One Year Ago Today
This was supposed to be written yesterday, but I was spending time with Motha Nature so here we are today!
One year ago today, things were different. One year ago today, I came home from college thinking I’d be back in one short week. One year ago today, I told my roommate to stop being dramatic when I was leaving to come home because it’d only be for a week. One year ago, we weren’t wearing masks. Or putting on hand sanitizer every time we got in the car. One year ago today, less people spent more time praying. One year ago today, the world was noisy. One year ago today, Allah (swt) blessed us with a reminder of Him.
For my fellow Hokies, March 6, 2020 was the day that we all left Blacksburg for spring break only bringing 2 sweats, 1 hoodie, 1 “nice outfit”, and a hamper full of laundry. We didn’t get to say our good-bye’s to our closest friends, but if you were lucky, you did get to say “see you in a week” to some. So many Seniors who were supposed to have commencement at Lane Stadium 2 months later went home for a week not knowing they wouldn’t get their chance to walk through the tunnel and sit on the field with the rest of their friends and graduating class, surrounded by their family and friends. But on March 6, 2020, the world was noisy, sinful, and losing track of the purpose for which we were put on this Earth by Al-Muhyi (The Giver of Life).
Yes, one year ago today the world was different. But not in the way you would think. This pandemic has inevitably flipped our lives around. For many people, they have lost loved ones to the virus, they have experienced things they’d wish they never had. They’ve been forced to stay in their homes out of fear of catching the virus. Some have caught the virus and recovered from it (ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّٰ), while others were called by Allah (swt). But all of these things have taught us such an important lesson — the lesson of Sabr. When someone’s loved one passes away, the most common dua’s followed by إِنَّا لِلَّٰهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ are that the deceased may be among the highest ranks of Jannat-Ul-Firdaus and that Allah (swt) may grant the family of the deceased Sabr to deal with this loss. The loss of something always leads to receiving something greater, and sometimes what is received is Sabr — the best gift.
I’ve repeatedly said that the world was “noisy” before the pandemic. My meaning of this is both literal and figurative. The world was always hustling and bustling before the pandemic. There have been multiple pictures of cities that look abandoned when compared to pre-covid life. But now there is a sense of quiet in the world. A quiet that allows us to hear ourselves and hear those in trouble. Figuratively (and literally), the noise in this world is sin. Amidst the pandemic, a lot of people have had more time for reflection and making changes to their lifestyles. With this time, many have added Allah (swt) to their lives and removed the noise. This leads me to talk about how Allah (swt) reminded us of his power during the pandemic.
Each COVID-19 virion is between 50–200 nanometers in diameter, so we cannot even begin to imagine how tiny this virus is, SubhanAllah. Yet this virus turned our lives around. Allah (swt) sent us the biggest reminder for why we were put on Earth and the power that He has. Nothing in this world can live or die without the permission of its creator. The verse “whenever He decrees a matter He (merely) says: “Be,” and it is” (Quran 2:117) is the perfect illustration of this concept in the Quran. So many people’s hearts had fallen into normalizing a lifestyle that was not the one Allah (swt) told us to live and follow, and He provided us with this ever-so-tiny virus that paused the world and purified countless hearts and brought people back to Islam and to Allah (swt). Al-Khaafid, or the One who humbles, reminded us to always praise Him and His greatness. For those who have recovered from COVID, it is because of the blessings of Allah (swt) that they were able to recover. For those who have returned to Him, it is because He called upon them and brought them out of this Dunya to their final destination in the Aakhira.
One year ago today, things were different. But for now, the noise has quieted down and the blessings are continuing to flow in. Reminder: remember Allah (swt) in everything you do, because without Him we would have nothing.
May Allah (swt) grant Jannat-Ul-Firdaus to every soul who has returned to Him. May Allah (swt) continue to grant us all Sabr. May Allah (swt) accept our repentances. May Allah (swt) keep us on Sirat-Ul-Mustaqim. May Allah (swt) grant us good health. May Allah (swt) grant relief to all those who are suffering. May Allah (swt) invite us back to His home to witness the beauty of the Ka’bah and feel the spirituality in Makkah and Madinah. May Allah (swt) allow us to see the end of this pandemic and reunite us all again soon. Ameen.
