Sunday 20 April 2008

Who’s Rooting For You?

In 2006 I attended a diversity conference via work with my best friend, amongst various speakers at this conference was a gentleman called Richie Dayo-Johnson who spoke about his past failures and difficulties in life and how he overcame them and then found ways to help others.

One thing stood out at that conference though. He asked for a volunteer from the audience (of about 200) and best friend volunteered and was picked. He pinned a £10 note high-up one of the stage walls and then told her if she could touch it she could keep it, but she gets three tries. So she jumped and couldn’t reach, then the audience started cheering her on and she jumped higher, then the audience starting shouting solutions out. On someone’s advice she pulled a chair over, got up and took the £10 note. By this time the audience, best friend and Mr Dayo-Johnson were all in high spirits.

Before she left the stage, Dayo-Johnson pointed out to her how many people were cheering her on. He said to us that we cannot imagine how many people are out there rooting for us. Even people we do not know or have never met.

Think of our Ummah. How many people we have never met must pray for us? Maybe even cry for us? During prayer, during hajj, during their own difficult times. Thinking of us as their daughters and sisters in Islam, as the little mothers of this Ummah?

3 comments:

  1. Mash'Allah sis!
    I was so thinking of this lately. There is a person who is always in my prayer...subhan'Allah, this person it is in my dear prayer all the time as I know this person needs my prayers and other people prayers more than any other. We all need prayers of course this dunya is Hellfire for the believers and Paradise for the unbelievers!
    As Muslims we should always keep our brothers and sisters in our dua'as, even if we don't get on with all, even if we are far and don't see each other, even if relationship are not good, a little extra effort can win Jannah! Allah Alim.
    jazak'Allahu kheir for sharing this sis.

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  2. Assalam-alaikam Sister Muslimah,
    what an amazing thought, that a little extra effort can win Jannah, if we think like this we'll keep trying that little bit harder each day inshallah. Remember me in your dua's also. may Allah make all of us mothers successful in our endeavours, ameen.

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