THE STORY OF A YOUNG WOMAN Originally Posted by: Nour Academy- Teaching Arabic and Quran to non-Arabic speaking Muslims It is with great sadness that City University Islamic Society announces the loss of one of its members, who has left behind many contributions, memories, and whose death has by the will of Allah, inspired many to take Islam more seriously and to reflect upon the realities of this life. Sister Komal Rashid, who was tested with a very rare and severe abdominal cancer has returned to Allah the Almighty on Saturday 18/08/12, which was the very last day of Ramadan. She was a student of Optometry at City University. Our beloved prophet Muhammed peace be upon him has taught us to mention the good deeds of the deceased and to pray for them and hence the purpose of this article is to share with you some reflections and some inspiring details about our sister’s experience, hoping that she will benefit from your duaa’ and also hoping for you to take inspiration to increase your zeal for Islam and for the serving of it, both on campus and in your general life. Despite the common thought that death is far from the youth, Komal passed away at the age of 20. She was just like you, a student who went school, college and worked hard to come to university. It was by Allah’s mercy that Komal was a practicing Muslim and her passion for Islam had noticeably increased during the last year of her life, despite her not knowing about the approaching calamity. She was a keen student of knowledge who spent a lot of her time learning about Islam and giving dawah. Several individuals have been guided by Allah to Islam through her dawah, including her own close friend whom she knew since a very young age and who proved to be a great example of a true friend and sister in Islam, having accompanied Komal in hospital all the time until she died. In addition to all this, Komal was known to be so fierce against innovations and polytheistic practices and detested people’s putting forward of their own personal opinions to matters whose rulings have been made clear in Islam. She loved quoting this to her opponents: ‘It is not befitting for a believing man and believing woman, when a matter has been decided by Allah and His messenger, to have any option about their decision. [Al-Ahzab: 36] Her deep love for Islam and sacrifices for it have made her lose a great deal of interest in worldly matters and she longed to meet Allah the Almighty and enter Jannah. It was well known that Komal’s greatest wish was to die as a martyr and more surprisingly she deeply wished (even when she was in severe pain) to partake in the struggle against tyranny, particularly in the blessed land of Al-Sham. She had made a duaa’, asking Allah the Almighty to raise her in rank, purify her and bring her close to Him and soon after, she received the news about her cancer. Despite the pain and the rarity of her condition, she was very patient, content and even thankful to Allah. ‘Allah tests those whom He loves most’, ‘you have no idea how content I am with my cancer. Allah has chosen me’- these were her words said often, particularly when her guests cried. Mostly remembered was her constant saying of ‘Alhamdulila’ (praise be to Allah) when she was in the Intensive Care Unit, while being heavily sedated. She used to also shout, ‘Laa hawla walaa quata ila billah’ when she went through moments of sudden and severe pain. Additionally, while being sedated in the ICU, she would ask for updates about the situation in Syria and would make duaa for the Muslims and say, ‘At least I get the medical care.’ What is more is that she would remember to pray ‘Asr while being sedated and would say the takbeer and lift her hands up. Our dearest Komal, loving was her heart and beautiful were her manners. She had some dreams towards the last weeks of her life, which she strongly perceived to be a sign about the closeness of her death, but she did not tell them to her mother, family and friends, as she did not want to upset anyone, particularly her mother, as everyone had hope for her recovery. She only informed a sheikh who came for her ruqya and asked him to only share the dream and some advice she left for her family if calamity strikes, and so he did. Days after the sheikh had heard of her death, he informed her family about Komal’s dream. Her dream was that she saw a house, its inside was seen from the outside and it was packed with children. Outside this house stood prophet Ibrahim peace be upon him and she knew who he was, so she asked him about that house, and he responded ‘This is your house in Jannah’. For some, this beautiful dream brought to mind this haddith, ‘In Paradise there is a house whose outside can be seen from the inside and whose inside can be seen from the outside.” It was asked: Who is this for o Messenger of Allah? He said: “It is for the one who makes his speech good and decent, who feeds others and spends the night standing (in prayer) whilst others are sleeping.” [ Reported by al-Haakim] Komal was one of those who prayed tahajud almost daily during her life, and in fact, the very last thing she did just before she fell into the final coma, was prayed two rakaat of tahajud at 1am. May Allah make this dream become a reality for Komal. The last few days of her life were very difficult for her family and friends. Her condition suddenly deteriorated at midnight and she asked the nurses to call her parents to come over to the hospital and they came rushing. She then said to her mother, ‘Mum, take me home. I am not going to make it. Life and death are in the hands of Allah. These doctors can’t do anything to save me.’ Little did everyone know that she was going to die in two days time. Her mother, feeling desperate to help her daughter refused to take her home. She then sat beside Komal and watched her fall asleep. In her sleep, Komal began smiling, lifting her arm up and pointing with her finger saying ‘Look, rivers of honey and milk, trees of apples and bananas.’ It was very rare to see her smile at that time as she was in severe pain as her cancer was spreading. Her mother was bewildered, and tried to wake her up, but Komal replied with an assertive voice, ‘No, I’m happy’. She woke up after and refused to talk about her dream despite being asked about it. Komal passed away two days after this incident. After her death, she was no longer referred to as ‘Komal’; rather it was the ‘body’. The reality of her death had hit us hard. Many Muslims gathered for her Janazah and burial, which took place on 21/08/12. Indeed, this is the reality of life and the grave is a station to which we are all heading and our actions can make it either a garden from Jannah or a hole from Jahannam. Komal feared the grave and the punishment of the grave. Who wouldn’t? Great companions such as Abu Bakr may Allah be pleased with him stood by the grave and cried. Muhammed peace be upon him said, ‘Verily the grave is the first station for the Hereafter; so if he is saved from it, then what comes after is easier than it. And if he is not saved from it, then that which comes after is harder.’[Ahmad,1/225] May Allah save Komal from the punishment of the grave and expand her grave for her. Alhamdulila, we were very pleased to know that Komal used to recite surat al-Mulk regularly, and it is urged that you memorise it and recite it often too. Allah the Almighty says, ‘Every soul is certain to taste death: We test you all through the bad and the good, and to Us you will all return.’ [Al-Quran, 21:35.] This is the undeniable truth! You would only be fooling yourself to allow yourself to take your youth and health for granted and assume that your day is still far ahead. Think to yourself, am I ready to meet Allah? What have I achieved? And am I fulfilling the purpose for which I exist to the best of my ability? Do take this seriously, before the day comes when you will be in utter regret and wishing from the deepest of your heart that you had added more good deeds to your scale and removed more sins from it. May Allah forgive Komal and envelope her in His Mercy. May He expand her grave for her, wash her with water, snow and hail. May He give her an abode better than her home and family better than her family. May He take her to Jannah and protect her from the punishment of the grave. May He accept her as a martyr. Ameen
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 19:55:26 +0000