Am I ready to face my Lord?

The Day...
It was 14th March, 2010, Sunday. The weather was salubrious and the train towards Chennai was moving fast...

The Train
The name of the train was Yelagiri Express. It usually departs from Tirupattur at 4.30 AM in the morning and reaches Chennai Central at 9.00 AM. It is known as JP Exp., Link Exp., etc. It is the most prefered train. It halts at Jolarpettai, Tirupattur, Vaniyambadi, Ambur, Gudiyattam, Katpadi, Arakkonam etc, etc.
The train was full of all kinds of people - traders, businessmen, housewives, students, office-goers, teachers etc.

The Men...
Janab H Abdur Raqeeb Sahib, Janab P Muhammad Yousuf, Janab C Tufail Ahmed were among those in the train which was moving fast towards Chennai. They are all veterans of the Islamic Movement in this part of the world and have spent decades in the struggle to establish Deen in all walks of life.
The weather was pleasant and the three musafirs of rah-e-huq cherished every moment of the journey. They were at their best as they were proceeding to Chennai for an important event. They were attached to Islamic Foundation Trust and they were on their way to attend the bi-annual meeting of the Board of Trustees of Islamic Foundation Trust. They were engrossed in deep discussion..

The incident...
When the train screeched to halt in Katpadi Junction, Br P Muhammad Yousuf and Br C Tufail Ahmed alighted from the train to get a cup of tea. They were never aware of what lied ahead them.

It was just an usual day. They have alighted here for tea umpteen number of times.

Then it happened.
They were in the platform roaming here and there in search of tea vendor. But , Strangely they could not sight the ubiquitous tea vendor.

Seconds moved fast into minutes.
Suddenly the train started to move. Both the brothers hurried to enter the train. Br CTA got the foothold and was in the train. Br PMY too followed suit.

Alas..! It happened in a fraction of a second..!

Br P Md Yousuf slipped and fell..!
His legs got trapped in between the gap of the moving train and the platform...
And the departing train was moving gently..!
Br P Md Yousuf was shocked for a moment. But at the next instant, he tried to extract his trapped legs. He tried hard... But, he felt as if the train is pulling him to the pit.
1... 2... 3... 4... Four bogies passed him with his legs still trapped in between the train and the platform..!
Meanwhile, the onlookers gathered around him and instinctly tried to lift him..
Then in a spur of the moment he got his legs lifted and stood on his own.
The train was gaining momentum. The onlookers urged him to get in the train. He paused and declined to catch the train. In the melee, both his shoes fell in the railway track. Somebody dived into the empty track and procured the shoes for him. He thanked Almighty Allah and recovered his composure. Then he started to dial and inform everybody about the incident.

In the train..
CTA was in the train and he was startled by the happening. He rushed to pull the chain to stop the train. But the chain didn't budge a inch. Moments passed as ages. Then his phone blinked with the message, ''Yousuf calling..."

In Katpadi Junction..
Br P Muhammad Yousuf catched another train from Katpadi and reached Chennai one and half hour late. He drove straight to the IFT office. He attended the Trust meeting without giving a hint about the accident and got actively involved in the dicussions and proceedings.

The Lesson...
Moulvi Haneefa Manbayee loudly exclaimed, 'It is definitely a miracle. It is grace of Allah'
Br A Shabbeer Ahmed, Ameer-e-Halqa advised, 'Once when you cross 40 you should watch your steps and not behave like a 20 year old youth'.
Somebody opined, 'You have been saved because of some good deed in life'
I remained silent.

The real lesson...
I could not sleep that night. The incident splashed over my mental screen again and again. 'You have been saved because of some good deed in life' the words echoed in my ears.
Suddenly I got up from the bed and the words of Janab Maqsood Alam flashed in my mind nowhere. He too faced similar situation in his life. He too was given a new lease of Life. His friends too commented that he had been given a fresh lease of life because of some good deed in life. But Moulana Minnathullah Rahmani had a different view. He said had it been on account of some past good deeds he should have been better in heavens instead of this world! May be Allah wants him to add good deeds to his account by doing some specific noble job.

The greater lesson...
Is Yousuf is the lone person who has been given a fresh lease of life? No. Definitely not.
We are all at the mercy of Allah and we are all vulnerable to all kinds of accidents. It is Allah who saves us from calamity. He is the Muhaimin the guardian. He gives us new lease of life every second..!
What do we do with that new lease of life?
What has happened to Br P Muhammad Yousuf could happen to anyone of us anywhere, any time. But, are we ready to face them? Am I ready to face my Lord? That is the most crucial question.

Miyan Tufail Muhammad, the legendary Tahreeki icon of the sub-continent used to say, 'Apne rab say apna hisab saaf rakho! Ho sakta hai yeh tumhari zindgi ka aakhri din ho!' 'Keep your accounts with your Lord clean. who knows? Today may be your last day'

Khurram Murad in one of his speeches mentions, 'The heart in your body seeks the permission of your Lord to beat. When He grants the permission to beat, the heart beats. When He denies, your heart would stop to beat. When the denial would occur? When your heart would stop to beat? Nobody knows. Be eveready to face your Lord'.

Periyar Dasan has embraced Islam!

It is the most pleasant, sweet news of the decade.

Veteran scholar, orator and master of words Professor Periyar Dasan has embraced Islam. He is Professor Abdullah now. All praise to Allah.

According to ARAB NEWS he has planned to perform Umrah. The details of the report by MD RASOOLDEEN are as follows:

Dr. Periyadarshan, who has changed his name to Abdullah, told Arab News Friday that Islam is the only religion in the world that follows a book directly revealed from God.

He said that as a student of comparative religions he believes books of other faiths have not been directly revealed to mankind from God. He said the Holy Qur’an is still in the same format and style as it was revealed to the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) from Almighty Allah.

He also acted in the famous Tamil film “Karuthamma” about the killing of newborn baby girls in some remote villages in India. The production received national award from the Indian government.
“I was well known in India for my atheist theology and later I became to realize that religion is the only way out for human beings both in this world as well as in the hereafter,” he said.
Dr. Abdullah will be performing Umrah on Saturday on his first visit to the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah

I remember the day when I first saw him speak in a Eid Milan programme or Seerah programme organised by the Vaniyambadi Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) people, some eighteen, nineteen years back. The memory of Vaniyambadi programme has etched in my memory because it was the first time wall posters of the function were pasted all over the town. The name பெரியார் தாசன் in big, big letters made a lasting impact in my mind.

And I met him five or six years before in connection with a seminar on Human Rights. It was an adventure as we chased his car following him from his office and met in some xerox shop. Unfortunately, he was not available for our dates and we missed his speech which was full of wit and wisdom.

Whenever we at JIH Chennai sit to organise dawah based programmes, invariably the name Periyar Dasan would crop up.

And now here comes the good news. Allah is Great.

Strangely, my mind is filled with the memories of Valampuri John now. He too was a legendery Tamil orator and prolific writer. He has penned a mesmerising book நாயகம் எங்கள் தாயகம் on the life history of Propher Muhammad (PBUH). It was written in poetic form and was very enchanting. He had also wrote another book on Islam ''இஸ்லாம் இந்த மண்ணுக்கேற்ற மார்க்கம்" He lavishly praised Islam. One could not forget his speech in the South India Conference of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind held at Bangalore in 1999. Moulana Ejaz Ahmed Aslam Sahib translated his speech then.

Unfortunately, Mr John was not blessed with the bounties of Islam. He passed away a non-believer. I had met him in his last days when he was recuparating from his disease in Porur Ramachandra Hospital. He had become very thin. His eyes, cheek, chin.. Oh! It was very pathetic. He was seeing death with his eyes.

We were there to visit him and for iyadat. He poured out his feelings. He said many things which are very personal. Suddenly he trembled and requested to read holy verses of Quran and blew over him. எனக்கு ஓதி ஊதி விடுங்கள்!, he said. In our group Janab K M Siraj Ahmed Sahib was the eldest. He volunteered and recited Ayats and duas and blew them over him. Mr John broke and cried silently. அவருடைய கண்களிலிருந்து கண்ணீர் வழிந்தோடியது! I could not forget that scene till this date.

Dr KVS Habeeb Muhammad was with us. He consoled him and uttered words of comfort. We returned with a heavy heart. We prayed for him.

Janab H Abdur Raqeeb was our Ameer-e-Halqa then. When he came to know about it, he literally packed up Moulana Qutbuddeen Ahmed Baqavi Sahib to Porur alongwith Arifullah Sahib to pray and offer spiritual solace to Mr John.

The ways of Allah are strange Indeed. He is the One who guides. It is His choice.


Read : Seshachalam to Periyar Dasan to Abdullah!
Read : Periyar Dasan Abdullah's journey towards Islam! 
Read : Periyar Dasan's wife to embrace Islam!
Read : Am I ready to face my Lord? 
Read : Periyar Dasan, Moosa Kaka and Maryam Jameelah!