It has long been a tradition that every year, many bright young Malaysians students are sent to study in universities in United Kingdom, among other places. Having spent two to four years abroad, their return was keenly awaited by people close to their heart whom they had not seen for ages. The homecoming would typically come with with souveniers and gifts - a pair of rejected Clark shoes from Tommy Ball for elder brother, an England red rose rugby jersey for younger brother, a Liverpool or Manchester United away football jersey for kid brother, a couple of London t-shirt for kid sister, plenty of porno mags for close friends, and loads of Yorkie chocolate bars for everyone else.
A number of these young men surprised their parents and family members as soon as they arrived at the airport. Everyone at the airport expected to see a sharp-dressed young man with Bruberry jacket and Marks & Spencer pants at the arrival gate. Instead, emerging from the gate was a bearded chap with white skull cap on the head, wearing all white kurta and shalwar. Ironically, even those graduates from the universities in Egypt and Syria came back with fancy jacket and pants!
He was one of the many young Malaysians university graduates who came back from the United Kingdom a changed man. Bestowed with unpronounceable real name, he is known to us all as Salman, following the sahabi Salman the Persian radiyalaahu anhu. I first met him at our small old wooden surau/masjid. He had then spent time in the path of Allah after his graduation to Pakistan prior to returning home. Though a lot younger than me in age, I consider him as one of my mentors in the work of dakwah and tabligh. He progressed well in tabligh effort at younger age. His presence in our mohalla had opened up fikr for younger generations. But at the same time, he had been subjected to much taunting, trials and tribulations from the elderly people in our mohalla. The worst trials, unfortunately, came from his own parents. In the face of those adverse circumstances, he remained steadfast.
It really is not easy to try to live simple when the world around you expects you to live on the fast lane. When his peers looked for glamourous time consuming job, he opted for a teaching job that would secure him time for 40 days or four months for the effort and the advancement of his own iman and aamal. When his peers look forward for high wages and high-flying positions in large corporations, he opted for a low profile job that could give him more time to obtained piety and virtues in this world and rewards and benefits in the aakhirah. To me, really, when his peers are caught onto the web of slavery, he opted for being a master of his own time.
Sometimes whenever laziness overcame me and decided not to go to markaz, for instance, Allah Most High frequently used Salman Kantani to suddenly pop-out in front of my house on his motor-bike, asking whether we were ready to go to markaz for our weekly i'tikaaf. It was always the case for me, after seeing his big grin, alhamdulillah, my idleness instantly turned to liveliness, as I grabbed my bedding for another fruitful night at the markaz. He definitely is one of my circles of friends that fit the saying that a good friend is someone, when you see his face you would remember Allah Most High, and when you hear they speak, your knowledge of deen would increase.
MasyaAllah..
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