Labor’s sacred secret

During the many years we were told we couldn’t have children due to my auto-immune condition, at times I gave up on dua because resignation was easier than continually dashed hope.

But my loved ones never stopped praying for me, even when I couldn’t do so for myself. Sometimes it was almost hurtful that they continued to do so.

I was trying to let a scab form over the hopes and dreams for a family with Basil, so every time someone told me that they were praying for me to have a child, the wound oozed fresh again.

But, someone’s dua made a difference and was heard by a Merciful and Loving God. Here I am, healthy and about three weeks away from my due date, insh’Allah.

Pain is difficult to deal with, especially if we think it meaningless. As a Muslim, I feel blessed that throughout my illness, pain was presented to me as an opportunity to grow spiritually, hard though that was at times.

How then can a woman’s labor to bring new life into this world be any less so? She has been imbued with the ability to create life by the One who created all life. The word for “womb” in Arabic, rahm, comes from the same root of the word that the Creator uses to describe Himself most often, ar-Rahman, the Most Merciful One.

Labor’s sacred secret is that not only is it purposeful in bringing a child into the world, but it holds the power of prayers answered for oneself and for others. In the throes of deep pain and bringing forth life, the woman is utterly close to her Creator. And in that pain and closeness, my sisters and friends found the presence of mind and heart to remember me and to whisper a prayer for me to have health and a child.

What is meant for you will come to you because God wills it, no matter what the doctors (or anyone else) say. That has been so true in my life that it gives me chills. I sometimes drew a boundary around what God could or couldn’t give me, but the people in my life never forgot that He has everything to give, if we continue to believe and to ask.

Thinking back on that I feel overcome with humility and gratitude to God and to the wonderful people He has placed around me, on this blog and in my life, who never gave up hoping and praying for me.

Insh’Allah, I want to continue this beautiful tradition, to reflect the beauty of God and my loved ones. If you would like me to make dua for you while in labor, for anyone or anything at all – clarity, contentment, marriage, health, children, success in this life and the next  – please either leave your request as a comment below or at my e-mail in the “About Me” section above.

With just over three weeks to go till my due date, I’m compiling a list of people to pray for now. May your requests be fulfilled by the One who loves you above all others, ameen.

And please keep Basil, Lil Bean and me in your duas as my time approaches too – bless you!