibly thinking about his son.
According to the man, his son worked at his company. He passed away about six months ago. The businessman then went on to tell him a bit about his family's background.
"Now, I feel responsible for fulfilling the fifth pillar of Islam for my son. I want him to be at peace there," he continued.
After discussing for almost 30 minutes, Mat eventually agreed. Later, Mat organised everything, from the travel documents needed, to accommodation and more. He organised everything quickly as there was limited time. When the Hajj season arrived, Mat left the country through an agency recognised by Tabung Haji (Pilgrims' Fund Board). Based on his past experiences, he was convinced that everything would go smoothly. Insya-Allah.
Upon his arrival in Mecca, everything went as planned. The accommodation, transport and everything else had been well organised. It helped that Mat had many acquaintances there. However, when the time came to perform sayee, something strange happened to him. His whole body suddenly felt weak. His leg felt heavy like lead when he walked and sometimes, they appeared to be pinned to the ground.
Mat continued on bravely, walking slowly to complete his journey from Safa to Marwah. Despite feeling shouldered a heavy burden, he trudged on as much as he could. Strangely, the burden he carried became heavier. His body became even weaker. Each step was a struggle.
Mat had to stop every couple of steps to rid his exhaustion, and then he would continue with his journey. He felt strange about feeling so tired. He had never been so out of breath like this all his life, not even when he was clearing the undergrowths in his orchard.
He didn't know how many times he stumbled. Seven times he went back and forth from Safa to Marwah, but it felt like he was traversing thousands of kilometres. He never felt this tired before. As soon as he had completed Sayee, my friend headed straight to the nearby clinic. Surprisingly, the doctor was unable to detect anything wrong with him.
"You're fine," the doctor said before suggesting to Mat to take vitamins offered to him.
The next day, Mat continued the rest of Hajj rituals, which had yet to be completed. But the longer it went on, the heavier his body felt. One morning, Mat felt so exhausted. He couldn't move his legs. As a consequence of no longer able to shoulder the burden, my friend fell sick.
Mat was lying at the hospital in Mecca for a week. He regretted the fact that he was unable to carry out the duties entrusted to him. But what could he do? Mat was permitted to leave at the end of the Hajj season. Strangely enough, on the final day in the Holy Land, Mat felt the heaviness lifted from his body. After that incident, he was well.
Upon reaching Malaysia, Mat immediately went to look for the businessman. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't able to complete all the Hajj rituals that you had entrusted me to carry out," Mat said. But before he could finish his words, the businessman interrupted him.
"It's ok, ustaz. I consider it as settled. And I wish to thank you for trying your best," he said, holding out his hand for a handshake.
However, my friend never told him of the strange things that happened to him to avoid any wrong perception. The secret was only exposed when we accidentally bumped into one of the businessman's relatives several months later.
On that day, Mat went to town with me. And one of the stalls, he was approached by a young man who introduced himself as one of the family members of the businessman's. After chatting about current issues, he asked about the Hajj that had been entrusted on behalf of his late cousin.
"Is it true ustaz was unable to complete the Hajj for my late cousin?" asked the young man, looking directly at Mat. My friend became momentarily pensive. He looked at a loss, worried that what he might say would be slanderous.
"It's true that I couldn't complete the Hajj. It so happened that I was unwell there. Maybe it was the change in weather," Mat said.
"But ustaz, I think this has something to do with my late cousin's lifestyle when he was alive," said the young man earnestly. Apparently, he was very close to the businessman's son. They had both furthered their studies overseas.
"Both of us were truly 'devils'... we just love to enjoy ourselves. When we returned home from our studies overseas, we were lost. We were ignorant, and didn't even touch prayer mats. All we knew were pubs and clubs. Women... don't even talk about it, didn't even matter what race they were."
"For us, religion was just something listed down in our identification card. We never practiced it. We were embroiled in sinful leaving," said the young man, attempting to suppress his sadness. He admitted that he had now repented following his cousin's death.
According to him, alcohol was just like orange juice to them at the time. And later on, they got hooked with drugs. Each month they wasted their salary on having good time.
"Until my cousin's death from a number of things, including drug overdose, we only thought about having a blast back then," he said again. His tears came streaming down as he was telling his story.
"When I found out from his family about you experience while performing the Hajj for my late cousin, I realised Allah wanted to give me a sign and guidance. That's why I looked for you, ustaz. Thank God that we finally meet. I truly regret all my past mistakes and always pray His forgiveness," he added, suddenly hugging Mat.
Mat looked at the young man sadly. He was touched on hearing the sincerity of his confessions. Slowly, Mat released his hold on the man. They both looked at each other. I was speechless, and at the same time, very sad.
"I really don't know what to say. We can't punish anybody. Now we have pray to Allah to forgive all his sins," Mat said to the young man.
They exchanged contact details, phone numbers and home address, and vowed to meet each other again. After shaking hands, the young man bade us farewell and walked away. I let out a sigh, while Mat's eyes followed the young man as he was heading towards his car.
N / F : FROM "THE BEST COLLECTION OF STORIES FROM MECCA", BY MASTIKA.
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