After Fajr on 28th June, I went back to bed to rest. However I soon woke up feeling extremely unwell due to a sudden stomach illness. I was sweating profusely, feeling very hot and was suffering from nausea. The next couple of hours were extremely difficult.
After feeling slightly better I got ready and went to the offices at around 10am. Despite the slight improvement the truth was I still did not feel very well at all. I was quite concerned because we were travelling to Harrisburg later and I knew that travelling whilst suffering from food poisoning was a recipe for disaster!
I did not tell anyone I was unwell because I did not want to make an issue or cause any worry. However after some time a friend casually asked me if I was feeling ok because many of the Qafila members had been struck down with food poisoning! When I heard this, I admitted that I too had been struck down.
I hardly ate anything all day and so Alhamdolillah, I survived the journey to Harrisburg without major distress!
Nonetheless, the main topic of conversation amongst the Qafila and the local Jamaat over the next 24 hours was which dish had caused everyone to be sick. There were a number of suspects but every time we reached a definitive conclusion somebody would say that he had not ate the accused dish and yet he too had become unwell!
We never could definitively say what made us unwell, however my own personal suspicion was a piece of barbecue chicken I had ate the night before.
At some point during the day Hazur‐Aqdas also became aware that some of us had been unwell. I learnt this when Hazur asked one of the catering team that ‘Aap nay to mehray qafilay walon ko bemar kardiya hai?’
I was stood on the side and Hazur saw me and asked me if I was now feeling ok to which I replied that Masha’Allah I was feeling better.
It was another example of Hazur’s love and care towards those who were accompanying him. Hazur had just arrived in Harrisburg for a very busy Jalsa period, yet he still found the time to ask how we were feeling and also in his own loving way he drew the attention of the local Jamaat towards the issue.