Competitions

Short Story Contest ’08 3rd Place – “Whomsoever Allah Guides…” by Amira Khan

Published

October 15, 2008

We finally get toÂ the interesting part :D

Yes, ladies and gents, we introduce to you our THIRD PLACE WINNER! A round of applause and “masha’Allah”s for Amira Khan, for her prize-winning story: “Whomsoever Allah Guides, None Can Misguide.”

As one of the top 3 winners, sister Amira has just landed herself with the book: â€œTowards Understanding Our Religion – collected articles from al-Basheer, the magazineâ€ edited by SheikhÂ Jamal ZarabozoÂ AND 1 Free AlMaghrib Registration!

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Whomsoever Allah Guides, None Can Misguide – Amira Khan

Once upon a time, in a city called Karachi, there lived a sixteen-year-old girl who had been blessed by Allah(swt) with loving parents, comforts and luxuries to enjoy. Allah(swt) had also given her intelligence whereby she excelled in academics and a heart which had an innate inclination towards good. She had grown up in Saudi Arabia and here also, you will agree, she had been given a treasure in the form of Umrah opportunities or even just the chance to be raised amongst the dunes of Arabia.

A life of such ease and blessing, you’d say. Who could ever be ungrateful or disobedient to One Who gave so much and that too without ever asking for it? Can you imagine yourself in her place? Can you imagine her gratitude and her especial reverence for Ramadan, as the month of the Quran â€“ the direct Words of Allah(swt)?

Now you’re interested â€“ what did Ramadan mean to her?

Sting. The Backstreet Boys. Celine Dion. Bryan Adams. Ricky Martin. Avril Lavigne.

Sounds familiar? All these and more blared away in her headphone throughout the night. These were the sounds that lulled her to sleep, so much so that she often forgot to switch them off and was awakened at Suhoor with the same poison still flooding her ears. What gratitude and Ibadah were, she had absolutely no idea. And if that’s not enough to disgust already, there were other un-Islamic practices that she willingly indulged in, not even pausing in the glorious month of Ramadan.

Once I said to her, “You know, the Hijab isâ€¦”
“Yeah, yeah! I knowâ€¦” she brushed me off impatiently.

Another time, I said, “You know, I heard that musical instruments aren’t permissibleâ€¦”
“Whatever!” she snapped back at me.

I’d known her ever since she was born. I knew her so well that I’d almost given up on her totally, as I noticed her dressing style also subtly changing for the worse. One who had so much to be thankful for and yet was lost in her own pleasuresâ€¦ who could help such a person?

But I was wrong and Allah(swt)’s Knowledge, I discovered, transcends all the boundaries and barriers that our minds are locked up in. When she was eighteen, Allah(swt) blessed her with Hidayah â€“ guidance from Himself to His Way. And whose guidance can be better than the guidance of Allah(swt)? This girl, who I’d been helplessly watching stray about in darkness with no way out, slowly began to rediscover life.

Can you imagine my delight? The big change (that is, the Mercy of Allah(swt)) had come when she came to study under a teacher at her college who also invited her to the Words of Allah(swt). I saw her hurried steps towards the Quran everyday at college â€“ towards the light. In reality, I was watching her walk out of her miserable existence. Not believing my eyes, I saw her nervously taking the dupatta on her head one day â€“ then off the other day! I knew she was struggling with her Nafs but the very fact that she was trying made all the difference.

The music folders eventually found themselves in the ‘Recycle Bin’. Deleted. Of course it took time! But oh, what joy it was to watch that cleansing process! Allahu Akbar! And one day, after two years of effort, supported and guided all along by her loving Creator, she took the Hijab with great joy and relief. Her peace of heart and mind was written all over her â€“ it enveloped her in a sense of security that she had never experienced before.

My dear Muslims, I can account for all this and much more about her. Her attitude towards Ramadan has now completely changed, by the Grace of Allah(swt). This year especially, she was a mixture of joy and excitement in her anticipation for the month. Her Ibadah, her efforts and her most importantly, her Niyah are known only by Allah, for close as I am to her, even I don’t claim to know the true nature of her heart. Only Allah(swt) knows the deepest secrets of our hearts.

The Prophet(saw) very truly said, “When Allah intends good for a person, He gives him understanding of the Deen.”

Writing this has reminded me to be grateful for her Hidayah again and continue to pray for more. If it hadn’t been for her Hidayah, I couldn’t have been guided either. Brothers and Sisters in Islam, I sit here writing this today at the age of twenty-two because Allah(swt) guided her… and well, she eventually grew up intoâ€¦ me.

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Zainab bint Younus

Zainab bint Younus (AnonyMouse) is a Canadian Muslim woman who writes on Muslim women's issues, gender related injustice in the Muslim community, and Muslim women in Islamic history. She holds a diploma in Islamic Studies from Arees University, a diploma in History of Female Scholarship from Cambridge Islamic College, and has spent the last fifteen years involved in grassroots da'wah. She was also an original founder of MuslimMatters.org.

22 Comments

nikhat mansoori

October 15, 2008 at 1:54 AM

Assalam-o-Alaikum,

JazAllahu Khair!!!Truly whom Allah guides no one can mis guide and whom Allah mis guides no one can guide.
Our young generation truly needs these types of article with an encouragin message.No-one knows when Allah may give
Hidayah to the person ,that’s why never give up Da’wa.May AlLAH (S.W.T.)in His Infinite mercy grant us beeter understanding of the deen
.AMEEN!!

Reply
AbuAbdAllah, the Houstonian

October 15, 2008 at 2:04 AM

innalhamdolillah. bismillah.

ummmmm… did someone (maybe me) miscount? i have seen two runners-up stories here on MM (and i was very pleased with them, mashaAllah).

wasn’t there a third, meaning a third runner-up/consolation prize winner? :)

i recall a comment in another story that there would be six stories in all…

Reply
ibnabeeomar

October 15, 2008 at 2:12 AM

3rd runner up will be posted saturday inshallah

Reply
AbuAbdAllah, the Houstonian

October 15, 2008 at 2:43 AM

bismillah. jazak Allah khayr for the clarification! i think i read “We finally get to the interesting part” and assumed it meant the runners-ups had been completed.

Reply
Jawahir

October 15, 2008 at 3:54 AM

May Allah bless the sister with more hidayah…very moving

Reply
ilmsummitee

October 15, 2008 at 4:06 AM

SubhanAllah, what a deep, strong story.

mashAllah.

May Allah continue to bless the sister with guidance and the noor of eman.

Reply
Sister in Islam

October 15, 2008 at 4:49 AM

Bismillah hir Rahman nir Raheem

Assalam-u-alaikum dear sister….

Jazakillah for writing such a beautiful story :)

this story resembles mine …to some extent.. ( im 22 years old and live in karachi ! ) coincidence..

and Alhamdulillah !! Allah(SWT) guided me to do hijab2.. :)

May Allah (SWT) keep us steadfast in performing virtuous deeds for His Sake. Ameen

Reply
Hassan

October 15, 2008 at 10:18 AM

All winners so far have been sisters, it seems brothers did not even bother to write, they are lazy. Infact I am so lazy that I even did not read any single entry including this and yet I am commenting only. What is wrong with us (men or me only?)

Reply
Amad

October 15, 2008 at 10:33 AM

Hmm… Actually the next winner is male…so Hassan, I hope it will motivate you to write/organize a political thriller soon, or a FOB-based reality contest? Also, the remaining winning stories are not chic-flicks (err, sister-flicks, no offense :) ), so brothers have heart.

Note: only 3 out of 12 judges were female, so no one can blame us for being biased after seeing these stories :) Equal opportunity judges!

Reply
Ameera

October 15, 2008 at 11:29 AM

Assalam-o-alaikum…

Wow, I’m a bit nervous about commenting here… JazakAllah for all the wonderful comments and encouragment! May Allah guide us all to His Way! And a big “thank you” to MM for selecting my itsy bitsy effort (I wrote it one evening after Iftaar, early in Ramadan so it didn’t take *massive* effort). =o

“Sister in Islam”, we should meet up! =)

Reply
Amad

October 15, 2008 at 12:02 PM

Sr. Ameera, sometimes the best stories come out of a few moments of inspired impulses.

Reply
curious

October 15, 2008 at 12:45 PM

just curious, why wasnt the 1st runner up posted today?

Reply
ibnabeeomar

October 15, 2008 at 2:20 PM

we wanted to get the 1st-3rd during the week, as saturdays are usually slower.

but scheduling lessons learned, inshallah next time we’ll try to plan it better with adequate time to get the stories all up in order :)

Reply
sincethestorm

October 15, 2008 at 8:23 PM

Hassan beat me to it..I was actually going to say the same thing many parents and single sisters say…..where are the brothers? ;)

Reply
Muslimah

October 16, 2008 at 2:27 PM

Mashallah, that was a refreshing story. I can relate alot to what this sister went through, as well as many other sister too I believe. May Allah continue to guide us!

Reply
Muslimah

October 20, 2008 at 1:02 AM

mashallah that was really a beautiful story and one im sure many can relate to
ameen to the duaas
and may Allah continue to bless you with hidayah…

Reply
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Jasera

January 28, 2009 at 1:00 PM

Beautiful, masha Allah! Very nicely written :))

May Allah(swt) guide us all towards embracing our beloved Islam completely and live for the sake of attaining our Rabb’s pleasure while following the footsteps of Prophet Mohammed(saw)…Amen, insha Allah <3

Reply
Saad Haq

November 7, 2009 at 1:42 PM

As-Salaam-O-Allaikum-Wa-Rehmatullahi-Wa-Barakatuhu! Brothers and Sisters in Islam,
Hope this mail finds you all in the best of health and eman, Insha’AllAH!

This story is very similar to that of mine. Even I was an addict to music. I was born and broughtup in Saudi Arabia and recognised that AllAH is guiding me during my first Ramadan in Canada when I was 18.
SubhanAllAH! w AlHumdulillah! w La Illaha IllAllAH! w AllAH Hu Akbar!

Do let me know if you don’t like me posting your story at:
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=12661&post=85226&uid=11586497171#post85226

Also, if you would like, do join the group, Insha’AllAH!

Take Care,
AllAH HAfiZ!

Reply
farhad

January 8, 2011 at 5:28 AM

may i know what was ‘lehan-e-Dawoodi’ and what is mentioned in Buhari that Hazoor (SAW) has told Bibi Ayesha that take some singers with you to a marriage of Ansaars as they were fond of music ?
What was that?

Reply
Umar ibn Al Khattab

January 18, 2013 at 1:00 PM

Assalamualaikum Warhamatullahi Wabarakaatuhu Borthers & Sisters .

Am I the only one seeing this link in the story

Weird .

Anyway Subhana Allah an Amazing story

Reply
- Aly Balagamwala | DiscoMaulvi
  
  January 22, 2013 at 6:32 AM
  
  WaAlaikum Assalam Wa Rehmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu:
  
  JazakAllahu Khairin for pointing this out. It is being rectified immediately. Not really sure how it got there!
  
  Reply