ONE TELEPHONE CALL AWAY

Love is only one telephone call away. So goes the saying. It may be inconvenient at a point in time, but love is not a matter of convenience. Neither is the sense of caring. It is not a matter of convenience too. For an example, it is never convenient to loose sleep just to get up at that ghostly hour to drive to someone's place you care just to make sure that their front gate is closed and locked. It is never convenient to pull yourself out of bed on a Sunday morning just to go to a sundry shop to buy paracetamol like Panadol and giving it to a friend some distance away because she lives alone and has a terrible headache. It is never convenient to walk for some distance to your workplace every day for long periods just to save money so you can buy your son or daughter something different for a special occasion.

The list can go on and on and the inconvenience can be much heightened, steeper and harder. But surely you will put inconvenience aside to make someone feel special, feel wanted, feel appreciated and feel above all that he or she is not alone in this world. And even if he or she is alone they will not feel lonely if they know someone, somewhere, cares for them, especially at that time in need. Never ever take anything for granted if sincere love is an important element and component in your life and the life of others, family or otherwise.

I remember one story about my late father as told by my late mother as I grew up into adolescence. This was more than fifty years ago. Being an immigrant, every day is a painful struggle to survive. One day my father walked for 5 miles and maybe more carrying a bunch of bananas on his shoulders just to bring home something for the family. This story and other instances, has taught me what it means to love and be loved, and what hard work is and what sacrifices mean. Today, in this rat- race world, many people have become self centered and treat life as survival of the fittest. Many has lost touch of the fine gestures in a relationships, be it between friends, between families, between the young and the old or between bosses and subordinates in a work place. But my Sifu often said that in a rat-race, only the rats finally win. And, "are we rats?" he asked.

In Dakwah we often refer to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) as the best example of a human being, in love, morality and otherwise. He is a portrait of perfection and we are encouraged and asked to emulate him. There are moments in our lives when we fall short of this expectation. And I do remind myself that nobody is perfect. Let us all together work towards perfection in every ambit of our lives. And let us put Love as a Center Piece in this endeavor. This is what "Mawaddah" is all about. May Allah show us the right path always.