8. When Doors Open [and Close]
It was my last day in Tarim, and I didn’t want to leave. With a mix of sadness and anticipation, I walked into the classroom on another hot summer day in 2004. Though hesitant, I was drawn in by the magnetic pull of Sh. Ibrahim’s voice and spirit. I found my place on the floor amongst the other students, everything still surreal. How did a kid from Miami end up here without any connection to the people, the place, and their piety?
As much as I didn’t want this experience to close on that day, I honestly didn’t even understand how it ever opened. It was only when Allah placed it upon Sh. Ibrahim’s heart to teach us about Allah’s attributes that I began to have a clue.
He taught us that Allah is the Creator of everything, including moments and each of the infinitesimal fractions of time that make up a moment. Allah brings them into existence and then into a state of non-existence, just as they once were. And He does this for every moment, at all times.
Our lives and experiences are constantly moving through their present to their past, their own beginning and end. We are the sum of these moments.
So on that day, in that moment, I was reminded that I am always a creation experiencing a Creator bringing my life and its experiences into and out of existence. Just as this time in Tarim was once behind a closed door that Allah opened, I understood another would open as this one closed.
Sh. Ibrahim’s lesson was one of humility and hope.
As the waning moon of Ramadan 1445AH now foretells its coming end, we should have the humility to know there was no guarantee it would have been opened for us this year, but Allah allowed it to be. And we should also have hope in the new doors that Allah will open for us.
What are they? Where will they lead? Be open-eyed and ready.
In my life as a father and founder of Sanad, I have seen that the smallest of decisions can have the biggest outcomes, the most unexpected of opportunities can lead to the greatest destinations, and that a sincere heart is often the best key.
Until the next step,
Rehan
I'm an organizational psychologist, educator & father. After grad school at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York I spent formative time with students & scholars at Dar al Mustafa in Tarim. I've worked with the UNHCR in Geneva & taught social sciences as an adjunct professor in Miami. I write, speak, & consult on parenting, education & institution-building. I serve as founding executive director of Sanad Trust Foundation, a nonprofit that provides education, wellness & community programs for children, families & elders.
