Maulana Wahiduddin Khan I The Sunday Guardian I December 21, 2014
Richard Allen (b. 1963) is the drummer for the English hard rock band Def Leppard. Since an early age he showed great interest in playing drums. At the age of 15 he joined the band Def Leppard. However, in 1984 at the age of 21, Allen met with a very fatal car accident. The result was that his left arm was seriously injured and had to be amputated.
Without his left arm, Allen could not play drums normally as before. But he did not give up. When he was in hospital, he realised he could still play some of the drum parts with his feet. Thus, Allen started learning to play on a customised drum kit. With a lot of practice he was able to perform again as before.
Finally, he emerged as an internationally-renowned drummer.
How did this miracle happen? This can be understood by a study of the human personality. The human personality contains some organs, but the inner personality is only one, which is generally called the soul. If a person's hand or leg is cut off, still his inner energy remains intact — it does not get diminished. This is the reason why when Rick Allen's one hand got cut off, the energy was diverted to the second hand. So he could do with one hand what he did earlier with both hands. Therefore, the miracle was not the miracle of a person — it was the miracle of human nature, which is common to all, to every man and woman. The Quran mentions this law of nature in these words: "So, surely with every hardship there is ease" (94:5).
If you lose one of your organs because of an accident, do not fall prey to frustration. Because, the accident means that you have lost an organ, but at the same time your inner energy is still intact. Activate your inner energy, and very soon you will achieve everything in spite of having lost a part of your body.