A Firm Belief!

Picture taken from Internet 

I don't remember what year it was! I was a child running for my life. I managed to turn my head without breaking the momentum of my frantic speed. There was a sea of people following me with varying expressions of worry, scare and concern. Reaching the sky behind that crowd was the giant monster!

We were in a tent in Mina during Hajj when my mother suddenly picked up my brother in her lap and holding my hand in one hand and my sister's in the other started running out of that tent. On the way out, I noticed that we were not the only ones. Everyone was doing the same. Once outside our tent, we became part of a madly running crowd of people. An onlooker would have had difficulty recognizing a loved one in that crowd of millions, all wearing white. The faces, ages, races and backgrounds were blurred in the moment. Everyone was merely a person trying to escape that monster of a fire that started in a tent.

In those days, almost every year there was a fire incident during Hajj despite all the efforts. Mina is called a city of tents. Throughout the year, the place is an empty valley with surrounding hills. One a regular day it is difficult to imagine that this valley can accommodate more than five million people but it does! Every year during Hajj season the place comes to life with rows of white tents. These days there are hardly any fire incidents (thank God) as individuals are not allowed to do private cooking and the tents are also fire proof but such was not the case in the year I'm talking about. The fire started and spread within minutes and panic ensued.

I could smell the fire and see the flying ashes and debris of burning tents before I actually saw that monster. Yes, that's how the fire appeared to me. A towering orange and yellow monster advancing towards us with outstretched hands that seemed to grab everything in its path.

As I looked behind me at that hungry monster, I had no doubt that it had consumed our tent in its stride. While clutching my mother's hand and running at a speed that I did not know I was capable of, there was only one question in my mind. Shouting above the  deafening noise of running feet, screams, and hissing of burning flames, I asked my mother where my father was. He had gone to sacrifice the lambs, one of the ritual of Hajj. My mother had no answer. All she could shout was that Allah will protect him and asked me to pray for his safety.

I have no idea how long we ran. There was no sense of direction or time. We were just running. Our number one concern was not to lose leach other. I had heard so many tales of people getting lost and never found or found dead that I could not let go of my mother's hand even after we finally were able to stop. Out of breath and exhausted, I could barely make sense of the talk around me that the fire was finally extinguished. There were helicopters crowding the sky and fire engines everywhere.

Slowly, after a long time, we started retreating our steps like the rest. People were going back to check the damage. My mother has an excellent sense of direction and courage. I saw an example of it that day. In a city of white tents where many veterans lose their sense of direction, she was able to lead us right back to our tent and miraculously it was intact, untouched by that monster of a fire. The fire had stopped a block before the compound of our tent area. The remnants of burnt tent pieces were scattered in our tent compound that wind had carried over there. There was shock, disbelief and gratitude written all over faces and in hearts. My father was already there with a panicked expression on his face. He had been worried sick about our safety. Many tents were consumed by fire and many lives were lost that day.

I can still smell the burn, feel the scorching heat and see the ugly monstrous face of that fire in my mind whenever I think of that day but there is also a rejuvenated sense of one belief. This childhood incident gave me this unshakeable belief that no one can ever harm us or benefit us if God does not allow it! I was one hundred percent sure that day that the fire had consumed our tent but God saved it for us. In millions of people where so many lost their belongings or their way, we were saved. The fire came so close to us but we were saved. My father was away while my mother ran with three small kids but we were saved and reunited. It was not our doing. It was all Almighty. He saved us. He protected us. HE PROTECTS US!