Journey Towards
An Unknown Goal

Every day I feel that I am sitting on an invisible plane heading towards the Hereafter. Soon it will be announced that our plane has landed at the airport of the Hereafter. As we disembark from the airplane we will be faced with the strange new world. This is a reality.

In November 1984, I received a unique type of invitation. This invitation was apparently from the convenors of a conference, but it did not contain the necessary details. It was just a first class return ticket with Delhi-Casablanca–Delhi written on it.

When I received the air ticket, Casablanca was at that time an unknown name for me. I did not know anything about Casablanca. I was quite hesitant about this journey. But when the date came, I went to the Delhi airport and took my seat in the airplane, feeling rather uneasy. The airplane started flying high in the sky. Weird kinds of thoughts started coming to my mind. I did not understand where the airplane would land and where I would go from there.

The airplane continued to fly and eventually the announcer announced that our plane would soon be landing at the Casablanca airport. All the passengers disembarked from the airplane one-by-one. In the end, I got up from my seat and walked slowly out of the airplane. I was in a strange situation at that time. There was no one to receive me at the airport. (For details see: Al-Risala, January 1985, pp. 30-31)

This incident often comes to my mind. I feel as if I am sitting on an invisible plane. And that plane is constantly moving, heading towards the Hereafter. Suddenly, the time will come, when it will be announced that our plane has finally landed at the airport of the Hereafter and that passengers should disembark from the airplane and move out. When I will come out, the world before me will be absolutely strange. There will be no companion or anyone else. None of my own people will be there to welcome me. What a strange time is about to commence, for me and also for others.