There’s going to be a school bus that picks me up and drops me home every day. Last year I didn’t need one since I lived so close to the school, I would just walk or my mom would give me a ride. I used to be taking a shortcut to go home or to go to school. The shortcut was at the train tracks, that’s where I met DuLi and he offered me the green crack, thus changing my life forever. I will not be taking that shortcut anymore, nor would I be seeing DuLi at it. He will also be taking the same bus as me, since me and him would be attending the same high-school. I called him up a couple days ago to ask him about Ramadan and whether I should fast or not.
“You can go ahead and fast if you want to bro, but you’re only gonna be starving yourself.” He said.
“What do you mean?” I asked him in a Justin Bieber voice.
“Because bro, since you’re not praying then your fast will not be accepted. You gotta start praying first.”
“There are a total of five pillars in Islam for every accountable person to follow. The first is the testification of faith, or the Shahada. The second is the five daily prayers. The third is Sadaqah, or charity. The fourth is to fast in the holy month of Ramadan. The last is the pilgrimage to Mecca. Without fulfilling the first pillar nothing else would be accepted, Without prayer none of the remaining pillars would be accepted. This is why a condition for the validity of the prayer is for the person to be Muslim.” He said,
“I see...” Jason replied.
“So without the Shahada and the prayer none of the other pillars would be accepted?” I asked.
“Yes sir, that is correct.”
“Does that same principle apply for every pillar?”
Abdul made a straight face and looked at me. “Allah knows best.” He said in a low tone of voice. He says that a lot. Whenever I ask him a question that he doesn’t know the answer to he says “Allah knows best.”
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“Why do you always say that?” I asked him once.
“Say what?”
“Allah knows best.” Jason said.
“Because Jason... Me and you, our knowledge is limited, whereas Allah’s knowledge is unlimited, our knowledge is finite, whereas Allah’s Knowledge is infinite. May Allah raise the rank of our Prophet Muhammad.” DuLi said.
I chuckled and smiled. “And why do you be doing that?” I asked.
“What? Send blessings upon the Holy Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam?” Said Abdul.
“Yeah bro, you be so serious.” Jason said.
Abdul chuckled back. “Because bro, I have to be.”
“This Religion is a serious Religion.”
“The Holy Prophet Muhammad SAWS once said “If you know what I know then you would laugh very little and weep much.” Abdul said.
“So what does that mean?” I asked.
“It means... This world is not a happy place, the real happiness is in the Hereafter.” He said.
“So we can’t have no fun in this world?” I asked.
“No, by all means have fun, enjoy life. Just don’t lose sight of the bigger picture. Which is making it to Paradise.” Abdul said.
“I like to joke around and have fun.” Jason said.
“You can joke about anything, but never joke about the Religion or whatever pertains to it.” He said.
“And what does that consist of?” I asked him.
“The Qur’an, Prophet Muhammad and all the other Prophets.”
“Who are Prophets?”
“There were 124,000 Prophets, they are all dead and were chosen by God. Some renowned Prophets are Moses, Jesus, Adam, etc...” He said.
“What else?”
“Never joke about Hellfire, Paradise, sins, Awliya, Angels.”
“What’s an ‘Awliya’” I asked him.
“They are highly righteous pious Muslims chosen by Allah.”
“Like Prophets?”
“Similar, but not quite like. The Prophets are higher than the Awliya. The Prophets are all known, whereas the Awliya are unknown. The Prophets perform miracles by the permission of God. The Awliya perform ‘karamas’, which are like mini miracles.”
“How many are there? Where are they?” I asked.
“That knowledge only belongs to Allah bro.” DuLi said.
“The point is you don’t know. So you have to treat every Muslim member as if they are Awliya, because God loves His Awliya.”
“Why does He love them so much?”
“Because they are highly pious Muslims, and God loves every pious Muslim.”