Wait For Your Turn

“Phew! There are such a lot of people here, mum. And they’re all pushing!” cried 8 year old Yusuf, holding his mother’s hand tightly. “It’s okay, honey. Just stay close and you won’t get lost.” replied his mother, her eyes glued to the Ka’aba. In the burning heat of Makkah, they had come to perform the Umrah, and it was Yusuf’s first time coming. He had been very struck with everything so far, including Masjid-al-Haram, and the two mountains, Safaa and Marwa. He had listened carefully to his mother when she explained that these two mountains were there to honour the courage and pioty of Hajar, prophet Ismail’s mother, and how she had walked from Safa to Marwa seven times in search of water.

Yusuf had greatly enjoyed his stay at Makkah until now, and had learnt many things he did not know before.

Now, as they were walking around the Ka’abah, Yusuf was struggling to walk at a proper pace, because he was surrounded by all sides with people who were eager to reach the front and pray in front of the Ka’aba. He got pushed, even shoved at some point, and it was all he could do to not push back.

However, when he had been roughly pulled aside by his collar, he decided he could no longer bear the crowd, and started to push anyone who dared to touch him.

His mother looked down at him, and shook her head, frowning. “What are you doing, Yusuf? Don’t do that; I will explain when we are back at the hotel,” she said, and he nodded.

After they reached their hotel, ate food, and took a shower, Yusuf’s mother told him to sit on the bed. “I will tell you why I told you not to push people near the Ka’abah, but first, I will tell you a story which happened to me and my family when I was small.”

Yusuf beamed at her. He loved hearing stories, so he seated himself beside his mother, and waited for her to start.

She began, “I was about your age when we went to do Hajj, and I was with my parents because we lived right beside the Ka’abah. When the time came for us to go to Arafat, the bus wouldn’t come, and people were starting to get impatient. When the bus finally arrived, everybody was eager to get inside, and, as you can imagine, there was a lot of shoving going on, and people weren’t being polite to each other, either.

A huge crowd of people managed to get in the bus. So many people were there that the bus was getting disbalanced. Meanwhile, the rest were pushed out and left behind.

But, as you know, the people who wait and are patient always get the reward in the end. Another bus came shortly, and they all boarded without any fights. On the other hand, the bus which had departed before, broke down in the middle of the way because of its disbalance, and the people on board the bus had to get off, while the other bus made its way peacefully to Arafat.”

“Oh,” said Yusuf thoughtfully. “So the people who shoved others out of the bus had to wait again?” he asked, and his mother nodded.

“So you see, being impatient never helps. Allah (S.W.T) doesn’t like it either when his slaves are getting hurt by others, and of course, their prayers are not accepted when they do it by hurting other Muslims.

There is a hadith by the prophet about it: ‘Calmness is from Allah and haste is from shaytaan’. And that, my son, is very true. Satan gives you impatience, but you become calm once more at remembering Allah (S.W.T).

Yusuf smiled at his mother. “What a beautiful Hadith! It’s just what I needed for today.”

“Yes,” his mother replied, getting up as the Adhan sounded in the distance. “Come on, let’s go and pray with that Hadith in our hearts.”

Written by: Maryam Sohaib