While other faithful were in festive mood, a family lost its breadwinner the day after Eid. The remains was preserved till the next day for burial rites. May Allah forgive our brother, EPO, as fondly nicknamed. He was a popular figure in Ijede, Ikorodu, especially in Abule-Eko area.

THE STORY

Epo's first son who is one of our madrasah students narrated to me how his ailing father breathed his last thus:

"We were watching and listening to an Islamic lecture on tv. In a while, my dad asked me to assist him sit up. I did as requested. When I noticed that his breathing wasn't normal, I urged him to start chanting the kalimah - LAA ILAAHA ILLA ALLAAH. He obliged me and we were doing it together, with his index finger pointed up. After a while, I could no more hear him talk, but the finger was still as pointed. I placed an ear on his chest, all I could hear was panting from inside which stopped after a few seconds. In short, my father proclaimed the kalimah at the point of death."

You may wonder the big deal about the story. Where I am driving at is not even the deceased's luck to proclaim the shahaadah. It is the amazing thing done by the 17-year old SS2 boy who was the reason his father achieved that golden end. What if he wasn't raised in the way of Allah? Would he have known how to help his father proclaim the kalimah? Hmm!

Teach your child the way of Allah. It will be to your benefit tomorrow.