misery business

Today, I received an email that got on my nerves.

You see, I always try my best to attend Jumu'ah prayer (Friday prayer) ever since coming to the UK in 2009. Sure, there have been a few occasions where I was unable to attend due to lectures, surgery or emergency and by "a few", i mean extremely rarely. 

And now that I'm currently in the final specialty of Year 4 - Psychiatry (Yeay!), I noticed that the Central Teaching sessions begin usually at 1.30pm on Fridays. And this will be going on for the next 5 Fridays beginning this week. So obviously this is a huge deal for me!

Before I start telling you my story, there are 3 characters in my story: Me, NL (nice lady) and EL (evil lady).

The story begins with me emailing NL because she's the admin at RDH:

Hello, 

I noticed that the Central Teachings on Friday usually commence at 1.30pm for the afternoon session. However, on Fridays, I would have to attend the Friday prayer which is held at the Prayer Room at Royal Derby Hospital. It usually starts around 1.10pm and ends at about 1.45pm. Hence, would it be possible for me to arrive later for the afternoon session of the Central Teachings? 

Thank you. 

Best wishes, 

Wafi

After a few hours, I received the reply from NL:

Hi Adlan, 

With reference to your query about attending Friday prayers, you may attend them. However, please be mindful of the email below sent from Faculty. I hope this will not affect your study. 

Best wishes, 

NL 

______________________________________________________________________

From: EL 

Sent: Monday, April 08, 2013 10:53 AM 

To: NL

Subject: Student and prayer time 

Hi NL, The Capitol has said that it is ok but it has to be made very clear to him that he is missing valuable teaching time and that he has no come back if he fails as a result of missing this. 

Best wishes, 

EL

Ok cuba teka apa perasaan saya lepas dapat email ni?

A. Angry

B. Feels like setting fires

C. Time to start a rebellion

Yes, tepat sekali. It's so easy for people to get on my nerves nowadays and especially with my rebellious nature, it's even much easier. And Hosni is in my room right now getting on my nerves as I write this post because that's his favourite pastime.

Anyway, I feel offended when I got the email. EL could have rephrased the email in a way that could have been more polite and sensitive. Just because I failed in the past doesn't mean I will fail again. And what does "come back" even mean? I also find it offensive that she used colloquial language towards me who's using English as a second language.

It was a few moments later that I received the final email for this story which definitely made my day from NL:

A prayer :)

Terus padam segala api kemarahan dalam diri. Astagfirullah.

A prayer, a reminder that Allah is the one who will determine my result. A reminder that I have to try my best in my endeavours. A reminder that there is hope and that Allah is always with us.

So yeah, with this email, I would like to start a campaign called,  

PRAY FOR MAY

Twitter hashtag: #prayformay

Yeah, ever heard a hadith that sounds like this:

"…the dua of a muslim for his brother (in Islam) in his absence is readily accepted, and an angel is appointed to his side, whenever he makes a beneficial dua for his brother the appointed angel says “Ameen and may you also be blessed with the same” " [Muslim]

So please, pray for me and pray for us. Huhu.

Another take home message is, be adamant when it comes to you being izzah. Try your best to fulfill your duties as a Muslim especially when you're not in a country that practices Islam. And if you're living in a Muslim country, be grateful cause it's easy for you to showcase your love to Allah. Highlight your izzah to the world. Show it to everyone.  Be proud, say it loud...