KITTY! KITTY! KITTY!

KITTY! KITTY! KITTY!

WE had completed our tawaf. Together with several other friends, we performed salat sunat in front of the Kaaba. Having given our salam, Ina suddenly pinched my thigh.

     "Kak Mah! Did you see the kitten that was here earlier?" she asked, her eyes roving back and forth.

     "A kitten? No! I didn't see anything. Are you dreaming, Ina?" I asked, looking at the face of another friend, Khadijah.

     "I don't know, I didn't see any kitten either," Khadijah chipped in, with indifference. before continuing with her du'a.

     "It's true Kak Mah, I saw a kitten climbed up this praying veil while I was praying just now. I was so stunned at the time. Eeeee... I was so disgusted at the sight of its face... it was so ugly. It had siesta wax in its eyes and its nose was runny like it was having the flu. Its fur was so dirty like it had fallen into a drain. Its body had ringworms everywhere..." Ina said seriously.

     "There's no cat here, Ina. If there was, I'm sure we would have seen it. Forget it... it's just your imagination. Just read the Quran," I said. However, I saw that she was restless, like a cat that had lost her kitten.

     After that, Ina quickly got up. She walked slowly, looking to her left and right as if searching for something. We continued with our du'a while others read the Quran. About 15 minutes later, Ina breathlessly came running over to us.

     "Kak Mah, I've looked everywhere but I still can't find it. Where on earth did that kitten go, Kak?" she said, looking at my face and sounded very sad. "When I was doing my salat sunat earlier, the kitten was pulling at my praying veil. Then it climbed onto me and when I finished my prayers, I saw it run around me. Are you sure you didn't see it?" Ina said, again sounding very serious.

     I didn't want to encourage her, but she never stopped with her story. Our pther friends didn't believe her. Was there really a cat in Al-Masjid al-Haram? This place is really well looked after, the cleanliness the main priority. If they let cats roam around, it would definitely soiled this holy place.

     The next day, after we had completed sayee and tahalul, I saw Ina spent most of her time lost in her own thoughts. Barely a word came from her. She was definitely not her usual jovial self. She was constantly looking preoccupied, as if deep in thoughts. Sometimes, she purposely distanced herself from the group. I thought maybe she was offended that none of us took her story seriously. So I persuaded Jah and the other to console Ina. Anyway, it wasn't like she was someone we had just met.

     She was our friend of many years. We understood her manners well. She was always happy and liked to joke around. But this time she was different. As if she was shouldering a huge problem. One day, after completing the Fajr prayer at the Al-Masjid al-Haram, we finally had the opportunity to ask her. I approached Ina and slowly tapped her on the back.

     "What's wrong, Ina? I see that you've been looking very trouble lately. You're not your usual happy self," I said, studying her face really closely.

     Ina sighed. "I don't know kak. Maybe this is my punishment after everything. I've done all this while," she said, hugging me tightly. Her action took me by surprise.

     "What's wrong, Ina?" I asked when I saw her looking so forlorn. It seemed like she was about to cry.

     "Just now the cat came again, kak, after we had performed tahalul. I was so shocked to see it. I don't know where it came from but it just headed straight for my bag."

     "The strangest thing was the fact that there we many other bags there - Kak Mah's, Kak Jah's, Kak Nah's, and even Kak Lela's. But the kitten just started biting on mine. When I turned to call you, it disappeared. Gone, just like that."

     "I immediately recite a du'a, 'O Allah, please save that kitten'. I was worried that it might get stepped on by some pilgrim who was not aware of it and die. O Allah..." said Ina, again covering her face. Her voice trembled.

     I was momentarily lost in thought, pondering the connection between Ina and the kitten. "What is it about you and the kitten? Why don't you tell me," I asked again.

     Ina just gazed ahead.

     "Kak... I've never liked cats. You know how they like to defecate and urinate everywhere. The female is always having babies. And each time they give birth, they will have like six or more. They make me feel so uncomfortable. The males are always fighting. Then there are those, which are over friendly, snuggling up against our legs... I hate it. I really hate to see the cats!"

     "There was one time when I asked my husband to hit a cat which had stolen fish from the kitchen. We really hurt the cat. I was so angry at the time," Ina said again. She paused momentarily and kept looking at the floor.

     "Kak, that's probably why the kitten keeps following me here. Is this Allah's punishment for my cruelty?" her voice sounded so remorseful. Both her hands were gripping my wrist really tightly. My heart was so moved observing her sorrow.

     "I don't know Ina. I don't know what to say. Only Allah knows. It's not for us to guess."

     "I think the best thing you can do is take your ablution and perform your salat sunat taubat. Really repent and change your behaviour when you return later," I advised her.

     Ina immediately when to Zamzam well to take her ablution and performed her salat sunat taubat. Her tears were streaming down incessantly and I saw her shoulders shook while she made her du'a. She then returned to sit next to me again.

     "I truly regretted what I had done, kak. I've made a promise to myself that from this day on, I will never repeat it," said Ina.

     Since my return to Mecca, I've not have the chance to meet with Ina at all as she had moved to Johor Bahru. However, I contacted her recently when I was in the south and she immediately invited me to come to her house. There, I was so shocked to see that Ina was looking after 16 cats in her house!

     "Look at this Kak. My house is like a zoo. My kids like to collect the strays. I also pity these cats. Some were so thin when we first found them but look at them now... all clean and well fed," said Ina, while cradling one of the kittens. I expressed my gratitude to Allah for sending a sign to my friend, Ina.

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