Daily Times

Eight years ago, my family’s lives changed forever.

One evening during Ramadan in June 2016, while my parents were travelling from Pattoki to Lahore, a speeding semi-truck came from behind and rear-ended their car. The driver never stopped. It was a hit-and-run. To this day, we do not know who the truck driver was, where he came from, or where he went. We must take comfort in the fact that Allah is the Al-Hakam (the Judge), the Al-‘Adl (the Just), and the Al-Hakim (the Perfectly Wise). The truck driver probably has no idea about the consequences of his actions that night, the suffering of my family, and the lasting physical damage to my father’s body. As a result of the accident, my father’s spinal cord was badly damaged, which left my father completely paralyzed. He never walked again after that night.

We must take comfort in the fact that Allah is the Al-Hakam (the Judge), the Al-‘Adl (the Just), and the Al-Hakim (the Perfectly Wise).

Often, I wonder if this accident had happened in a developed country, would the outcomes have been different? Surely a developed country would have been able to locate the truck driver and bring him to justice. Would our experience at the hospital afterwards have been different?

After the accident, my father was taken to the Jinnah Hospital, where, despite the seriousness of his injuries, there was no bed available for him in the hospital. The young doctors in the emergency room didn’t take the case seriously. Rather than examining the extent of the injuries, the doctors were laughing and chatting with each other while we were waiting anxiously for a bed and someone to treat our dad. At the time, no one in the hospital was able to diagnose my father’s injuries. Considering the health care system in this country, what can we expect?

In the years after the accident, my father had two operations and we all consulted with various doctors across several countries to see if there was anything that could be done to relieve his pain and maybe somehow allow him to walk again. All our attempts were ultimately unsuccessful.

We are taught through ahadith that experiencing a sickness or a disease is a blessing from Allah, as the person’s sins will be forgiven as a reward. It is also recounted by Jabir ibn Abdullah (R.A.) in Al-Tirmidhi #1570 that the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) said “On the Day of Resurrection when people who have suffered affliction are given their reward, those who are healthy will wish their skins had been cut to pieces with scissors when they were in the world.” Indeed, Allah can reward patience (sabre) through worries, pain, and hardships with higher ranks in Jannah if it is Allah’s will.

Maybe Allah wanted us to go through this hardship. We certainly went through the trials of the last eight years patiently, united as a family. Of course, the person who suffered most through this time was my father. But, as anyone who has watched a loved one suffer will understand, our whole family was in pain alongside my father. We watched a man who used to be the strongest, healthiest, most independent man we knew, forced to remain motionless in bed, always in pain, and gradually deteriorating in front of our eyes, despite our best attempts to help. However, throughout the last eight years, he constantly showed his strong willpower by successfully managing household, family, and business matters while being confined to his bed.

Before the accident, my father was a self-made man who worked hard throughout his life, whether in studies, at a job, or running a business. He was not driven by greed for money or power.

After eight years of bearing constant pain day and night, fighting like a warrior through every day, my beloved father passed away. It is often said that a person’s name affects their personality, which is true in the case of my dad. My beloved father, Sheikh Muhammad Sharif, was truly a Sharif (pious) person by nature. All of his friends, relatives, and the residents of the city of Pattoki bear witness to his piousness. It was repeatedly mentioned by all of my father’s friends who came to give condolences, joined in the funeral, and offered Namaz-e-Janaza, that he was a very pious and gentle man. In sha Allah, their statements will be a source of nijaat and maghfirat (forgiveness) for him.

At the funeral, renowned scholar Allama Zia Ullah Shah Bukhari quoted a hadith that says if two people say that the person who left the world was a good person, then Allah Almighty grants the departing soul Jannah. My family is very thankful to all of the friends who have expressed their condolences- at the funeral, at our home, and through phone messages. Please continue to pray for my father.

I would like to conclude with this note: every single thing that I have achieved in my life to this point is due to my dad, and everything that I can achieve in the future will be because of him. The way he raised me and the life lessons that he taught continue to have a great influence on me. I have always loved him more than anyone else and will always love him more than anyone else. He has been my greatest role model and my inspiration. Although he is resting now, he is alive in our memories and will live in our memories for the rest of our lives. For eight years we have been praying for his good health and now for the rest of our lives, we will be praying for his forgiveness. We all know that one day everyone will leave this mortal world.

Farewell, my guardian angel! In Sha Allah, I will see you again one day.

The writer is an old Ravian, former journalist, lawyer and public servant who believes in giving back to communities and structural reforms to make the communities a better place to live.