A Tale of Brave Willpower

People with significant physical disabilities are admitted to a special hospital for the disabled in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. None of the body parts of these patients can move. While some of them suffer from paralysis, others have suffered serious injuries in accidents that have rendered them fully immobile.

I got the chance to go to one of these hospitals. It appears that little care is made to preserve the facility because it is ancient and dilapidated. The atmosphere is so peaceful that it almost feels like you've entered an abandoned jungle. The area feels nearly deserted, and there isn't much activity. I observed a 17-year-old lad in one of the rooms who was bedridden after suffering severe injuries in a car accident. He was in such terrible shape that he was unable to move anything but his head. His whole body, including his hands and legs, was immobilized.

But I was surprised by what I saw hanging in front of his bed. He was unable to lie down and watch videos because there was no television in front of him. He had no computer or laptop to play games on to kill time. Rather, this youngster had asked his family to place enormous sheets of paper with the Quran's large lettering in front of his bed so he could look at them and commit the verses to memory. The youngster had made up his mind to memorize the entire Quran, despite the fact that he was only able to move his head. Once every page has been committed to memory,To tell his family to hang the next page, he would make a head gesture.

He was memorizing Surah Mujadilah as I walked into his room. I questioned him about how much he had been able to commit to memory. "A little more than ten Juz," he said.

"What’s inside this box?" I inquired, pointing to a box in the room out of curiosity. I was informed that "It contains the pages of the Quran—around 200 pages."

This youngster, who is unable to move any part of his body, has decided to commit the entire Quran to memory and has already done it, memorizing almost 10 Juz!

I paid him another visit in the hospital many days later. He was learning the 15th Juz by then and could move his hands somewhat.

Thank you, Allah!

My acquaintances frequently show remorse when they hear or learn about this, saying things like, "Oh, if only I could remember the Quran! "If only I were as committed." They are astounded and exclaim, "At such a young age, this child has memorized the entire Quran?" when they witness young children—even those as young as 10 years old—who have done so. How I long to be able to do the same.

"You can do it too," I say to them. Your own willpower is preventing you from moving forward. Since you are in good health, you will undoubtedly be able to memorize the Quran if you get the fortitude to proceed. For someone as fit as you, there is no justification. What weakens and prevents you from accomplishing it is your own mental toughness.

Physical constraints won't be able to stop us if we all, like this youngster, maintain our will. We can overcome any challenge if we have unwavering willpower.

We must thus take this as a lesson: if we are determined, we will undoubtedly succeed even under the most trying conditions.

Insha'Allah.

Some Hadiths and Evidence of Prophet ﷺ's Confidence

Unshakable Faith in Allah:

The foundation of Prophet ﷺ’s confidence was his deep and unwavering faith and love for Allah. He believed that no one could help him except Allah, and that when he sought help from Allah sincerely, nothing was impossible.

Hadith:

"If you put your trust in Allah, He will be enough for you."
(Sunan Tirmidhi, Hadith: 2338)

In this hadith, the Prophet ﷺ is teaching that having faith in Allah makes everything easier for a person. Through this, he established the basis of true confidence: anyone who places their trust in Allah will never be disappointed.