Allah Provides... A True Story

Every time I have a small problem in life, Allah always sends someone to remind me that there are those with much bigger problems. Recently, I was looking for a taxi to go from Makkah to jeddah airport. I declined a number of them without even asking the price. Believe me, it's come to a stage where I can guess the quote based on the car and just by looking at the driver...


Then a young looking guy approached me and asked if I wanted to go Jeddah. I said yes, to the airport. I asked him the cost and he said the absolute maximum I was willing to pay. I then said no that's too much and said I'll pay x amount (about a third lower). He didn't argue or negotiate. Said ok and off we went.

We started talking. He was a Saudi. He asked if I was Pakistani, I said yes. I usually don't tell them I'm a british pakistani because I find that they tend to be more comfortable and more open if you just say you're a Pakistani.

From our conversation, I found out that his father passed away when he was 7 and ever since, he has been looking after his mother and his brothers and sisters since he's the eldest. Our brother makes between 100-200 riyals a day on good days. He works every single day and sometimes with only a few hours' sleep.  He makes just enough to be able to provide for his mother and brothers and sisters and to be able to eat.

The more we spoke, the more I realised how special a person he is. Throughout the conversation, he kept reminding me that rizq is from Allah. He doesn't worry. He told me how he doesn't really negotiate with people. If he sees a worker who says he has no money, he takes him for free. It takes a poor person to understand the plight of another poor person.

He told me how easy it would be for him to earn 1-2000 riyals daily via haraam means, but, he will never do so because every night he thinks of life in the grave and what awaits him in barzakh.

He told me how once he thought he'll make a bit more money by taking people to Riyadh. He found the passengers and was going to make about 700 riyals. However, on the way, he had an accident and injured himself. He started laughing and said I made taubah and said I'll stick to Allah and His Rasool's cities (Makkah + Madeenah) and Jeddah and Taif. Little is fine.

We touched upon the subject of zakaah and sadaqah.  He told me there had been times where he literally had 5 riyals in his pocket and a needy person came to him and he gave those 5 riyaals away knowing full well that Allah provides. And Allah always provided.

Wallahi there are some genuinely fantastic people in this land. People who fully trust Allah. People who are content and happy.

As we were approaching the airport he said, even after all this, I think I'm better off than most people. I have my health, I have my family and I have this car. I'm richer than many. Besides, look at those with money, look at how many problems their wealth has brought them...