Spirit of Giving

Several weeks ago, immediately after the funeral of my late paternal Aunty and when we met in my brother Abid’s house afterwards for rest, Mum mentioned that it has been awhile since our family grouping organized a function. We had a quick decision then that we should hold a gathering of the family and at the same time to invite some orphans from an orphanage to participate. We also had a quick decision of what activity to hold at the gathering. It was decided that a meeting be called soon to discuss the details.

So it was, on May 1st 2008, a Thursday and a public holiday, the gathering was held in Mum’s house in JB. The organizing committee had decided to hold a ‘Maulidul Rasul’ an occasion to celebrate the birth of the Holy Prophet Mohammed plus the reading of the Holy Book while espousing the spirit of giving especially amongst the young. A group of forty orphans from the orphanage was invited to participate.

All preparations were made, a tent built in the compound of the house, door gifts, and collections from members interested to donate to the orphans (some had decided to give them individually and personally), caterer and the type of food to be served, PA system, videos and so on and so on.

Yours sincerely was given the task of leading the Maulid and the closing do’a. I got a few of my nephews to assist and we practiced the Maulid recital on the eve of the event. Come morning, we all converge onto Mum’s house again. Mum was all ready, resplendent in her best dress, and ready with her speech. At her age she was a figure all her children and grandchildren were proud of. In her excitement over the event she appeared apprehensive and restless as well. She kept asking where is so and so, why is this or that like that and so on, typical of one in anxiety. She needed a lot of coaxing to cool down.

The group of orphans came at just after 9.30am and was shown their places, female in the hall and male under the tent in the garden. A majority of the invited guests also started arriving about then and took their places. Once everyone was settled the event started with one of my nieces reciting a page from the Holy Book. She chose to read verses from “Al’Mulk”. This was followed by Mum giving a short speech. It could have been a long speech, as Mum is known to continue talking and talking but lately she has had trouble controlling her voice. It is not only shaky and trembling but also slow and heavy on her throat causing her to cough and splutter. Nevertheless, by the time she gets into this condition she would have imparted her message to all. This time she espouses the virtues of giving and sharing, of not being stingy, and she also suggested instilling in oneself the habits of reading the Holy Book frequently. In her case I know that she finish the whole Holy Book, all 30 chapters, in one month, finishing one chapter per day.

After Mum’s speech, two nieces continued reading the last few chapters and verses of the Holy Book in a ceremony marking the completion of reading the whole Book or the ‘Khatam Al Quran’. Mum too participated but this time her voice had wavered much such that when she wanted to recite the do’a she could not continue as she began to cough and one of my nieces took over to complete it.

The event continued with us reading the Maulid, i.e reading verses and singing praises of the Holy Prophet. Not only my nephews joined me in the event but all present joined in the praises. It was lively and exciting especially for the younger ones who appeared to enjoy it the most. After the closing do’a it was time to partake of the food prepared and at the same time Mum encouraged all present to give generously to the orphans and also a special collection box prepared for the occasion. Quite a sizeable amount was collected in the box while many individuals present gave something to each of the orphans present. Our family also contributed and sent gifts, food and donations to the orphans that remained behind in the orphanage. We could not bring all of them to our house at one time.

The orphans left at just about noon but guests continued to come straggling in. There were still food available for everybody and we continued moving the donation box around. Mum has decided to donate this collection to another orphanage that we are familiar with. Her closing remarks were, “I think I am the happiest person today as all my wishes have come true” She thanked all involved for the efforts put in to make the event happen and this remark soothes all tired bodies and minds of all present. Everything was over by about 3.00pm. I was ready then to just lie down and have a ‘shut-eye’ for a while….. to reenergize and rejuvenate tired muscles….. and while doing so started imagining the next event and how to better execute it …… whatever it will be….. May the Almighty be pleased and guide us accordingly……..


MKI Ramblings Unlimited,
Petaling Jaya