The Masjid Gang

Lombok Reflections

The Masjid Gang

At first glance, these might look like just a few cheerful kids sitting in the masjid, dressed in their thobes and songkoks, smiling before or after prayer. But behind these innocent photos lies something far deeper. A quiet, powerful story that has been unfolding before Fajr, while most of the world is still asleep.

It happened just last week during the current school holidays here in Lombok. I usually drive to the masjid, it’s barely a two-minute trip, but I prefer driving for various reasons. On Monday morning, just after praying my Sunnah at home, I headed out, and as I drove down the street no more than 100 metres, I saw them.

Small silhouettes in the dark. Five little boys, no older than eight. The youngest, perhaps only four or five. Walking alone, half-asleep, but on their way to the masjid and at 5.15am.

No fathers. No older brothers. No one dragging them along. Just them. Walking silently down the quiet kampung street in the dark, before the sun had even peeked over the horizon.

So I pulled over. “Masuk, masuk,” (Enter, enter) I called. They smiled, laughed, and jumped in. From then on, it has become a bit of a routine. They’d be walking, and if I pass by, I give them a lift. They love it, and actually so do I.

And then it hit me after Fajr a few days ago, like a punch to the heart. Where are their fathers? Who’s waking them up? How are these boys, some not even school age, making their way to the masjid before grown men do?

You see, in our kampung, we have hundreds of men and teenage boys. But at Fajr, you might see only 50 or 60 in the masjid. Some go to other masjids nearby, but still, the numbers don’t lie.

These boys don’t come for praise. They’re not old enough to care who’s watching. They don’t receive any rewards. They just come, out of love. Out of fitrah. Out of something pure and unspoiled.

Their presence reminds me of the young believers in Surah Al-Kahf, whom Allah praised:

“Indeed, they were youths who believed in their Lord, and We increased them in guidance.”

(Surah Al-Kahf 18:13)

Allah honored the youth of the cave not for their age but for their commitment. And He increased them, guided them, protected them because of their sincerity.

And our beloved Prophet ﷺ said:

“Seven will be shaded by Allah on the Day when there is no shade but His… [and among them is] a youth who grew up worshipping Allah.”

(Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim)

These little ones, barely old enough to tie their shoelaces, might be the very ones under Allah’s shade on the Day of Judgment. They aren’t following anyone in their home. There’s no man setting an example for them, at least not that I can see. But we pray, with full hearts, that they are following the one true role model, The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

Because while they may not know all his Seerah yet, they are walking his path, step by tiny step, towards the masjid, toward obedience, toward Jannah, InshaAllah.

And here’s what makes it all the more humbling. We look to grown men for leadership, for guidance, for strength. But maybe leadership isn’t always about age, position, or voice.

Maybe leadership looks like a four-year-old boy slipping on his sandals in the dark. Maybe it sounds like giggles in the masjid before the iqaamah. Maybe it shows up in silence. Just five little shadows walking alone toward the light.

So instead of asking, “Where are the men?” Maybe we need to ask ourselves, “What’s stopping me?”

If these boys, without any pressure, without supervision, without physical or monetary reward, can rise before dawn, dress themselves, and make their way to the masjid out of love for Allah, then what excuse do we grown men really have?

They don’t have smartphones. They don’t check prayer timetables. They probably can’t even read the Quran completely yet. But Allah sees them. Maybe, just maybe, they’re not just walking to the masjid. Maybe they’re walking ahead of us. Not in age. Not in strength. But in sincerity.

If we don’t catch up and if we don’t humble ourselves, we may find that on the Day of Judgment, it’s them standing in the front rows…while we’re still rubbing sleep from our eyes.

O Allah preserve their fitrah, raise them in righteousness, and grant us the humility to follow the footsteps of those who are closest to Him, even if those footsteps are half the size of our own. Ameen