ﺒﺴﻤ ﺎﷲ ﻠﺮﺤﻤﻦ ﻠﺮﺤﻳﻤ
Living in Cape Town, it is seldom that we experience thunder and
lightning along with our rain. Usually we get rain off the sea (mostly in
winter), which is constant and prolonged, soaking gently into the ground –
sometimes a little more harder when it is a stormy day, flooding the low areas.
Despite Cape Town living up to its one nickname, “The Cape of Storms”, the
storms don’t usually come violently, bringing electric bolts and loud rumbles –
just a fierce gale. But for five to ten days a year, that changes and the thunderstorms
reach us – like two nights ago, when, during a storm, I lay curled up behind my
rather amused husband who was sitting at the window, looking out at the
lightning! J
Further upcountry in South Africa’s central highlands, the
thunderstorms are merciless and frequent in summer. When I went to stay at a convent
there for four months at the end of 2010, I was quite traumatized by the
violence of the storms. With lightning that cracks and blinds, thunder that
explodes like a bomb and goes off like cannons and fireworks, and rain (and
hail) that threatens to make dents in the roof, I was unprepared for what I experienced.
My whole life I have suffered from a phobia of thunderstorms, so each time I was
faced with one (three days a week at times), I was convinced the Day of
Qiyaamah had arrived! I prayed, repented, and waited to die, curled up in a
tight ball under the blankets. (Luckily Allah let me live longer so I could
embrace Islam, which is what I did one month after I left the convent.
Alhamdulillah!)
Back in Cape Town, the thunderstorms when they do come, are
quite tame compared to upcountry. Nevertheless, I continue to feel such dread
and fear when they occur, keeping myself curled up on my bed, my gaze averted
from the closed and curtained window.
Nowadays, as a Muslim, I keep on recalling how the Qur’an puts
it:
“It is He Who does show you the
lightning, by way both of fear and of hope…” (Sura Ra’d 13:12)
Lightning is a sign containing both fear and hope. Fear, because
it poses dangers – and hope, because it heralds the rain. Only, in Cape Town, it
rains a lot without lightning. Lots of hope and little fear. Sometimes I like
to think that that is why Cape Town was given another of its nicknames, “The
Cape of Good Hope!” J
Jokes aside, it is so true that thunderstorms can be a sign of
both fear and hope. Personally, I see thunderstorms as symbolizing Imaan –
suspended between hope and fear. Hope for Allah’s Mercy – and fear for His
Judgment. Thunderstorms can be a profound reminder that Allah is in charge,
that we are mere mortals who need Him, and that He is more awesome than anything
one can ever imagine. Even in my intense fear, when I hear the thunder, it
makes me feel a strange excitement in which I want to cry out “ALLAHU AKBAR!!!
SUBHAN’ALLAH!!!” and fall down in awe. How wonderful it is to feel awe for Him!
It is what our hearts are made for.
“… thunder repeats His praises, and
so do the angels, with awe...” (Sura Ra’d 13:13)
Salaam
Saadiqah
(*
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