An Experience in Ramzaan- Mid Air Techincal Snag

“No! There is no intent to make you nervous” Abdul insisted and continued
"The flight takes of normally and in a couple of hours it should reach the destination, passengers are relaxed some takes to entertainment and some sleep and then ! All of a sudden the captain announces 'the flight has some technical problem, nothing to worry, we would have to turn around and land back'" Abdul paused;

He looked at Saleem and asked "Now imagine you were in that very flight".

Saleem thought to himself, “Fate rarely calls upon us in the moment of our choosing, the nearest experience to that would be the nightmares, when I was the passenger and undergone the virtual perils of torture but thank god the ordeal would end with the end of sleep”

“Yes” he confirmed “I have had nightmares, but during the day and you are in one such flight it’s another matter all together, but why such a question? Why now?”

“All of us like to hear news that makes us happy, not the ones that makes us nervous restless and scared right?” Saleem nodded to Abdul’s query

“We do not think about these things, Saleem… I was in one such flight”

Saleem gave Abdul a short hug, and he realized why his friend had paid him a visit “hmmmmm, you sit here while I get you something, Abdul did you have anything after breaking fast?”

Abdul - “Yeah I had some water and a couple of dates, that would do for now”
Saleem - “You sit here brother, ill get you something we have made haleem today am glad that you are joining with us, all praise be to Allah(Alhamdulillah)”

The incident had made quite an impact on Abdul, usually he is not a person who would settle for couple of dates and water. Saleem laid down the Supra ( a plastic sheet on which the food is served) on the carpet, went to the kitchen, his young kids came out from inside holding glasses, bread etc on seeing Abdul they said with a smile “Assalamu Alaikum” Abdul returned the salaam.

Saleem brought a fruit platter and requested Abdul “Please wash your hand and join, and tell me more about your experience”


Together they sat on the carpet and started having food, “Masha Allah, the haleem is good haven’t tasted one such in a long time” Abdul seemed pleased.
Abdul -“Okay, back to my experience, the flight took off from Delhi at about 12:45 it was JetLite’s Boeing 737, I was fasting and feeling sleepy was happy to get a window seat, the flight was full, this time of the year it’s a good season to visit Kochi so the flight was packed full, the duration of the flight is about 3 hours and 30 minutes”
Saleem-“Okay…, here have some more Haleem”
Abdul –“Jazakallah, the flight took off and I tried to get some sleep”.

Abdul took a piece of kiwi fruit, from the fruit platter
Saleem- “Is the haleem too spicy, I know you are not a big fan of spicy food”

Abdul smiled in return and he continued his narration
“When I woke up, the co-passengers were looking nervous and I heard announcement from the captain ‘We would be landing back in Delhi in 15 minutes, there is a technical problem in the aircraft but nothing to worry’ the passenger who was just beside me said ‘if there is no problem then why are we flying back for an emergency landing?’”
Saleem-“yes that is a valid question”
Abdul-“Because of my sleep, I did not get a good idea of what happened, my co passenger explained to me that after the flight took off within an hour our so the captain announced that there was some technical problem and we are returning back to Delhi for an emergency landing”

“To be frank, because of my fasting and sleep plus running on a low energy did not give me the full throng of scare or nervousness, but my palms started sweating which happens in such situations, so my mind was not taking the full impact how ever my body had already started to react to the situation”

During the time Abdul had this thought in his mind, ‘you always wanted to know the situation of a passenger when he know that the plain is going to crash, well here it is!’

“The flight was on its way back descending, there was turbulence and the aircraft jerked, and each jerk brought a bolt of scare into the depths of my heart, the land began to become more visible, my co passenger said ‘this is an alternate path I think we are landing in emergency run way’”

“I kept looking at the Flaps in the wing, which provides high drag and high lift which is used in landing, first it would be brought to 20 degrees then 40 degrees and then full flaps, I kept looking at them to see if the flaps are working, and at each jerk I would look at the flaps position hoping it would work when the time comes”

“Within my mind many thoughts came, my mind was wandering around the situation at hand, Allah gave me strength as he helped to get hold of the reins of my mind, ‘if this in fact is my last journey and if am not going to make it back alive but return to Allah, I should reflect on the relationship I have made with him’”

“In those 15 minutes guidance poured on to me like rain, I remembered my responsibilities being the representative of my creator in this flight let me not be selfish regarding just my own safety, prophet has said the prayer of one who fasts is heard by Allah, Allah was watching me and testing me at the same time, ‘o Allah I beg of you our safety and protection’ and I made intention that if there is a crash landing I would help my fellow passengers get down first and not rush to save my self”

They all stopped eating, there was silence they looked at Abdul listening carefully.

“Then at the moment, Allah reminded me of a visit Prophet (peace be upon him) paid to one of his ailing companion (may Allah be pleased with him) who was awaiting death ‘What is your condition’ Prophet(peace be upon him) asked him, he replied ‘I am hopeful regarding Allahs mercy and I fear regarding my Sins’, Prophet(peace be upon him) stated ‘When the man nears his end if he is in such a state that he has hope and fear, Allah will give him what he hopes for and saves him from what he fears’”

“I looked into my heart, to see if there is hope regarding Allah and fear for my sins, It was not that much that I wanted it to be, when you have a surprise test only the ones who are always prepared gets the scores, now there was no choice and it is left to Allah to judge my state, I sought his forgiveness. Even in a state of extreme peril one is not allowed to despair, being despair is a major Sin and like Kufr(rejecting truth once it becomes evident) for a Muslim”

“My mind was filled with such thoughts ….”

“‘Everyone has to return to Allah, but through a painful death?’ Allah gave me some thoughts on the same but what do you say to that Saleem?”

Saleem-“It is seldom that people think of death as means to return to Allah, people think of it as end of life, so what thoughts did Allah give you on the same”

Abdul -“Birth is a means to come to this world, earn the pleasure of Allah through the life of this world”

Saleem-”True, yet the birth is a painful experience”

Abdul-“Exactly, yes birth is a painful experience physically, so it is a matter of how Allah has designed this life, transition is painful and if I were to consider it to be an easy thing then it would only be my ignorance’

Abdul –“In the mean time, we were approaching the run way, my co passenger said ‘this seems to be an emergency run way not the usual one’ every passenger on the plane were un sure that we would be having a safe landing, I saw the flaps come down and thought ‘so the flaps are working’ then I heard the landing gear being activated ‘landing gear is working’”

“Then I thought ‘what if one if the engines is down’ if so after landing when thrusters are reversed the flight would start spiraling, the flight landed on the run way still flight was moving fast, I knew now they would have to apply reverse thrusters to slow down the aircraft. There was a roar of engine, reverse thrusters, the flight decelerated and taxied away from the run way to come to a complete halt”

“Passengers were relieved, but no one still knew the technical snag that caused the emergency landing, we all were safe Alhamdulillah”

Saleem-“So they did not say what the technical snag was?”
Abdul-“They did not say but I understood”
Saleem-“Since when you became an aircraft expert?”
Abdul-“Its not because that I am an aircraft expert, but the technical snag was a surprise test from Allah, to see if I have prepared well enough to meet him. So I have decided to go for some time to travel in Allahs path during the mid of Nov”
Saleem-“Masha Allah, can I also join you?”
Abdul-“It would be great if you could also come, Jazakallah”

It was time for Abdul to leave, he shook hands with the kids and requested their prayers, “Saleem, if I leave now I will be able catch the Isha Prayer on time and please remember me in your prayers”

The experience narrated here of Abdul in the aircraft is a true incident, the amount of guidance a human being needs throughout life is vast and huge, each individual needs guidance at different levels. It is amazing that the guidance from Allah is sufficient for even the person who is sitting on an aircraft and does not expect it to land safely. The aspects of which were shown in real time by the Prophet(peace be upon him)