Kneel Before The Hour
Dear Son,
Reading Juz’ 25, I was drawn to the last surah, Al-Jathiyah. Does that sound familiar? That’s right. Your pawpaw, rahimullah, named your aunt, my younger sister, for this surah. Al-Jathiyah, The Kneeling, is named for the inevitable day after our deaths when we will all kneel before Allah.
This chapter, like many in the Qur’an, reminds us of the certainty of death, but also that death and our meeting with Allah will not be the same for all of humankind.
Do those who commit evil deeds imagine that We shall deal with them in the same way as We deal with those who have attached to faith and do righteous deeds, that they will be alike in their living and their dying? How badly they judge. (45:21)
I’m thinking now about the timing of my younger sister, your pawpaw’s last child, entering his life. Maybe it’s the writer in me, but there’s an auspicious quality to it. Your pawpaw’s decline in health began when your aunt was very young. His choosing this name for her reflects a deepening of his faith. Did he know then that his body was changing? Did he feel he was weakening? Did Allah inspire your pawpaw with this surah, to remind him of His certainty and prepare and strengthen him for the journey ahead?
They say, ‘There is nothing but our life in this world. We die, we live, nothing but time destroys us.’ (45:24)
Your pawpaw knew with certainty that this was not true. Islam came to him at a time some might call ‘later in life.’ He was a grown man with three children. But the believers know Allah’s timing is the best timing.
Your pawpaw’s life before Islam testifies that Allah is always preparing us. As you know, he was a marathon runner. He understood endurance and patience. He knew how to pace himself. That endurance, patience, and pacing would serve him through his fifteen-year journey with Parkinson’s disease. It would prepare him for The Hour.
To Allah belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. On the day when The Hour comes, those who follow falsehood will be the losers. You will see every person on their knees, every person shall be summoned to their record. (It will be said), ‘Today you will be requited for your deeds. This record of ours will declare the truth about you. We have been recording whatever you have been doing.’ (45: 27-29)
Your pawpaw moved his body when he could. He ran many miles, lifted weights, and kept his body strong and fluid. Allah moved his soul to kneel before Him. The hard-hearted don’t kneel before God. They deny that they will meet Him. Their spiritual bodies become rigid. They forget how to bend.
In the last few years of your pawpaw’s life, he lost the ability to move. He could no longer kneel physically. But he had knelt before The Hour, that’s what Allah taught him through his life’s journey. So I’ll end this letter with a reminder from your pawpaw’s life: kneel now, while you can, don’t wait until The Hour.
Love,
Mama
Ambata’s son, Idris, shares a recitation of ayaat 27-29 from Surah Al-Jathiyah in the Soundcloud link below:
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Ambata Kazi is a writer, editor and teacher, born and raised in New Orleans, LA and currently residing in the California Bay Area with her family. She is the Senior Editor at Sapelo Square. A catalog of her writing can be found here. Her son, Idris, is a high school freshman who loves basketball and Islam.
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