Episode 21 - Alshani

Umm Hitham.. She was knitting the woolen sweater (the knitted sweater) with her hands for her son who told her in his last contact: (My beloved mother, I have a request for you: Knit me a woolen sweater with your hands and ask my father to send it with my friend Imad, his flight is on Thursday after next. I know you will tire yourself out knitting it, but I want to remember you while I wear it.. I will feel that you knitted it with your affection, your kindness, your love, my dear.. I will feel while I wear it that you are embracing me to your chest.. In short, my dear: knit it.. Alshani). Abu Hitham would comment - half-jokingly - as he saw his wife engrossed in knitting: (So, Mr. Hitham, are you out of sweaters! You can buy the best sweater for twenty dinars instead of tiring your mother and straining her eyes at night with this request!).

As for Umm Hitham, she was never affected by what her husband said.. Hitham's word: (Alshani) echoed in her ears.. She would from time to time cut her engrossment in knitting for a moment while she held back her tears, a tear of joy at fulfilling Hitham's request, or a tear of longing for him. Umm Hitham was knitting the sweater with pleasure even though her vision and a bit of dryness in her fingers did not help her.. But she would gather her strength whenever she remembered Hitham's word (Alshani), and she would say to her husband: (Nothing is too much for Hitham.. As long as Hitham asked, I will be patient).

Hard work turns into pleasure when the one who asks for it is dear to our hearts.. And with the amount of our love for him, the pleasure of suffering for him increases. So how if the one who asks for it from us is: Allah, the Exalted! Allah asks you to be patient seeking His noble face: {And those who are patient, seeking the face of their Lord} [Ar-Ra'd: 22]..

And He, the Exalted, said to His Prophet, peace be upon him: {And for your Lord, then be patient} [Al-Mudaththir: 7].. The interpreters said about its meaning: That is, make your patience for Allah and for His sake. Is there much patience for Allah?!

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: ((If a man were to be dragged on his face from the day he was born until the day he dies as an old man in the pleasure of Allah, the Exalted, he would consider it little on the Day of Resurrection)) (Hasan by Al-Albani).

Imagine! If from your birth until the day of your death at an old age, you spent these eighty or ninety years being dragged on your face for the sake of Allah, you would consider this work little on the Day of Judgment and find it nothing when you know the greatness of the Lord for whose sake you were tested and see His honor for you for your patience for His sake!

Whenever you feel the length of the trial and the exhaustion of patience, say: (Since Allah has asked me to be patient, I will be patient.. Seeking the face of Allah. For Allah is the greatest beloved, and nothing is too much for Allah).