MY father is here these days, young as ever and very active, Masha Allah. May Allah keep him so. Recently, he told us two of his past experiences with Ayat Al-Kursi – the greatest verse in the Qur’an – that he had while living in Saudi Arabia, and I thought I must share it with the world.

Back in 1966, when my father was quite new here, he went for Hajj. During Hajj, someone stole his belt, which contained his documents, money and, most important of all, his passport. Totally lost and disturbed, my father bumped into the Consul General of Pakistan to Saudi Arabia, who was also there for the pilgrimage. He heard the problem and said there was not much he could do in Makkah. My father was asked to visit the consulate in Jeddah. The problem was the checkpoint between Makkah and Jeddah. And the even bigger problem was the state of the officers and the system. Technology was zero, communication was difficult, and the language barrier meant one may have to stay for a minimum of six months in jail before anyone would find out about the whereabouts to do something!

My father met with two of his friends who offered him a ride to Jeddah in their car. They placed their trust in Allah and started the journey. When they arrived at the checkpoint, they were stopped. The driver of the car put two passports and a diary that looked like a passport together and handed it over to the officer. My father was in the backseat reciting Ayat Al-Kursi nonstop in his heart. The officer checked the first passport and looked at its holder. He then checked the second passport and looked at its holder. He was about to look at the third (much to the fear of everyone in the car), when he suddenly closed them all and returned them back to the driver. He signaled to move on! My father reached Jeddah and in sometime managed to get his new passport.

The second story happened some years later. My father was then working for the Ministry of Agriculture. He would travel across the country to check and install new systems. The kingdom was developing, but there was no GPS back then. Jeeps had no air-conditioning. Small groups of engineers would travel in temperatures as high as 50 degrees Celsius without AC to remote locations, the Empty Quarter being one of them.

On one such trip, my father had to go 300km into the Empty Quarter with a group of American engineers. They left signs on the way to make the return journey on the next day possible. There was ample food, petrol and water. But for some reason my father decided to head back the same day. So, he and the driver (a Hijazi Saudi) took a jeep and left the camp. My father soon fell asleep. When he got up, it was 12 midnight. The jeep was not moving and the driver was standing outside looking at the sky. When my father inquired, he informed that they were LOST! With shifting sands and no sense of direction, these two men were completely lost in the Empty Quarter at 12 midnight!

They both knew that this could very well be the last journey of their life. It’s literally impossible to get out of the Empty Quarter alive if you have no sense of direction or enough fuel. They were lost and resources were limited!

The driver’s face was blank. What should we do, he asked? My father closed his eyes and read Ayat Al-Kursi. And then he pointed in a direction with some intuition. He asked the driver to drive in that particular direction without moving an inch to the right or left. They drove at 80 km per hour in that direction. One hour passed. Nothing was in sight. Two hours passed. They continued driving.

After four hours of driving in that direction, they came to a runway of an old, abandoned airfield. That gave some relief! Finally, some sign of life: a road! They drove on the runway to an old shed with some light, where they were greeted by an old Bedouin who was totally shocked to see them. When they told him what had happened, he could only shout “Allahu Akbar”! He told them no one ever goes in the direction that they had just come from. “It is the road to death,” he said.

This happened during Ramadan and they came to the Bedouin’s place at Suhoor time.  Of course, I can never describe in words what must have been their emotions at that time and what they really went through. What kind of thoughts they must have had about family and life. My father recalled that all he did was read Ayat Al-Kursi and point where he felt was right without knowing what would happen. He simply put his trust in Allah.

“Is He [not best] who responds to the desperate one when he calls upon Him and removes evil and makes you inheritors of the earth? Is there a deity with Allah? Little do you remember.” (Qur’an, 27:62)

I did not want this to remain with my father. I wanted it to be read by everyone. Yes, these beautiful verses from the Glorious Qur’an have immense power. Make Ayat Al-Kursi an important part of your life.

Our father told us all our lives and keeps saying: Read Ayat Al-Kursi a lot. Always read it after prayers. And it truly does give us a great deal of comfort. We feel protected by Allah, Alhamdulilah. The following is Ayat Al-Kursi of the Qur’an:

اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ ۚ لَا تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلَا نَوْمٌ ۚ لَّهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ ۗ مَن ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عِندَهُ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ ۚ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ ۖ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيْءٍ مِّنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلَّا بِمَا شَاءَ ۚ وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ ۖ وَلَا يَئُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيمُ

Allah – there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of [all] existence. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is [presently] before them and what will be after them, and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills. His Kursī extends over the heavens and the earth, and their preservation tires Him not. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:255)