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On Sunday 17th April 2011, we attended a congregational dhikr in Burundi. The mosque consists of two containers, which we placed together and altered and upgraded. In fact, it looks very nice from the inside.  Midway through the dhikr, I was told that somebody wanted to recite Shahadah. So I stopped the dhikr, because the reciting of Shahadah to enter Islam takes precedence. A fairly young lady with two very young children came up and sat in front of me. One of our murids, Ebrahim Mavela, explained to her that to become Muslim she must reject her previous beliefs especially that Nabi Esa (a.s.) was the son of God. If one is a Muslim, one believes in the unity of God and that Nabi Muhammad (ﷺ) is the final Messenger. This was explained to her on my instruction. I then recited the Shahadah in English, and she repeated it after me. On her request, I gave her the name Faeesa, after one of the murids sitting in the congregation. I was then asked to name her baby.

Sometimes things happen and we take very little notice, because we are so involved in our own affairs. When one is in Tariqah, one eventually reaches a point at which one sees the workings of Allah (ﷻ) in everything that happens around one. It is always Allah (ﷻ) at work. It is never us. It was Allah (ﷻ) at work that brought the lady to come and sit in front of me and to recite Shahadah. This was part of a Divine Decree that played itself out in the little mosque. But more was to happen.

The moment I started reciting the Adhan in the baby’s right ear, the baby started smiling and the smile lit up her whole face, with a strange kind of brightness. Those who saw what was happening also started to smile and to laugh. When the Adhan ended, the smile stopped and the baby went to sleep. I named her Fowzia. The other child I named Rhoda.

Over the years, especially my latter years, Allah (ﷻ) has taught me to see His Actions in all affairs. When the baby smiled brightly for the Adhan, it was again Allah (ﷻ) at work; making the baby’s soul respond to the Sacred Words. Many of us don’t want to see and don’t want to learn. Many of us stay away from the Sunday morning congregational adhkar for all kinds of reasons. But again, it is as Allah (ﷻ) wants. Only some of us had to see the response of the soul to the Sacred Words, and how this response brought about a bright smile on the face of the little child. I have spoken so many times about the power of the Sacred Words. I have spoken in so many letters about our Lord’s Workings, but sometimes we either do not learn or we are slow in learning. Every time events happen amongst the very poor people; events, which one way or another have to do with Allah (ﷻ). Allah (ﷻ) is our Lord, and as our Lord, He teaches us different matters under different circumstances. The lady reciting Shahadah; her heart was under Divine instruction. It was opened, and it was changed. The smiling baby when she heard the Adhan; it was Allah (ﷻ) that made her respond in that way. It is always Allah (ﷻ).

We must all try to understand that Allah (ﷻ) is in charge of His creation; from the smallest to the biggest, and all events in that creation; from the insignificant to the most powerful. Our education and the discourses prevalent in our society, encourage us to believe that we are solely in charge of our own affairs and all that happens in existence, or at least on this planet, is as we have determined it. In our education and in these discourses, there is no God, or if there is God, He plays no role neither does He have any say in human affairs. These teachings have brought us all to the brink of destruction, but we persist. Perhaps the call today to all of humanity is to return to the teachings of Islam. We ask Allah (ﷻ) for that, amin.

[Unpublished 2012]

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