The light of guidance

I was coming back from a long journey, and Allâh decreed that my seat
in the airplane should be beside a group of carefree young men whose
loud laughter and voices were too much, and the air was filled with
clouds of smokefrom their cigarettes. By the wisdom of Allâh, the
plane was completely full and I could not change myseat.
I tried to escape from the problem by sleeping, but itwas impossible…
When I got fed up of their noise, I took out my Mus-haf (copyof the
Qur'ân), and started to read what I could of theQur'ân in a soft
voice. Soonafter that these young men started to quieten down. Some of
them started to read newspapers, and some of them fell asleep.
Suddenly one of them saidin a loud voice, even though he was sitting
right next to me, "Enough! Enough!"
I thought that I had disturbed him because my voice was too loud, so I
apologized to him and carried on reading in a whisper that only I
could hear. I saw him holding hishead in his hands, then fidgeting in
his seat, moving a lot. Then he raised his head and said tome angrily,
"Please, stop it,I can't stand it!!"
Then he got up from his seat and went away for a while, then he came
back, greeted me with salâms, and apologized. He fell silent, and I
did not know what was going on. But after a while he turned to me with
his eyes full of tears and said to me in a whisper,
"For three years or more I have not put my forehead on the ground, and
I have not read even one âyah!
For a whole month I have been on this trip, and there is no evil
action that I did not indulge in. Then I saw you reading Qur'ân, and
my world turned blackand my heart was filled with despair. I felt as
if someone was strangling me… I felt every âyah that you read coming
down on my body like a whip .
I said to myself, for how long will this negligence go on? Where will
this path lead you? What will happen after all this foolish play? Then
I went to the washroom, do you know why?
I had the strong urge to weep, and I could not find anywhere else to
hide from the people's sight!"
I spoke to him in general terms about tawbah (repentance) and turning
back to Allâh, then he fell silent.
When the plane landed, hestopped me, and it seemedthat he wanted to
keep away from his companions. He asked me, with a serious expression
on his face, "Do you think that Allâh will accept my repentance?" I
said, "If youare sincere and serious in your repentance, then Allâh
will forgive all your sins."
He said, "But I have done terrible things, very terrible."
I said, "Have you not heardwhat Allâh says (interpretation of the meaning) :
'Say: O 'Ibâdi (My slaves) who have transgressed against themselves
(by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of
Allâh, verily, Allâh forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft
Forgiving,Most Merciful' [al-Zumar 39:53]?"
I saw him smiling with joy,with his eyes filled with tears, then he
bade me farewell and left. Subhân Allâh al-'Azîm !
No matter how great a man's evil and sin, in his heart there is a seed
of goodness. If only we can reach it and make it grow, it will bear
fruit, in sha Allâh.
This seed of goodness is always fighting in man's heart, even when it
is covered by layers of whims and desires. When Allâh wills good for
His slave, He causes the light of guidance to shine in his heart and
guides him to the path of those who are guided. Allâh says
(interpretation of the meaning):
"And whomsoever Allâh wills to guide, He opens his breast to Islam;
and whomsoever He wills to send astray, He makes his breast closed and
constricted, as if he is climbing up to the sky" [al-An'âm 6:125]