being qaali

i was in a slight car accident yesterday, no one got hurt alhamdullilah/ thank God (it really wasn’t bad at all…no cause for alarm). i’ve been driving for over 5 years and this is the first accident i’ve been in. i was shook for the rest of the day and my mum at one point was like “are you still thinking about the car? forget the car it’ll get fixed, but imagine if the car was instead a person or if you were hurt really bad. You don’t know what Allah swt is holding out of your way, so be thankful that it wasn’t an event that would have changed your life as you know it”. 

just think back at all of the points in your life when something could have gone completely disastrous but you were instead dealt with a situation that was more manageable or easier for you to cope with. I was thinking about the one time i had a concussion but it could have been brain damage or the one time i was playing with a dog and its nail went into my upper lip and how the little triangle scar i have could have been a scratch down my face. how my mum and i lost my sister at heathrow and found her in a beauty store with her push-chair filled with anti-ageing creams and makeup…we could have lost her forever. the number of times i have just been walking at night by myself in a country away from my family and my parents could have gotten a call that i have gone missing or worse. 

clearly i’m still shook, but my point is, we don’t ever know what calamities are swept out of our path everyday and it would drive anyone crazy to think about it constantly. we would be a world filled with paranoia. but i think the reminder once in a while is healthy. so even when you’re having a bad day, it’s okay you’re having a bad day…but remember that (1) it could be worse and (2) for someone else it probably is worse.