God, is this a sign?

16 years old and in Form 4, I was once caught climbing over the gate to get into school during school hours. I was completely drenched from a storm that had just stopped.

Truth is, some two hours before, sensing that a storm was looming, I climbed over the same gate to get out of school, then climbed over the Merdeka Stadium gate ( which was about 30 feet away from the school gate ), made my way down to the middle of the football pitch, sat down and waited for the storm to come.

And it came, leaving me with drenched and with this awesome sense of being one with Mother Nature.

Headmaster Victor Gopal did not buy this story, though. Three strokes for being late for school, so he thought, and another three for lying to him!

That’s how I felt yesterday, a little after noon, when rain came pouring down after the candidates for the Permatang Pauh by election had been announced and we were all making our way back to our car, abandoned like that of many others, on the highway about a kilometre or so away.

Drenched as I walked back with Benny, Arthur and Zorro, I thought back to the following verse of the Holy Qur’an :

‘Remember He covered you with a sort of drowsiness, to give you calm as from Himself, and he caused rain to descend on you from heaven, to clean you therewith, to remove from you the stain of Satan, to strengthen your hearts, and to plant your feet firmly therewith’ - Surah 8 verse 11

I found myself silently asking, “Lord is this a sign that Your forces are with those who will soon go to battle to bring justice and equality to this land?”

And almost instantly, my thoughts went to the following

‘… God never changes the grace He has bestowed on any people until they first change that which is in their hearts. God is Hearer, Knower’ - Surah 8 verse 53

-Haris Ibrahim