Climbing Mount Everest

In the name of God, compassionate & merciful بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Peace be with you السلام عليكم

By Furqan Naeem

One of the things I remember fondly was the view at night. As we were high up, there was very little electricity and it was almost complete darkness at night. When we would look up in the skies our eyes would be filled with thousands and thousands of stars shining brightly above the mountains. We saw shooting stars and the view made us wonder about Allah’s creation in our galaxy and beyond it – what is it like in the heavens? His magnificence and the number of His creations just made us increase in His remembrance. When we prayed Maghrib and Isha outside on one of the nights it was so peaceful. We would say salams at the end and when we would look right and left we would have mountains in our direct view on either side. Most times it was a most peaceful prayer and when we prayed we didn’t want to stop.

One verse of the Qur’an that I always remembered throughout the journey was in Surah Hashr where Allah says:



“If We had sent down this Qur’an upon a mountain, you would have seen it humbled and coming apart from fear of Allah. And these examples We present to the people that perhaps they will give thought” (59:21).

This verse made me think about the weight of the Qur’an and how even the mountains would be humble due to the weight of His Majesty. It made me consider the state of the dunya after the final trumpet is blown and how all these rock solid mountains will turn to dust. It made me think about how Allah has made these mountains in order for mankind to reflect and think about His creation, and to know when Allah mentions these mountains in the Qur’an we were amongst the highest ones He has created. That was a moment for us all to deeply ponder.

Every evening we would sit in a circle and someone from among the group would give a thought of the day. Everyone came out with excellent reminders to keep us all thinking and renewing our intentions. Some spoke about how we should appreciate the things we have in life that we take for granted, some spoke about animals that we saw and how much they sacrifice for us humans. Others spoke about how our struggle will help impact the lives of millions who are struggling in the third world. After mentioning the ayah I quoted above, I talked about three lessons we should take back in our lives...

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