A Blessing From Allah?

It all began when my mum noticed lumps around her lymph node areas i.e. armpits, groin etc. She contacted the doctor who referred her for a biopsy. Once the results were in, my mum was officially diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The diagnosis was only made when the Cancer was at stage 3 but had begun to make its way to stage 4. I was in my final year of university at the time and being the youngest of three siblings the responsibility automatically fell on me as I was the only one living at home with my parents.

I do not come from a medical background and the stigma associated with cancer made me worry. The first question in my head was “how long does she have?” I conveyed this fear to the doctor at her first chemotherapy appointment, who put my mind at ease.

The doctors were amazing and began R-CHOP Chemotherapy without hesitation. She had six rounds of R-CHOP Chemotherapy at 3-week intervals to treat the cancer, with positive results. The chemotherapy period was difficult and was clearly exhausting for my mum, in between rounds the 2-3 week was the toughest. She had little to no energy and was extremely vulnerable.

My mum was a teaching assistant and due to her vulnerability and schools being a hub for illnesses, she was forced to retire early. She suddenly found herself having more time due to being out of work. Luckily my mum was already into her deen (faith) and the diagnosis and additional time only propelled her closer to Islam. She sought out duas, dhikr and made it a mission to wake for Tuhajjad (night prayers). She also looked into herbal remedies, that may not have cured her, but helped her in other ways.

Once her six rounds were completed, she had follow-up treatment called Rituximab maintenance every three months for two years to keep the cancer away. Up until this day she has a six monthly check up with her haematologist.

My family found it beneficial that I could attend the appointments, as the doctors spoke English and I was able to ask the questions that needed to be asked and understand the responses given. Had my mum had someone advising her on the details of her diagnosis/prognosis in her mother tongue (Punjabi/Urdu), she may have found it even more informative.

I was at the age where I did not often want to speak to friends/family about such deep situations, and spent most of my time dealing with everything myself. I think more so for myself then my mother, I could have done with an Islamic cancer support system that would have made me see those few years differently, from an Islamic viewpoint rather than feel sorry for her and question her.

I speak to people (Muslims) up until today who find it difficult to comprehend that having cancer (or any illness) is a blessing from Allah swt. The Prophet (PBUH) said: “No fatigue, nor disease, nor sorrow, nor sadness, nor hurt, nor distress befalls a Muslim, even if it were the prick he receives from a thorn, but that Allah expiates some of his sins for that.”  And as important is “Allah burdens not any soul beyond its capacity” (surah Al-Baqarah) and “Surely with hardship comes ease” (Quran 94:5).

My advice would be to people suffering from cancer, to remember this hadith and the Quranic verses and seek refuge in them. Nothing is more powerful then dua, including medicine, therefore it is essential to have tawakkul in Allah and tawakkul in the doctors.

Cancer is not age specific in most cases, and if you are affected at a more vulnerable age/time in your life, as I was (with less Islamic insight, little medical knowledge), I definitely believe a platform like MCSN would be beneficial.