Face to face with an intruder in the house.

What if every parents' nightmare were to happen to you? How would you react?

I was out shopping, grabbing some vegetables and mineral water to replenish our grocery during my lunch break. I was on the phone with hubby when he said, "Call me back in one minute." He does that to me, a lot and it usually means something important is happening. I called him back and he said in a calm and clear voice, he said, "...listen to me very carefully. Drop whatever you're doing and drive home. Don't ask any question."

I wonder what most wives would do?
Would they listen?
Would they protest?
Would they do the typical 'drama melayu' scene of "Kenapa Bang? Apa dah jadi Bang? I baru nak bayar shopping ni...cakaplah sekarang!" and blah blah...

Sometimes I would mess around with the kids, pretending that we're in an emergency situation and they must do exactly as they're told quickly and without asking any questions because in an emergency situation, every second counts. You must be acute and quick to react. When someone says, "Get down!" you must get down without hesitation. Hence, this was one of those moments...

To me, this was a test of faith! A test for me to see if I trusted the head of my household enough to do exactly what he says without question. Do you trust your leader? In a life and death situation, trust is important. A moment's hesitation could change outcome. I knew something was wrong but what? All sorts of things were going through my head. A fire? One of the kids fell and broke their leg? He said, don't ask questions so I didn't. It was not out of fear. It was out of faith. I guess I trust him, always have from the moment we first met.

I had my load of basket. I had just finished picking up the last item on the list. The till was empty. I could have just went to the till and paid the groceries and then do as he says. The thought was tempting...but instead, without hesitation, I dropped the shopping basket, ruffled inside my handbag for the car keys and drove home. It was a 30 minutes drive on the highway.

As I was driving, he called. He asked me where I was and I said, I was on the highway. He told me someone broke into the house and our eldest girl was in the house. He said, something happened to her.

I wonder what would most mothers imagine?
What would they do?
How would they react?

I must say...I imagined the worst! I imagined...one stop crisis center.
I became hysterical. I was sobbing and crying and screaming, "Oh my God! my baby! my baby! what happened to my baby!" Hubby was lecturing and screaming over the phone, saying "Who didn't close the window? I told everyone so many times to close the window, to lock the doors. I knew this was going to happen!"

I tried to calm myself but as soon as I thought about it, I started becoming hysterical again. I was pressing on the accelerator but the car seemed to be going slower...I felt my legs were heavy but I knew I had to keep driving.

Hubby said, "As soon as you get home, take her to the police station."
"Police station?" I replied through my sobs. "I must take her to the hospital..."
His voice softened, "What do you think happened?" he asked
I knew then that most likely things were not as bad as I imagined. His tone of voice reassured me. I calmed down. I didn't ask anything. Didn't ask what happened. I asked, "Who is with her now? Is she alone?" He had asked the security guard to keep her company until one of us got home. I said, "OK" and hanged up.

When I got home, she was downstairs. She opened the door and I could see she's been crying. I asked if she is okay and she said, she is. The only thing that was bruised was one of her fingers which she used to punched the intruder. Yes! my daughter punched the guy who broke into our house and luckily, he ran away and she was okay.

I wonder what would you have done?
What would I have done?

Hubby told us many times about the possibility of intruders entering the house and that we should never have this mentality of "It won't happen to me!"

We have taught the kids to realize that whatever happens to others could potentially happen to us. The attitude that "it won't happen to me!" is not an option. If we thought it wouldn't happen to us, we would not take any precautions or be prepared. We must take all precautions and be prepared and to have trust in God to protect us (tawakkal).

However, we never taught her what to do in such a situation. It was purely her own reaction and she was brave. I have brought her up from a young age to 'not fear anything but God'. When she was little and afraid of monsters under the bed, I used to tell her that even if there were monsters or ghosts, God is the One who created these things hence, we must fear nothing but God." However, I never anticipated that she would respond in this way so, I must say MashaAllah! Only Allah could have helped her...