This time last week, I prepared to fly out to Sweden with my brother. I packed everything but forgot something that you just NEVER forget.

So we left early in the morning and after an hour or so, we turned up at Gatwick airport. At the entrance, my brother clapped his hands together and said as a joke, “Right, so you got everything? You got your passport, your toothbrush?” (A joke from a game show when we were younger called ‘Don’t forget your toothbrush’). At that point, I froze, gasped and then I shouted, “O my God!”

Yep, I had forgotten my passport. Subhan’Allah, I usually double check everything, but for some reason the passport just never occurred to me – and I’m no stranger to travelling. My mind must’ve had millions of neuro-electrical signals going off as I tried to remember if I packed it, if I had it, if I really did forget it. But alas, I had well and truly forgotten my passport 🙁

In between my hysteria, all I kept saying was “O my God! O my God!” followed by a gasp every now and again, with my hands on my face, wide eyes, and feet pacing up and down. People were looking at me funny.

Me: O my God!
Brother: You’re joking!
Me: O my God!
Brother: You actually forgot it?!!!
Me: O my God!
Brother: I can’t believe you.

Oh, it sure is exciting travelling with me 🙂 We immediately called my older brother who had dropped us off and gone back. When he heard, he also claimed, ‘You must be joking!’ No bro, I don’t have time to use the same joke on two people thank you. “What do I do?!” I pleaded down the phone. “Ok,” he replied. “I’m gonna drive fast and get it for you, just find out what time check in closes.”

So we rush through the airport and tell check-in about my morning amnesia re: the passport. They told us to wait, and then informed us that check-in will close at 8:25am. It was now 7:30am. That gave my brother 55mins to get from Gatwick to West London and back to Gatwick. Ha, impossible… especially with the morning rush hour growing.

I felt defeated and began looking for other flights because I was sure I was going to miss this one. But there were no flights either. The closest one from UK to Sweden was leaving the next afternoon and the journey was 36hrs with 2 transits. Subhan’Allah, I wasn’t going to make the conference, nor was I going to be doing the lectures I had worked so hard on.

As my panic grew, I remembered a piece of advice I once received… ‘Whatever situation you find yourself in, derive a point of benefit.’ And so I found myself launching into du’a. You know subhan’Allah, when a person is forced into a corner, rendered helpless, and feels utter desperation, the intensity of the situation usually reveals gems that would otherwise never come about. Du’a is a special act of worship, but for most of us, it can become quite monotonous and mundane. I really believe that sometimes we are thrown into crazy or difficult circumstances just to refine and polish up our du’as and connection with Allah.

As I started making du’a, sheer desperation forced me to call upon Allah with a Name and Attribute that I had never called with before. I found myself saying:

“Ya Waajid al-Kawn (O Founder/Originator of the Universe)
Ya Mudabbir al-Samawati wal-Ardh (O One Who runs the affairs of the skies and the earth)…

These may be simple enough, but I just never used them before. And I have no idea where it came from now. But my entire du’a after that took a very special turn and I found myself fully engaged and present subhan’Allah. Almost immediately I felt tranquil and calmed down from my panic. If this was the only benefit I gained that day, it would’ve been benefit enough. But Allah gifts with further fath. My mind cleared and an idea came to my head to call a local cab service near my house to pick up my passport and bring it to Gatwick. It was a big risk and very tight timing but we all trusted and gave it a shot.

As the cabbie picked it up, I pleaded with him to come as fast as he could. In fact, we told him to fly, yes fly down the motorway – and poor uncle, we kept ringing him every 15mins to check where he was.

I really don’t know how he did it, but masha’Allah he made it to the airport in less than 45mins, and we turn made it through check-in FOUR mins before it closed. Yeah 4mins, seriously I was counting! It was such an intense morning for us, even more intense than the intimidation we faced from armed police at the airport who sent their dog and armed soldiers to us twice as we were waiting for the passport (another story!). But it was a moment of ‘deriving benefit’, and a moment where I learnt and discovered an Attribute of Allah which sounded so beautiful in du’a. It was a moment when everything was removed from our power and a gift of du’a was put in its place. It was a morning of discovery, subhan’Allah.

Moral of the story: Launch into du’a in every circumstance, you have no idea what Allah will bring forth from it.