And if he comes to Me walking, I come to him running....

Attended a friend's wedding, and left about 15 mins before Zuhr. It was a gamble, as to whether I'd make it in time for Zuhr at my local musolla, or i'll be stuck in traffic and miss the congregation and will have to do it individually. I could have waited at the Iron Mosque near the wedding hall until Zuhr, but decided to take the gamble and drive home. But Allah, being the Best of Planners, made me miss a turning I was supposed to take to get onto the highway (Putrajaya is very confusing for those unfamiliar with the roads), which meant i definitely was not going to make in time for the congregation at home. Fortunately, the next turning was the turning to Putra Mosque. And so i took that turning and performed Zuhr in congregration at the mosque, alhamdulillah. In retrosepct, if I had taken the first turning correctly, i definitely would not have made it in time either.

I guess the message here is that, if we put in effort (or even just intend to do so) to be closer to Allah by trying our best to carry out the prescribed obligations as properly as possible like prayer in congregation, then He will help us to achieve that goal. This has happened to me many times especially when it comes to congregational solah. Reminds me of a hadith Qudsi, where Allah says, "If the servant draws near to Me a hand span, I draw near to him an arm’s length; and if he draws near to Me an arm’s length, I draw near to him a fathom’s length. And if he comes to Me walking, I come to him running." [Bukhari] May Allah guide us all to take steps towards gaining His pleasure.

p/s: In case some people think I'm writing this to show off, thinking "He's trying to show how religious he is!" then let me clarify that i am in no way claiming that I am close to Allah. In fact, claiming to be god-consicous etc is disliked by Allah. This is merely an experience that i thought is worth sharing for our benefit insya Allah.

(from facebook)