The Gift of Recognition

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

One of the greatest Gifts that Allah (s.w.t.) Gives us is the recognition of those who are in His Presence.  I know someone who worked in a Muslim organisation, who speaks no Arabic.  He does read the Qur’an to ‘their’ standard and yet, when he calls the adzan, the skies open and the Light of the ‘Arsh is visible for those who can see. 

Once, in Ramadhan, he told me of a dream he had.  In the dream, he was wearing white silk and a man came to him dressed in a similar manner.  That man took him to Makkah.  He described exactly the place where Rasulullah (s.a.w.) took off for the Night Journey.  When he arrived, a man told him to stand in the first swaff and call the adzan.  There were three other men there.  All four of them were dressed in black.  He could not see the face of the imam.  And they performed the swalah. 

And so he asked me who they were.  But of course, he already knew, but he just needed someone to confirm.  The man in white was Jibril (a.s.).  The four men were Sayyidina Abu Hafsw ‘Umar ibn al-Khaththab al-Faruq (r.a.), Sayyidina Abu ‘Amr ‘Utsman ibn ‘Affan (r.a.), Sayyidina Abu Bakr ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Utsman asw-Swiddiq (r.a.) and Sayyidina ‘Ali ibn Abu Thalib (k.w.) in that order from the left to the right when facing the qiblah. 

Then it was asked, “Who was the imam?”  If this were the congregation, who else could be the imam?