Another true story.
Ibrahim’s Quran exams were drawing near. We would wake up before dawn and revise an hour before it was time to get ready for school. Every time we sat down to revise, we reminded ourselves: ‘We’re doing it for Allah. Exam is just a deadline, not a motivation.’
Finally, the exams were over and the kids waited for the results which usually took a couple of days to arrive.
One afternoon, my mum was busy and she asked me if I could pick up my niece from her school. I didn’t know the exact time and happened to arrive a few minutes earlier. Instead of waiting for the school bell to ring, I went into the school bookstore to keep myself busy. I saw a wonderful kids’ magazine with a picture of giraffe on it and bought it on a whim. Or was it really on a whim?
It was planned.
I came back home, put the magazine on the table and forgot all about it.
A couple of hours later, Ibrahim came back from school. The minute I saw him, I knew something was not quite right.
“The result came today.’ He said quietly. ‘I came fourth. The top three got the gifts and I didn’t get anything.’ He sounded dejected, tired. ‘All that hard work for nothing.’ he mumbled.
I hugged him and looked him in the eye: ‘We did it for Allah, remember?’
‘Yeah..I know..but.. ’ He stopped as he saw the kids’ magazine on the table. ‘What’s that?!’
I handed him the magazine. ‘Bought it from a bookstore. Thought you’d like it.’ I said.
He looked at it incredulously for a few seconds. Confused. Open-mouthed.
Then impatiently, he flipped the pages and stared. He finally whispered: ‘It’s the same giraffe!’
Slowly, he turned to me. Now, it was his turn to look me in the eye.
‘You’re kidding mum, aren't you?’
‘Kidding? What's the big deal?’ I was clueless.
‘Because this magazine was the gift that the other kids received from the teacher!’
It took a few moments for his words to sink in.
‘You’re kidding me Ibrahim, aren’t you?’ I was choking back my tears.
He smiled shyly.
‘We did it for Allah, remember?’
