A Ramadan Miracle

This Ramadan I witnessed something amazing - proof that when Allah wants something for you, he will make it happen in the most unexpected ways.

Trying to finish Quran videos for 9 years

I have been trying to finish my Youtube Quran videos for years - my first video was posted in 2011! Since then, between juggling kids and a full-time job, I was trying to finish the videos but it certainly was not at the pace I wanted - 9 years later and I still had 40 Surahs left to finish. And now that I was working on my “Daily Muslim” app too, I wondered how I would ever find time to complete the Quran.

Ramadan 2020

This Ramadan, as every Ramadan, the views on my Quran videos increased and I received multiple e-mails asking me when I would complete them, and as usual, I gave my standard reply along the lines of “Soon, insha’Allah!”. One such e-mail came from a co-founder of the non-profit organization Next Wave Muslim Initiative (NWMI) in Washington DC asking for the missing Surahs PDFs on the Google Drive link. I replied letting her know that they weren’t complete yet and “Soon, insha’Allah!”.

When Muslims help each other

Rather than just saying “okay”, she replied that she would try to help me complete the Surah slides. Considering this is the most time-consuming task of making the videos as it’s repetitive copy-pasting of the ayahs, I was overjoyed. 

Given the blessing of Ramadan, eight NWMI volunteers joined in the time-consuming yet rewarding effort. One evening, as she was working on Surah Ya'sin, she came to this ayah:

“His command is only when He intends a thing that He says to it, “Be,” and it is.”

— QURAN, SURAH 38. YA-SIN, AYAH 82

Reflecting upon those words, she thought about this monumental task that lay ahead and made a sincere duaa for Allah's mercy and for help to complete the Quran slides before the end of Ramadan.

The power of duaa

Within a few minutes of making her dua, she received a text message from a volunteer saying "Check your email - I think I got it!". He had created a computer code that automated the entire process that we were painstakingly doing by hand. She didn't even realize that automating the process was even possible and was stunned by how quickly her dua had been answered. The entire quran now- formatted exactly as needed - with a click of a button - SubhanAllah!

She messaged me immediately, excited that ALL remaining Surahs had been completed. I could hardly believe it as it was nothing short of a miracle. Overnight, something that I had been stressing about for years which was days and days of work had been done in an instant. As I looked through the folder she shared with the full Quran, it was a surreal moment that left me amazed at how Allah can solve our problems in a way that we can never imagine.

As we exchanged messages, we were both at a loss of words at how Allah had helped both of us. Now she had her slides for Ramadan and I could finally move to finish my Quran videos. We really felt a connection and were truly humbled that Allah had helped us, two total strangers at the beginning of this, to come together and find a way to finish this important work that would benefit so many others.

Lessons learned

Things can work out in unexpected ways, so have faith

“... But they plan, and Allah plans.
And Allah is the best of planners.”

— QURAN, SURAH 8. AL-ANFAL, AYAH 30

When Allah intends something for us, it happens in a way we could never imagine. In all my years of making these videos, no one ever so proactively tried to help me like this. And in an instant, it was done in a way that I could never have thought of.

Do good and it comes back to you 

I never charged for my Quran videos - not through YouTube ads, or paid subscription, or even to download the PDFs and videos that I took days to make and could easily monetize. My intention was always to spread the Quran, and I didn't feel right making money off it. I truly believe Allah rewarded my intentions of helping people by having someone help me in such an unexpected way.

The same goes for the organizer from NWMI. At the start of this, she had no idea how or if she could help, but she tried anyways. It’s so important to just try to help others and do good, even if you’re not sure how - Allah is the one to open doors for us.

Like attracts like

The law of attraction states that "like attracts like." If you try your best to be a good person and have good intentions, you attract people like that into your life. Thats how I feel about amazing people like this who come in and help others, not expecting anything in return.

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I sincerely make dua that all of us are able to attract good people into our life, and that we as Muslims continually try to raise each other up and help each other, insha’Allah.

I would also like to make dua for all the volunteers and organizers from Next Wave Muslim Initiative for their hard work and dedication to helping others and to spread the word of Islam. I was amazed at how eagerly they were all willing to help, even though the task was so big, and I make dua that Allah rewards all their sincere efforts.

Ameen.