My father and I, after closing a property deal in Mombasa, were returning to Nairobi via train on a Saturday in 1992. At the Mombasa Station we could only get bookings for a 2nd Class compartment and for the sake of comfort, my father urged me to speak to the Station Master and procure 1st Class Bookings which we got in a bogie that was added at the last minute, directly behind the engine.
Our journey started well and after having our dinner, we retired. In those days the first class compartments had two beds, one on top of the other. Owing to our hectic schedule in Mombasa it was not long before we were both fast asleep. Suddenly, the rhythmic noise of the train changed and we could hear the sound of gushing water. To our despair, even the lights had stopped working. It must have been between 2 and 3 a.m everything was pitch dark. At that time I asked my father if there was a river anywhere between Mombasa and Nairobi that the railway line crossed to, which he replied that there were only seasonal streams and no all-weather rivers of any sort in the area.
Slowly but steadily the water started entering our compartment and this confirmed our belief that something had gone tragically wrong with the train. In an effort to see what had actually happened and to try and escape, I desperately tried to force the compartment’s window open but to no avail. All we could hear was the thunderous sound of water gushing by.
As the water rose further, I asked my father to come onto the top bunk. The water rose further and further and in the deep darkness clutching my father’s hand, I silently prayed. I thought of my worst dread in life, to drown, which seemed to be the fate that I was going to face.
The water rose even further until there were only about four inches between the roof of the compartment. The level of the water did not stop rising. In a final appeal, I cried out to Imam Hussain AS and Burhanuddin Aqa TUS to save us. In that very instance the water stopped rising and began to slowly recede.
We were recused from the jaws of death. Literally.
It was several hours before we were able to get out of the train and reach safety. When we emerged from the train, we noticed that we were in an area where maize was being grown and there was only one baobab tree in that vicinity against which our boggy had lodged onto, preventing it from being pulled away like the engine and the three bogies behind ours, causing the death of more than 350 lives. The train engine and four of the train cars had plunged into this area as the bridge for the railway line had collapsed in the floods. Only one fatality had occurred from our bogie, which was of a young man who had forced open the window of his compartment and drowned in the gushing force of the over-powering water.
Now, you may ask – How do I know Moula RA saved me?
I have proof.
The very next day, in the Shafahi Imtehaan in Surat, a Talabat from Arusha was asked directly by Aqa Moula RA to recount the incident of the train that had happened recently. At that stage we had not even been able to send a fax, expressing Sajadatus Shukr in Hazrat Imamiyah when Moula RA asked this question!
Undoubtedly, only he, who had saved us, could have known of the incident.
We hear time and again, Moula TUS remind us, that when in trouble remember me and my “DUA” will hasten towards you.
And it never fails to do so.
Shk. Ayman Shk. Esmail Arushawala
Arusha, Tanzania
In the means of shukr and zikr, anyone who is willing to share his/her’s acquaintance, incident or any experience with Moulana Muqaddas RA or Moulana Mufaddal Saifuddin TUS can mail it to dhmirza@gmail.com & murusons@gmail.com. You can also WhatsApp us on +923343752321 & +923437862121
Tazkerat 