A Tasbih from the Masjid-l-Haram + The Stories of my Life
ALLAH Is Closer Than You Imagine
When I performed Umrah some time ago, I met a fellow sister from Nigeria who has lived in Makkah for about 8 years. She was so warm to me—and she speaks Yorùbá.
She isn’t Yorùbá by tribe, but she lived in Kwara, and that is how she learned the language.
So we spoke Yorùbá inside Masjid al-Ḥarām.
I was very happy about meeting a fellow Nigerian at the Haram because I did Umrah without the typical group. It was just a nice feeling.
As a parting gift, she gave me a tasbih counter. She herself is like a gift from ALLAH and a delight. May Almighty ALLAH preserve her.
That tasbih counter turned out to be a very meaningful gift.
The Plan of ALLAH
About two years before the Umrah, a grandmother accepted Islam through me. I tried so hard to get her to observe Salah, but she never budged. So I had already given up hope and began to assume she'll never observe Salah.
I had already stopped thinking about her Salah when I heard she started her Salah journey.
I was so excited, I wanted to give her a gift for starting her Salah journey. And the tasbih counter came to my heart—because it is beautiful to say tasbih after Ṣalāh.
Still, I debated with myself.
Should I give it to her or not?
I kept telling myself, “It’s my special gift.”
Yet, I went to her house anyway, with the intention of giving it to her.
And I swear by ALLAH—the moment she answered my salām, the very first thing she asked for was a tasbih counter.
I was still standing. I hadn’t even sat down.
I laughed—out of awe—at how intimately present ALLAH is in our lives.
I told her that I had come specifically to give her a tasbih counter.
She was so pleased with it. She said she had seen someone wear one before and had always wondered what it was. As an elder, she had only ever known the analogue counters.
I am sharing this because ALLAH is closer than you imagine.
Do not doubt His promise—ever.
She had a need for a tasbih counter, and Almighty ALLAH had already met her need before she could ask.
Sometimes, ALLAH answers a duʿāʾ before it is spoken. Indeed, HE is The All-Hearing, The Most Merciful.
An-Naḥl 16:1
أَتَىٰ أَمْرُ ٱللَّهِ فَلَا تَسْتَعْجِلُوهُ ۚ سُبْحَٰنَهُۥ وَتَعَٰلَىٰ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ
The command of ALLAH is coming, so do not be impatient for it. Exalted is He and far above what they associate with Him.
Sincerely,
Hamidah Abbas
Author, Salvation in Minutes
AFTERTHOUGHT 1: A More Detailed Introduction
BismiLLAH AlhamduliLLAH
Asalamu Alaykum Thinkers,
I am Hamidah Abbas, an Islamic researcher and author from Nigeria.
Throughout my life, my inability to stop researching and asking questions resulted in a few outcomes:
- Childhood and adolescence: I won different prizes at the OTM Seminar Quizzes (Future Scholars of Nigeria).
- 2007–2013: At Ummul-Qura Institute, Ibadan, I won various prizes for being the only student who answered a Hadith question correctly. I won multiple debate competitions, and I also served as the General Secretary of the Press Club in 2012.
- 2014: I won the Islamic quiz competition organised by the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN) at the Institute of Human Resource Development (INHURD, Mawuko).
- 2016: I co-founded FUNAAB Media Houses United (FMHU).
- 2018: I was a speaker at the AgroDefacto Summit, FUNAAB. I also won al-Mustakshif Impromptu Speech Competition organised by al-Mustakshif, MSSN, FUNAAB.
- 2026: I completed a training in Shari'ah Intelligence by the Da'wah Institute of Nigeria and I was also a panelist at the 9th Annual Sisters’ Summit of the Pure Hearts Islamic Foundation of Nigeria (Oyo State Chapter), which was held on Sunday, 21st Dhul-Hijjah 1447 (7th June 2026) at the Ọ̀jọ́ọ̀ Civic Hall, Ìbàdàn.
Pictures from the Shari'ah Intelligence Training
AlhamduliLLAH for the successful completion of the Shari'ah Intelligence Training (Muslim Intellectual Development Programme) organised by the Da'wah Institute of Nigeria (DIN), Islamic Education Trust (IET), Minna in collaboration with the Muslim Ummah of Southwest Nigeria (MUSWEN).
First of all, many applied to this training but only few were chosen to attend. So all praise belongs to ALLAH for the opportunity to learn.
The Da'wah Institute of Nigeria is an organisation that has conducted many trainings in partnership with many Muslim organisations all over the world including Australia, England, US, Bahrain, Malaysia, Singapore, Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Sudan, Maldives, etc. In the last 30 years, they've trained thousands of people. So may Almighty ALLAH preserve the institution.
As we complete the Shari'ah Intelligence Training today (17-June-2026, Wednesday, 2-Muharram-1448), I cannot help but thank ALLAH for the huge number of resourceful and brilliant people that He has bestowed upon the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ. One of the beautiful things about gatherings such as these is being reminded that the Ummah is rich with people of knowledge, wisdom, experience, and excellence. For that, all praise belongs to ALLAH.
To the Imaams, PhDs in Islamic Law, school owners, and organisation leaders that I sat with and had group discussions with, may Almighty ALLAH preserve you all.
To the trainers and the institute, may Almighty ALLAH increase you all in reward.
Anyway, as we conclude the training, I would like to share a few pictures
And all praise belongs to ALLAH.
Sincerely,
Hamidah Abbas (Thoughts)
Writer, https://about.me/hamidahabbas
Author, Salvation in Minutes
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Afterthought 2
This is the picture of the Islamic Impromptu Speech Competition that I won in 2018.
They call it impromptu because you stand before the hall of hundreds of people holding a microphone before they give you a topic. Each contestant is given a different topic.
May Almighty ALLAH reward you with goodness in great abundance for your time.
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Afterthought 3
I call myself an artist because I genuinely cannot conduct research that I do not care about. I tried. It's too painful and unsustainable for me. Maybe I can blame Asperger's for this. The only reason I was able to research and produce liquid organic fertilizer and pesticides as a student at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, is that I felt strongly about it. Even though it did not contribute to my grade and wasn't part of the curriculum, I still did it.
Sincerely,
Hamidah Abbas | Writer @ https://about.me/hamidahabbas