His tiny fingers grasped my index finger. I spoke to him about the political turmoil in Myanmar, and after giggling, attempted to give his opinion through a variety of sounds and facial expressions. He was so adorable that I couldn’t pull myself away to mingle with my other friends who had attended the openhouse. It was little Krishen, the son of my friend of 13 years. This friend of mine, we had studied together in secondary school. From talking about our Tamil teacher and discussing our future options on which JC to attend when we were teens, to now me playing with her kid during my Hari Raya open house at my place – it was surreal.
Time flies. When relating the incident where a group of people will be asked how long they stayed on this world, Allah says in the Holy Qur’an:
"“What number of years did ye stay on earth?”
They will say: “We stayed a day or part of a day: but ask those who keep account.”"
23: 112-113
This life, in retrospective, will seem like it lasted only for a day! We can catch glimpses of this even by recounting a past period in our lives – just recollect the first day of Uni or NS. The memory will be fresh, but it would’ve probably happened 7 or 5 years ago. You would probably recollect many, many such instances. The crux of the matter is, time is constantly fading away and remains only as memories in our minds (and/or Flickr, Facebook, etc). It is as if we are each like meteorites, each approaching our own impact (or end) with a tremendous velocity, and eventually forming a ‘crater’ in this world but continuing our lives in the Hereafter. The most logical thing to do would be to realize this end destination, and prepare for it during the extremely short trajectory here.
As we expect our first child, I am filled with marvel, curiosity and anticipation. When I first learnt that my wife was pregnant, I was overwhelmed with a feeling that I’ve never felt before – I felt as though I had been part of an ordainment from Allah Himself, to create a child in this world, as our own. It is indeed a heavy responsibility. Already our responsibility as Allah’s vicegerent is heavy – to care for another life is indeed another aspect.
Every visit to the gynecologist at Thomson Medical Centre reveals something beautiful about Allah, about us, and of course about our child.
The progression of a tiny blood clot, the existence of which could only be ascertained by the rapid blinking of the heart (shown by a flickering white spot in the ultrasound scan), forming into a foetus, humbles my wife and I as we see how we ourselves came into being in this world. It is nothing short of a miracle. As the days go by, the intensity of the marvel builds. Now, when I speak to the child as it is in the womb, it seems to respond, with tiny movements, Subhanallah!
In this, there is a symphony of Allah’s unmatched Beauty and Grace that pierces through our hearts – no, our very souls. The creation of the new being among our midst also makes us appreciate the value of the life, and the immense responsibility on our shoulders to make it a true Servant of Allah, one who realizes his or her role in the Plan of Creation, and abides by it. Insha Allah, may He give us the energy, ability and knowledge to do so.
Alhamdulillah, as we’re in the second trimester, please pray for the well-being of our child, and its healthy delivery into this world.
