HA, HA, HA! HE'S DOING TAWAF WITH HIS REAR STICKING UP

HA, HA, HA! HE'S DOING TAWAF WITH HIS REAR STICKING UP

AFTER visitng Medina, the 40 pilgrims of our Umra group departed for Mecca. There, they were housed in their respective hotels, before I, as ahead of the Umra group, and one of the company's agents, checked us in.

     Most of the pilgrims that came with us were rather well off. Some were businessmen, while others held high position in both private companies and government sectors. With such a comfortable life, there were some among them who thought nothing of showing their dissatisfaction each time they were unhappy with something. They would report even the trivial things to me. Because of that, I was worried for not able to fulfill their needs.

     At 10.00 am the next day, we went to Al-Masjid al-Haram to perform tawaf for the first time. Together with the company's agent, I guided and accompanied the other pilgrims. Alhamdulillah, everything went smoothly.

     However, when I was walking to kiss Hajaralaswad (the black stone), an African man crossed over in front of us. His skin was dark and looked dreadful, while his robe was dirty and torn. I observed the man, my heart filled with pity as he was disabled and did his tawaf with his rear sticking up, and his hands and feet supporting his position. He appeared like he was crawling.

     It is not my intention to make fun of anyone, but for the sake of giving a clearer picture, forgive me if I say that his posed resembled that of a gorilla. I felt so humbled when I saw him; for here was a man, who, despite being handicapped and poor, still drove himself to perform his duties to Allah. Such was his piety.

     "Ha, ha, ha, he, he he!"... Suddenly I could here someone laughing next to me. It was a loud guffaw. What was so funny? Then, I turned.

     The laughter was coming from one of the pilgrims that I had brought over with us. The man was in his 40s and came with his wife. He was among the pilgrims who always had something to complain about. He was laughing loudly, his hands holding his stomach.

     "Why are you laughing?" I asked the man.

     "Can't you see? There... ha, ha, ha!" the man said, while pursing his lips in the direction of the African man who was doing his tawaf in front of him. "How could you Tawaf like that... ho, ho, ho, he, he, he," he laughed even louder.

     The faster the African man swayed his rear side, the louder he laughed, until tears came running down his cheeks. "How could he do it like that... eee, so funny!" said the pilgrim while still clutching his stomach.

     "Abang, it's not good to laugh at other people," his wife reproached him. But the man paid no attention to her. So, I went closer to him.

     "It's not good to do that, brother. We are in front of the Kaaba, don't ridicule other people. The good, the bad, the ugly, the pretty, fat, thin, rich or poor, they're all Allah's creations. Don't joke about it," I said. But he continued laughing.

     "Enough, Abang," his wife told him off. The man tried to close his mouth but failed to contain his laughter. The other pilgrims turned to look at him, unable to understand why he was laughing so much.

     When the African man was out of sight, his laughter subsided for a while. But then suddenly, "Hah, he's here again... he, he, he!" said the man, laughing loudly as the African man crossed in front of him to continue with his tawaf. He was so tickled seeing the man's rear end bending down and swaying.

     That happened several times until the African man was out of our sight and so we went to do our tawaf. In the journey back to the hotel after the tawaf and tahalul, the man started to laugh again as he recalled what he had seen. We could only shake our heads. Did he not realise that his action was akin to ridiculing Allah's creations?

     The next day, after Fajr prayer and Miqat, we got ready to do the tawaf again. But, with Allah's will, just as the man was about to lift his leg to cross the starting line for the tawaf, suddenly something shocked happened.

     "Ya Allah! What's wrong with my legs?!" the man said, whilst trying to lift his legs with both of his hands.

     "What's wrong, bang?" his wife asked, panicking.

     "Mah, my legs have suddenly gone weak," he told his wife.

     The man's feet appear to be glued to the floor of the mosque and he couldn't even muster the strength to lift them. The situation confounded us because he was fine earlier. It was impossible that he would suddenly fell ill.

     "Ya Allah, what is this, tuan haji?" the man asked the tour organiser, anxiously. His face was pale. It was obvious that he was truly in panic and worried. As was his wife.

     The situation became chaotic. We gathered around the man and tried to help him to take a step, but failed. His legs seemed pinned to the ground, while his energy seemed to have dissipated completely. If yesterday he was the one looking at other people, today, he was the focus of our attention.

     After watching him for a while, the tour organiser held his shoulders. "Brother, based on my experience organising pilgrims, I think you must done something wrong," he said.

     The man fell silent. He looked pensive, while wiping the sweat that was tricking down his face. His eyes gazed at me, before shifting to the tour agent.

     "Don't be embarrassed. Just tell me, This is for your own good too," said the agent when he saw that the man appeared like he was about to say something, but was too afraid to spill it out.

     "Tell us and insya-Allah, you might be able to lift your legs again later," he said, trying to convince the man. Suddenly crying, the man said that he believed what was happening to him probably had something to do with his behaviour earlier - laughing at the African man doing his tawaf with his rear sticking up.

     "Ustaz, I know that was the mistake I made. I laughed at him when he was doing his tawaf, and now I can't even do my own tawaf," he said, wiping the tears from his eyes.

     "Alhamdulillah, at least you've realised your mistakes. It would be even better if you could do salat sunat taubat and du'a. Allah is all-forgiving and insya-Allah. He will forgive your mistakes," I said.

     Then we took the man to the area near the site of Prophet Ibrahim's (pbuh) footprints. After completing our salat sunat taubat, I saw the man lift both his hands up in supplication to Allah. He sobbed uncontrollably. I knew the man was really sorry about what he did and was truly repentant.

     In my heart, I acknowledged Allah's power. How swiftly He demonstrate His greatness to His servants who were so absorbed in themselves. I was grateful also that despite being put through such a humiliating experience, the man was given the chance to learn a very valuable lesson.

     After that, we brought the man to the starting line of tawaf. He lifted his right leg and began... until it was over. Alhamdulillah, his legs were back to normal and he could walk just like the rest of us.

     Several days later, we left for home. Two years after that incident, I am sure that the man will cease to laugh at any of Allah's creations, no matter how appalling they look to his eyes.

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