The saintly night that made me to cry out

Al-Qadr, the holy night of blessings and peace was full on in its best benevolent and generous view with Allah (SWT) showering His blessing to His very Ummah and Angels waiting desperately to deliver Allah`s glad tidings to the God-fearing people. As goes a hadith shareef:-

Narrated By Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever establishes the prayers on the night of QADR out of sincere faith and hoping to attain Allah's rewards (not to show off) then all his past sins will be forgiven."

Search Text : QADR.

Vol 1, Book 2. Belief.

Hadith 034. (Shahi Bukhari)

So I also took the very opportunity to grab the benediction and the blessings of Allah (swt) and moved on to the Masjid-e-shareef in a fever pitched state for beseeching mercy from my lord. The Masjid was in its best glory, fully bulged with my muslim brethren and fortunately I also got myself adjusted somewhere on the third storey. Very soon the ‘Taraweeh Nimaz’ started and lasted for about two hours and with that it was 1`o`clock in the midnight. Soon after the ‘Taraweeh Nimaz’ was over we had a relaxation for having some refreshment. 

As soon as we steped out of the masjid we heard half a dozen rounds of gun shots from a nearby area and with that the moment turned into a hullabaloo for a while. But the frantic interruption in the event couldn`t trouble the holy night because of the extreme fanaticism in the crowd and very soon everyone was stable. After the break Imam Sahib started the relic lecture quoting Qur`anic verses and sahih hadith. As I arrived back in the mosque I found myself in a weepy environment with everyone in tears. Everyone in the gathering seemed to be in pursuit of Allah`s mercy for purifying their blacken hearts with the divine illumination. This turned me too to holler on my sins and I realized I was so weak-kneed before my Mighty lord. Every single nimaazi was weeping blood from his eyes and the reasons were many. On one side People were busy in washing their souls with the tears from their heart to immaculate themselves and on the other side the present pain and gory in Kashmir forced the tears to fall from their eyes. I could clearly feel the broken hearts and the disturbed souls around my presence. Everyone was supplicating in a murmuring way perhaps because People realized that verily the night is Holier-than-thou as is rightly versed in Holy Quran:-

“Laylatu alqadri khayrun min alfi shahrin ”

The night of Al-qadr is better than a thousand months(i.e. worshiping Allah in that night is better than worshiping him a thousand months )

…Surah 97 Aya 3

I guess this verse from the glorious Quran was in everyone`s mind and all were crying for chiseling away their sinful and wicked past. People`s suffering and frustration on account of the atrocities was very vivid from the scenario. Anyone could easily read the contents of their disturbed minds and wounded hearts. It was all about Kashmir.

Just a moment before starting the nimaaz-e-witr(the last three rakats) Imam sahib started some “Dua” (supplications). Now it was around 3am and everyone was feeling very tired and sleepy and as such I and most like me were just repeating “Aameen” in response to each Dua with a damping energy in a sluggish manner but as soon as Molvi sahib uttered the dua “Bharatas shikas” and some more like “Aazaadi” the entire masjid reverberated with a loud “Aameen” as if everyone had got rejuvenated by something like supernatural energy. Now all of us stood up for the ‘witr’ prayer and the bewail atmosphere engulfed us again in the last ‘Raka`t’. As we stated the ‘Dua’ in the last ‘raka`t’ of the ‘witr’ prayer no one could hold his tears and very soon the environment turned to bemoan. ‘Iman sahib’ recited the ‘Dua’ in Arabic and likewise all the followers iterated “Aameen” in response. I was also a part of such followers so I too kept repeating “Aameen” like a yes-man without understanding the meaning of the ‘Dua’. But all what I comprehend from the ‘DUA’ was some phrases that included a term I am well aware of i.e.“Kashmir” and I recognized that the ‘Imam sahib’ might have included some special ‘duas’ for Kashmir for ending the present crisis. I failed to understand anything beyond the term “Kashmir” but that was far enough for me and others like me to cry with pain and distress and to burst away the frustration and suffocation in the form of bloody tears. The ‘Dua’ lasted for about 20 min and during that time I was lost in some nostalgia of my bleeding Kashmir as if someone has roll backed the time to the unfortunate and frightful past. During the trance, I recollected every single innocent victim of the atrocities of agony and fury from the Indian forces. I felt the pain of young ‘Tufail Mattoo’ and the other tots like him who tasted the unpleasant face of death in a very brutal way. I also saw Asiya and Neelofar crying for justice yet I hadn’t ever seen them in my reality. I remember they were chanting in a howling way “Save the daughters of the valley” and something like “protect their modesty from the aliens”. Further I heard the yelling sounds of the eight year old tiny kid who was beaten to death by the black aliens with broken ribs. It was the most horrible scene. In the meantime I forgot about seeking forgiveness for my sinful past but the only thing that kept circulating my head was the rueful story of the unfortunate victims of Kashmir affliction. I kept yowling and crying loudly perhaps to allay my sorrows to some extent. Everyone like me mourned the trauma we are under. Soon ‘Imam sahib’ ended the ‘Dua’ and everyone was alleviated in one way or the other. But this was not the end since the level of distress was not so small to get relieved so soon. The situation soon turned into a mourning site as we prostrated for the second and the last ‘Sajda’ of the ‘Witr’ before Allah Almighty which lasted for about 20 minutes yes I repeat a single ‘sajda’ of 20 minutes. And this was the incident that marked the importance of the whole night and maintained the course of cries and tears. Every single eye was washed with tears and no one was there in the relic congressing that was not yelling. Everyone despite of the age and the level of god consciousness was equally crying out and I felt everything was blackout. At one time I thought why ‘Imam sahib’ is not responding from the prostration because I hadn’t ever realized such a mawkish situation in my life. I thought as if he might have turned unconscious or so. But very soon his painful cries turned my opinion wrong. The microphone was catching the howling sounds from the wailing men and it seemed like people had turned mad. All this turned the event into a sorrowful occasion as if everyone was mourning for someone`s death (God forbid). Finally the ‘Nimaz’ finished with peace and everyone got relieved to some extent from the heartaches and despair. Very soon as people were moving out for their residences, a curfew announcement was made and soon people fastened to their homes. As people were coming frantically out of the mosque I thought of enumerating the incredible crowd. It was really an inestimable mass in the congressional prayers. I hadn’t ever seen such an Armstrong number of devotees in a mosque ever in my 20 years lifespan. It marked one important thing and that is it was not a call from any hardliner or the like but the call was directly from the divinely body and no one was left behind from partaking in the sacred occasion. I guess this was a much better option to get way with the tension than to vent out the anger on the streets perhaps because in the mosque there is a mindful hearing-body whereas on the streets the “Azaadi” pleas only meet the deaf ears without a healthy mindset. At last I hope what we prayed to Allah Almighty about Kashmir would soon be met and the lid to the unprovoked killings will soon be closed for ever and the dream of Azadi will soon come to be true INSHA`ALLAH . Furthermore the Prayers for the Bereaved would soon be filled and peace will soon kiss the valley Insha’Allah because history is evident of the fact that every cloud has a silver lining. Let’s also hope for Allah`s mercy and compassion…”Amen”.