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This section consists of Islamic teachings,
interesting events and moral lessons from the Islamic history. Some
interesting proverbs and sayings are also included.
Nay! But you treat not
the orphans with kindness and generosity (i.e. you neither treat
them well, nor give them their exact right of inheritance)! And you urge not one
another on the feeding of the Al-Miskeen (the poor)! And you love wealth with
such intensity.
Surat Al-Fajr (The Break
of Dawn)
The Glorious Quran
Tremendous Rewards for Simple Deeds
Bukhari and Muslim Sharif related from
Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) that Allah’s Messenger
(Peace Be Upon Him) said: “As a man was walking on a pathway, he
found a thorny branch. He removed the thorny branch from the path
and Allah (the Exalted) was pleased with his deed, accepted it,
rewarded him, and forgave his sins”.
The
Generosity of a Man With Nothing
Abdullah bin Ja’far (may Allah be pleased with him) who was famous
for his generosity, one day passed by a garden. He saw a slave
gathering dates in it. He saw the son of the slave owner come to the
slave with two loafs of bread which the slave sat down to eat. A
dog, wagging it’s tail, approached the slave. The slave threw one of
the two loafs of bread in the direction of the dog. The dog rushed
forward and ate the loaf. However, it continued to look at the
second loaf and wag it’s tail. The slave threw the second loaf of
bread to the dog as well, after which he got up and continued with
his work!
Abdullah bin Ja’far was so amazed at what he saw from the slave
that he approached him and asked, “O young man, how much food is
provided to you everyday?” The slave replied “the amount that you
saw.” Abdullah enquired, “then why did you give all of it to the
dog.” The slave replied, “Indeed we do not live in a land that is
inhabited by dogs, so I knew that the only thing that led this dog
here was hunger. That is why I preferred the dog to eat the loaves
than myself”. Abdullah asked, “ and what will you eat yourself
today?”. The slave replied, “I will spend the night in hunger”.
Abdullah said, “The people reproach me for being too generous, and
yet this young slave is far more generous than me!”. Abdullah bin Ja’far
then went to the owner of the slave, asking to buy him. The owner
asked, “and why do you wish to buy him?” He informed him of what he
saw from the slave, and he told him that he wanted to buy the slave
in order to free him. He also said that he wanted to buy the garden
to give it as a gift to the slave. The slave owner said, “Do you
wish to do all of that for him, just because of that one deed?
Indeed, we see such wonderful deeds from him everyday! I bear witness”,
continued the slave owner, “that he is free for the sake of
Allah and that the garden is a gift from me to him!”
A view of the
Prophet's Mosque, Madina Al-Munawwara.
Photo: Zahid Hussain
The
Intelligent Begger
It is
said that a beggar went to a rich man from Khurasan to ask for his help.
The beggar heard the rich man say to his servant, “O Gold, say to
the Gem to say to the Jewel to say to the Saphire, to say to this
beggar that we do not have anything”. The beggar raised his hands to
the sky and said, “O my Lord, say to Jibril, to say to Israfil, to
say to Mikail, to say to Izrail to take the soul of this miser!”
A gate of the
Prophet's Mosque, Madina Al-Munawwara.
Photo: Zahid Hussain
Love for the sake of Allah
To love
someone for the sake of Allah is a great act for which great rewards
have been promised. "To love for the sake of Allah" means loving
someone, not for worldly gain, but because he / she is a Muslim and more
busy in serving Muslims and Islam or because loving him or her is
commanded by Allah; like loving your parents.
It is
narrated in Sahih Muslim that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: "Allah shall
ask on the Day of Judgement; 'where are those who loved for the sake of
my greatness? Today, when there is no shade, I shall have them in my
shade.'"
Allah has
commanded Muslims to love one another, to take one another as friends
and brothers and care and help each other. Allah says in the Qur'an:
(and hold fast by the rope of Allah all together and be not disunited,
and remember the favour of Allah on you when you were enemies,
then He united your hearts so by His favour you became brethren; and you
were on the brink of a pit of fire, then He saved you
from it, thus does
Allah make clear to you His commands that you may follow the right way.)
(3:103)
Therefore,
we should love good people for the sake of Allah and with the intent of
becoming good oneself and earning Allah's pleasure.
Another gate of the Prophet's Mosque, Madina Al-Munawwara.
Photo: Zahid Hussain
A Thought
The smallest good deed is better than the greatest good intention.
If
all the trees of the earth were pens, and the sea were ink, with seven
more seas to replenish it, the Words of God would still not be
exhausted. God is Almighty, All-wise.
Al-Quran
31:27
Did you think that We had created you for no reason, and that you would
never be recalled to us? Exalted be God, the True King!
There is no deity, save Him, the Lord of the noble throne.
Al-Quran
23:
115 - 116
A beautiful reminder to be found in Dhok Hashmi, Dhera Kanyal, Bewal.
A man without a smiling face,
must not open a shop.
Chinese Proverb
A signboard
hanging over the entrance to a graveyard in Rawalpindi. Photo:
Zahid Hussain
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