The Invitation

The cold stream from the air-con made me pull up my jacket. I looked at my notes. The lecturer was reading whatever was on the notes aloud, like we couldn’t read.

The module was on a beautiful subject – the seerah, or life, of the Prophet Muhammed (sallallahu alaihi wassalam – may peace and blessings be upon him). It is the epic story of God’s Message to his most beloved creation, one man’s struggle to bring the Message to his people, his trials and tribulations, his faith in Allah and his eventual victory. It is the story of humility in the face of glory, piety in the face of triumph, miracles in the face of complete disbelief and Truth in the face of falsehood. It is the story of a man whom I love without having seen, and whom I look forward to meeting within my life or after it.

But the lecturer was not giving the subject its due weight. He was reading off the slides. He spoke calmly. Calm doesn’t work for me. It makes me sleepy. It makes me think of what I want to do on Sunday morning and what I want to eat for lunch on Monday.

It also made me wonder about Arabia in the 600s. I was wondering about Mecca in the year 650. I wondered how the Ka’bah looked like, and how it looked like now. I wondered about the paths travelled by the Prophets Ibrahim alaihissalam, Musa (a.s.) and ‘Isa (a.s.).

Can I see them? I must see them. I must see the Ka’bah which Ibrahim (a.s.) built with his son Isma’il (a.s.). 

I want to visit the House of Allah. I must bring my boys so that Allah can bless them and their own kids. I must visit Sayidina Muhammad s.a.w. in Medinah. I must. Maybe we all could perform the ‘Umrah in March?

The thought overtook me. The more I thought the more it made sense. I am young. I am able. I have the finances now. I am possibly flying to the U.S. for a year. What better place to visit than Allah’s house before such a life-changing period?

I thought about it some more. Some doubts. Did I want to put my family through such a journey, which would admittedly entail some inconveniences and hardships? Was I biting off more than I can chew in view of a possible huge-ass packing exercise before the U.S. trip? Could this thought merely be a flight of fantasy during a unbearably uninspiring class?

I looked around. The lecture still went on. The aircon was still making me cold. Everything seemed the same. But I knew something within me changed.