Sayyiduna Anas (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) recounts the following amazing incident:
We once visited a Sahaabi (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) who was extremely sick. While seated with him, his illness reached its final stages and he passed away before we could even leave his home. We then used a piece of cloth that belonged to him to cover his body.
One of us then turned to his aged mother, seated at his head side, and attempted to console her saying, “Be hopeful of Allah Ta‘ala’s reward in your calamity.” The old mother asked, “What has happened? Has my son passed away?” When we replied in the affirmative she again asked, “Are you sure that he has passed away?” When we again confirmed that her son had indeed passed away, she raised her hands and made the following du‘aa, “Oh Allah! You know that I accepted Islam and migrated to your Rasul (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) with the hope in my heart that you will assist me in every moment of adversity and prosperity. Do not therefore test me with this calamity today.”
She then moved the cloth to expose his face and we were able to eat with him before departing, as he was once again alive, by the will of Allah Ta‘ala.
(Sifatus Safwah vol. 1, pg. 342 and Mujaabud Da’wah – Ibnu Abid Dunya pg. 44)
Lessons:
1. Although such cases are rare and do not generally take place, the lesson that we derive is that a person who lives his life to please Allah Ta‘ala can remain assured and confident that Allah Ta‘ala will definitely come to his aid in his hour of need.
2. A heart void of the obedience and remembrance of Allah Ta‘ala is a “dead” heart. If a mother’s du‘aa caused Allah Ta‘ala to literally bring a dead son to life, imagine the effect our heartfelt, sincere du‘aas can have in bringing our own “dead” hearts and the “dead” hearts of our wayward, disobedient children to life.
3. As children, let us never underestimate the significance and value of our mothers’ du‘aas. It sometimes takes just one spontaneous du‘aa emerging from a happy mother’s heart to secure the lifelong success of her child. However, the opposite is unfortunately a reality as well; it takes just one curse of a displeased mother to ruin the life of her child in this life and the next.