The Story of the Man and His Damp Bed

by: Sis Zabrina


I was with my group of friends at a coffee place, happily chatting, when suddenly one of them developed an excruciating pain in her tummy. The pain was so intense for my friend that we had to bring her to the nearest clinic immediately. She was limping, her hands pressed against her abdomen and she was shedding some tears. We tried to hold her steady while she made her way to the doctor’s office.

It turns out that she had not been taking care of her food intake and had developed gastritis. Alhamdulillaah, after a few spoons of medication, she got better and we sent her home.

As I drove back, I kept thinking of the pain my friend had just experienced. I could vividly recall her facial expression, see her tears dropping and her trembling hands, all reflecting the agonizing pain she was feeling. I pray to Allaah to spare me from such agony.

Then, it dawned upon me. If gastritis can put a person in such a pain, I wonder how does a labour pain feels. Yes, I did say labour pain. Brothers, keep on reading. You need to know and understand this. Sisters, we all have heard of it before, some of you may have even experienced it. Bear with me, ok.

Have you heard of RAAM? That’s the acronym for “Race Across America”. It is the toughest ultra-distance bicycle endurance competition held annually in the States. Participants had to cycle from coast to coast covering 3000 miles across the United States in eight or nine days, riding the whole 24-hours in a day. Ok, you may ask me now, so, what is the relevance of this race and a labour pain?

Well, there is one lady who won this competition several times had actually said that pain from a childbirth is much more agonizing that the races she had won! Imagine that. I could not even begin to comprehend the idea of how a 9-day of suffering of these cyclists are cramped into a few hours of labour, and even that, it is nothing compared to the labour pain.

Thanks to her, I think I can better understand and appreciate the meaning of hardship in this ayah...

وَوَصَّيْنَا الإِنسَـنَ بِوَلِدَيْهِ إِحْسَـناً حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُ كُرْهاً وَوَضَعَتْهُ كُرْهاً وَحَمْلُهُ وَفِصَـلُهُ

“And We have enjoined on man to be dutiful and kind to his parents. His mother bears him with hardship. And she brings him forth with hardship.” [al-Ahqaaf 46:15]

May Allaah reward all mothers for enduring such pain and hardship to bring all of us in this world. Ameen