role reversal.

assalamu alaikum :o)

bismillah.

"Most people will lose two things: good health and free time." Such were the words of Muhammad SAW.

Following jumah prayers today an uncle asked me for a ride home. This particular uncle suffered a stroke a few years ago, rendering him weak and unable to walk without assitance. Another effect of the stroke was the development of a speech impediment and some loss of memory. As I drove, he constantly kept instructing me on which route to take. With each gesture of his hand and order of his tongue, I had to calmly remind him that we lived in the same neighborhood, and that I knew where he lived.

As we got to talking, I told him of how I remembered running through the prayer hall with his children as a kid. After the rakat was over he would get up and yell, shouting "this is Allah's house to pray, not to play!" Forced to play outside, we would return back into the masjid and continue where we left off. After telling a few of these old stories from my childhood and his days of good health, the car felt silent. Uncle seemed to be in quiet a pensive mood, remembering happier days of ease and mobility, where he could run after us kids and worship his Lord without hardship. Now it was impossible for him to stand in prayer or even go into sujood. Yet, he didnt offer any excuses for himself, and continued to pray.

Here was a man who once looked after and disciplined us as kids. And here I was now, quite a number of years later, assisting him in walking to the car, sitting inside, exiting, and then getting situated into his own home. Man can be reduced to so little, so fast.

Countless are the bounties of Allah. Among them, is the blessing of good health. Remain cognizant of this and dont take it for granted.

Your brother in islam.