My story:
I distinctly remember, a few years ago, as I was still struggling with my own ego & desires to become more religious, more of a true Muslim, I used to party a lot. It's was like I was at every single jump-off-I was just everywhere. I was a well-known party-dude in my day, but this is not about my party-days; but, rather, this is about an event that compled me to quit partying. I used to frequent several dancehalls & clubs, obviously being a Muslim at the time indulging in so many things unbecoming of a Muslim in the first place, there was one party that I had went to, one night, that really changed my life.
It was a bout 1:30am.-The party had just started gettin' live, people were packing themselves into the party spot, and like at any party, people are dancing, drinking, smoking, trying to leave with somebody, to wake up with them the following morning, the usual club life-style. Anyway, I was no different at the time than anyone else who indulged in this life-style. But, this night, things were really different.
This one clown starts a fight with someone, which just comes with the territory of the urban club atmosphere: Dudes from other hoods got beef with one another, either over a bruised ego, gang-affiliation, drug-turf, money, girls, or just random dumb stuff, like the proverbial "he stepped on my sneakers", which, actually happens sadly (all of the above in most cases). Well, I don't know who started the fight & I didn't really care, I was just pissed that people never wanted to jst have a good time, especially Niggas (Yeah.....I said Niggas!!!). So, as the altercation went on, dude pulls out a gun (which by the way is oh so easy to sneak into clubs, still til this very day, it's just what it is).
To make matters worse, people who see the gun start a mad frenzy of a chant, "Gun...Gun...Gun!!!". Now, growing up in the hood, I know for a fact that when someone yells, "Gun", or any word remotely akin to "Gun", it means that 9-10 someone's either gonna get shot at or shot down. So, as Humans we naturally all panic & start trying to use one another as shields, to prevent getting shot at. Then, the dude just starts shooting at the crowd.....
Now, here's where Allah's mercy steps in & saves the day, literally:
.....Now, keep this in-mind: As a Muslim, I wasn't supposed to be there, partying, anyway, or doing any of the other things that occur at these parties. So, here I am, this wanna-be Muslim, doing things prior to my life being in imminent danger that was obviously Islamically prohibited, and now, my back is against the wall, literally, not knowing whether I'm gonna live or die (I really don't know how many of you all out there have been in a similar situation; but, just in case you haven't, let me tell you know: Being shot at is not fun!!!). But what happens next is why I'm even here to write this-The dude who shot at us missed every single shot that he fired, no joke-The guy was less than 5 feet away from the crowd, and even though the lights were off & it's so scary & confusing at the same time, I could see him pointing the gun at all of us, just lettin' off, round by round, by round, and yet, no one got hit.
So, after he emptied, he tried to reload & that's when the crowd decided to rush the guy & get the hell out of dodge before he decides to use as as target practice again. For a long time, I was just astounded as to why I didn't die, or, at the very least, get shot, because I know that I particularly was definitely within his firing range. It really wasn't until I became more religious that I had realized that it really wasn't so much of him not having good aim that saved my life, but it was Allah the One who controls life & death, who decided that it wasn't my time yet & I'm most certainly grateful that he chose to preserve my life even in spite of the fact that I was committing blatant acts of disobedience towards Him, in front of Him.
This experience was one of many necessary happenings, which still stand as definitive signs of Allah's existence, power, and particularly His mercy, because realistically, Allah didn't have to allow me to live on. The things which I've done were so shameful, from an Islamic perspective, that if I were not myself, I would've punish myself for doing those things. But, this is why Allah is who He is & we are who we are. Now obviously, I can't predict how exactly Allah chose to keep me safe, I can take a pretty good guess: I'm guessing that He sent Angels to that particular place, to protect not just me but the whole crowd, even people who were not Muslims were protected. That's even more amazing than me, a disobedient Muslim, still being protected. I'm guessing that they wrapped there wings around the crowd, basically an angelic bullet-proof vest, stronger than any type of teflon vest out there.
Honestly, it doesn't even matter how Allah chose to save me, or even whom He chose to use to save me, the point is that He did save me, and that's something that I'm always compelled to think & reflect upon, the night when my life could've came to a bitter end.
#I'm just sayin'!!!
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