22/09/2024
THE TRENDING CALL.
Yesterday evening, I was seated outside the çompound with my neighbor gisting about everything.
We were erupting in laughter and popping plaintain chips into our mouths when her phone rang.
With a smile, on her face, she picked up the call still distracted by our talk when suddenly her face changed and she did her shahadah.
Without dropping the call, she got up, rushed to her flat, picked up her veil and car keys, and rushed out.
I stood up when I heard her say into the phone "Place your ears to her chest and tell me if you can hear anything. I am coming. Keep praying."
She turned to me and said.
" Mama ...........was the one who called, her daughter just slumped and is not coming around. They need me to check her and also assist them take her to the hospital."
That was all she said and zoomed out racing like vin diesel.
I closed and gate, returned to the mat, and sat still.
The plaintain chips suddenly weren't appealing again.
Everyone went into sober reflection.
The mood changed.
While holding on to my breath for good news,I reflected on how one minute we were laughing and the next, a call changed it all.
Then I thought about the trending call and reflected deeper on it looking at the life of a sister I know.
In 2010, a few minutes after Fajr, she received a call.
Her dad (may Allah have mercy on him) called to let her know her grandmother (his mom) had passed away.
She was sick and quite old.
Her dad made the call.
In 2012, she had just returned from a lecture when she called her stepmom to ask after her dad who was sick and had been rushed to the hospital.
The first thing her stepmom did was let out a scream that had this sister dropping her phone in fright.
Minutes later, her step-sister called to let her know their dad passed away.
Her step-sister made that call.
Exactly six months later, on Eid day, she was in school cooking for MSSN when her younger brother called, before he could talk, her mom collected the phone and broke the news.
"Inya, I just got a call, your elder brother (May Allah have mercy on him) is dead."
Her mother made that call.
March 10, 2024, close to midnight, her phone rang, it was a call from her younger sisters but because her phone was on silent, she didn't hear the phone ring.
Shortly after, her husband's phone rang and he checked to see a call from her sister.
The call was also missed.
She panicked and returned the call to both her sisters but they didn't pick up until she got in touch with her younger brother who told her all was fine.
He asked her to give her husband the phone while still assuring her, their mom was fine and resting.
She passed the phone to her husband shivering, He delivered the news of their mother's death to her through her husband.
Her younger brother made that call.
Here is the trend.
Her dad called to let her know of her grandmother's death.
Her step-sister called to let her know of their father's death.
Her Mom called to let her know of her elder brother's death.
And her younger brother called to let her know of their mother's death.
The call...
There is always a call.
Do you all see the calls?
Do you know about the call?
A compulsory call?
A call that must be made?
A call that we would have to make?
Do you know what the call means?
A call that will announce the end of a chapter.
A call that will break hearts.
A call that will bring about change.
A call that will be imprinted in our hearts.
A call we are destined to make and others are destined to make for us.
The call.
There are times I sit back to study life generally and the reality will hit hard.
By Allah, this life is nothing.
Every single breath we take is all leading to the day that call will be made.
If you don't make the call on behalf of your family members, someone will make the call for you.
It is scary but this is our reality.
A husband will make the call for his wife and vice versa.
A parent prays and wishes for their children to make such a call for them but it can happen either way.
When it comes to siblings, hierarchy won't be followed, anyone may be appointed by the situation to make the call.
What is certain is that; that call will be made.
Take a look at your phone.
This phone you are using to read this.
This same phone will one day be the link to what will change your life forever.
Go through your contacts, one day, you will scroll through the same contact and your fingers will hover over the numbers of loved ones who are gone forever.
You will remember the days you called them and chatted with them.
A call will be made.
In the same way, calls are made to deliver good news, a call will be made to deliver heartbreaking news.
A call that will make you run mad
So the question is, what is life?
What is your purpose on earth?
Where all we running to if not our grave?
Before you dial that number that may never be picked again, why can't you dial the number now?
Is death not enough admonition for us?
Why carry the weight of the dunya on your shoulders?
If any such call is made to you today, how will you feel?
What will be your last memories of them?
What will you remember first about your last call?
Happy for having good memories to remember or sad because things were left in a sour state?
Why?
How many people will you receive a call on their behalf and you will be consumed with guilt for how things ended?
How many?
Life is very scary.
Before we get lost again, sit back and ask yourself, to what end?
What is my present last memory with people?
What will be my last memories with people in future to come?
From among the things we will be questioned about is how we related with people and how we ended things.
If you answer yourself sincerely, do the needful if any is needed.
And if none is needed, breathe and redesign the rest of your life.
Nothing escapes Allah.
Nothing.
For every breath, You will be asked.
For every moment, you will defend how you lived it.
So breath.
Bridge the gap with goodness.
Let it go.
Take a stroll.
Live in the moment.
Make good endings.
Laugh.
Spend your money.
Smile, be happy.
Connect to Allah, please do.
Repay evil with goodness.
Specially lay your prayer mat on a good day and speak to Allah.
Tell Allah you just feel like speaking to Him.
You can equally sit alone and talk to Allah.
Beg Allah now.
Talk to Allah now because there will be a time when Allah will talk to you and question you.
You have all the time now, talk to Allah.
Worship Allah.
Be happy.
Leave people with happy words.
It may sound cliche but tell people how much you love and appreciate them.
Tell them freely " I love you. I appreciate you.Thank you for all you do. May Allah reward you and make us companions in Jannah,"
If you can't do it directly, do so indirectly.
We are all living dead.
One day, we will become memories.
We are all unshrounded dead bodies.
One day, we will wear the shroud.
And become "He was or she was"
A once upon a time.
Always say goodbye with kind words.
Because you never can tell which "talk to you later" will become an "A talk in the hereafter after judgment"
Depart on a good note.
For a call will be made.
By you or for you.
Expect the calls.
Or rather, be ready to make the call.
Until then, live life to the fullest in absolute worship to Allah and adherence to His expectations of you.
May Allah make Jannah to be our final residence.
May Allah grant us a long life.
Aameen
©️Oyiza Ahmed.
