Tags
cemetry, grave, hanimaadhoo, hanimaadhoo cemetry, laafenn, maldives, mariyam isha azeez, mariyamboo, prayer
Early morning on December 18th 2008 whilst waiting for a plane to take me home from Haa Alif Hanimaadhoo Domestic Airport, I decided to get “acquainted” with the island. Whenever I rest foot on an Island there are three things I look for — old cemeteries, old mosques and old people.
Hiring a car wasn’t difficult at all as I had my “indispensable friend” with me. But this old cemetery became my first and last stop, where I saw that which changed my whole perception on life, forever!
This was a sight I knew I’d remember for the rest of my days — the grave of a freshly buried body. I was told by the driver that the deceased was buried after “Fajr” prayer “fathis namaadhu” — only three to four hours afore we had reached there.
What filled my heart wasn’t simply seeing it, but the love reflected on it. So much of love that I just had to pause for a while and say a humble prayer.
Covered in fine white sand, the “heavenly spot” came shaded under a “dholhi” — a white veil worn by women to perform “namaaz” prayers. In Maldivian traditions, after burial, the grave is covered with fine white sand and fistful of water sprinkled over it. However I have never seen nor heard before about covering the grave in this manner.
Without a tombstone – which would only be erected after 40 days – I couldn’t tell whether this was a man or a woman. All I knew was that it was of a stranger’s, who must have been surrounded by lots of loving people.
…. perhaps this was a woman — a mother…. perhaps the veil belonged to her….. or perhaps it was a man, with his loving wife’s veil covering him from harsh sunlight….
Could the freshly pressed handprints on the sand be that of a loving son’s, a feeble father’s or a cheerful brother’s…. or of a forgotten friend’s who came with a forgiving heart to say his last goodbyes? And.. Amidst it all there were trails of earthworm burrows running in every direction, reminding me of what we shall all return to one day — Dust.
Today, January 15th 2012, I wish to take a moment to say a prayer. A humble prayer said for a stranger whom I have never met. Yet whom I shall remember for the rest of my life.
“O Allah! May our lives be filled with those whose endless love and caring ‘handprints’ shine on our hearts and our graves forever. May your kindest blessings be with this soul who rests under the soil with which you have created us all. And may this soul be among the pious under the shades of “Jannat-ul-Firdhaws”. Amen!”