The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w) and the two boys

The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w) and the two boys

One of the many qualities of the Holy prophet (s.a.w.w ) was wisdom. An example of this was when the Muslims were preparing to fight the Mushrikeen in the battle of Badr. The Prophet (s.a.w.w ) wanted to know the number of soldiers in the Makkan army so the Muslims could plan their strategy accordingly. He sent a group of Muslims to find it out before the battle started.
At the water wells in Badr, they found two boys and brought them to the Prophet (s.a.w.w). When these boys saw the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w)’s glowing face and how merciful he was with them, they were not afraid and tried to help, but they did not know the exact numbers of the soldiers.
The Prophet (s.a.w w ) asked them,
How many camels do they slaughter everyday?
They replied, One day, nine and another day, ten.

From their answer, the Prophet (s.a.w w ) estimated between 900 and 1000 soldiers.
He worked out a plan for the battlefield and the Muslims followed it in their fight. They were victorious with the help of Allah (S.W.T.), even though they were only 313 in number which was less then half the size of the Makkan army!
Because of ‘their faith, the Muslims raised the flag of Islam high in their first battle against the non-believers.

www.alqaem.org

My Daughter has Never Fallen Ill!

My Daughter has Never Fallen Ill!

 

Once, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) sought a lady’s hand in marriage.  Her father began praising her and while enumerating her virtues, he uttered:

 

“From the time she was born till today, she has never fallen sick.”

 

As soon as the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) heard this, he immediately left the gathering.

 

Later, he said, “There is no goodness in an entity which, like a zebra, never falls sick.  Diseases and misfortunes are God’s gifts to His servants that should they ever become negligent of Him, diseases and misfortunes serve to make people mindful of Him.”

Pand-e-Taareekh, vol. 2, pg. 180.

The Rank of a Worshipper who Suffers from Illness

The Rank of a Worshipper who Suffers from Illness

 

One day, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) raised his head towards the heavens and then laughed.  One of his companions asked him the reason for his laughter to which the Prophet (s.a.w.) replied saying:

 

“My laughter was out of my astonishment.  Two angels had descended from the heavens to record the deeds of a righteous Mu’min. They always found him on his prayer mat, engaged in worship, but this time, they noticed that he was not there.  He was in his bed, having been afflicted with sickness.  They ascended towards the heavens and said to God: O’ Lord! We did not find Your servant in his usual place of worship but instead, found him lying on his bed in a state of sickness.

 

God said to them:  Until he regains his health, record for him all acts of worship and deeds of goodness that he used to perform when healthy.  It is necessary for Us, for as long as he remains in the captivity (of sickness), to grant him rewards of all the good deeds that he used to perform, when possessing soundness of health

Daastaan-ha Wa Pand-ha, vol. 6, pg. 130; Tafsir Nur al-Thaqalain, vol. 5, pg. 68.

Zakaat from Tha’labah Ansaari not Accepted

Zakaat from Tha’labah Ansaari not Accepted

 

Once, Tha’labah Ibn Haatib Ansaari approached the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) and beseeched:

 

“O’ Prophet of God!  Pray to God that He grants me wealth and riches.”

 

“Little wealth for which you are able to offer thanksgiving, is better than immense riches for which you are unable to offer thanksgiving,” the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) advised him.

 

Tha’labah went away but approached the Holy Prophet for the second time, repeating his request. 

 

The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) said, “You shall not obey me.  By God!  If I wished that the mountains would turn into gold for me, they would do so.”

 

For the second time, Tha’labah went away, but returned a third time and again placed his request before the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) and implored, “Do pray for me.  I avow that if God grants me wealth, whoever possesses a right in it, I shall give it to him.”

 

The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) prayed for him and God answered his prayers.  Tha’labah initially purchased some sheep, which slowly grew in number till they became plentiful. 

 

Earlier, he used to offer all his prayers behind the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) but after his wealth and riches began to increase, he would only be present for the Dhuhr and the A’sr prayers, and spent the rest of his time looking after his sheep.

 

As time passed, his work increased to such an extent that he could only manage to come to Madinah for the Friday prayers and eventually even this became a thing of the past.  He would only come up to the road leading towards Madinah and seek news of the city from the passers-by.

 

One day, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) inquired about him, whereupon he was informed that Tha’labah’s sheep had increased manifold and he had settled outside Madinah.  Hearing this, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) cried out three times: “Woe be unto Tha’labah!”  

 

After a period of time, the verse pertaining to zakaat was revealed.  The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) selected two people, one from Bani Sulaim and the other from Juhniyah, and gave them written authority, empowering them to collect the zakaat. 

 

Approaching Tha’labah, they read out the order for the collection of zakaat. After some thought, Tha’labah said:

 

“This is Jizyah(poll-tax)or something akin to it.   Go and collect it from others and come back to me later.”

 

They proceeded to a person from the tribe of Bani Sulaim and read out the Holy Prophet’s (s.a.w.) orders at which he handed over the best of his camels to them as his zakaat.  The collectors explained to him that they had not asked him to give the best of his camels, but he insisted by saying that he was giving the camel through his own choice.

 

The collectors collected the zakaat from the others and on the way back, again approached Tha’labah and sought his zakaat.

 

He said, “Let me have a look at that decree.”

 

After reading it, he once again repeated, “This appears to be Jizyah or something similar to it.  Go away and let me ponder over it.”

 

The collectors returned to the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.), but before they could speak he exclaimed: “Woe unto Tha’labah!” and then prayed for the generous person from Bani Sulaim.  The collectors explicitly narrated to him their encounter with Tha’labah whereupon the following verses were revealed:

 

And there are those of them who made a covenant with Allah: If He gives us out of His grace, we will certainly give alms and we will certainly be of the righteous ones.  But when He gave them out of His grace, they became niggardly of it and they turned back and they withdrew.  So in consequence He effected  hypocrisy  e into their hearts till the day when they shall meet Him because they failed to fulfil towards Allah what they had promised with Him and because they told lies.

Holy Qur’an, ch. Al-Taubah (9), vs. 75-77.

One of Tha’labah’s relatives, who had been present during the revelation of the above verses, informed him of the incident. On hearing about it, he hastened to the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) and entreated him to accept his zakaat, but he refused saying:

 

“God has ordered me not to accept your zakaat.”

 

Tha’labah was devastated to hear this.

 

“This is a consequence of your own deeds.  I had ordered you but you refused to comply with my orders,” the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) said.

 

After the demise of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.), Tha’labah approached Abu Bakr, who refused to accept his zakaat.  During U’mar’s caliphate, Thalabah approached him, but he too refused and U’thman too followed suit, till death finally overtook Tha’labah.

Pand-e-Taareekh, vol. 1, pg. 73; Asad al-Ghaabbah, vol. 1, pg. 237.

The Miser’s Sin

The Miser’s Sin

 

Once, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) was engaged in circling the Ka’bah seven times when he witnessed a man holding the curtain of the Ka’bah and imploring: O’ God!  By the sanctity of this House, forgive me!

 

Approaching him, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.)asked him about his sin. 

 

The man replied, “My sin is too enormous for me to describe to you.”

 

“Woe be unto you!  Is your sin greater or the earth?” asked the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.).

 

“My sin.”

 

“Is your sin greater or the mountains?”

 

“My sin.”

 

“Is your sin greater or the Throne of God?”

 

“My sin.”

 

The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) then asked, “Is your sin greater or God?”

 

To this the man replied, “God is the Greatest, Loftiest and the Most Glorious.”

 

The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) exclaimed, “Woe be unto you!  Inform me of you sin”. 

 

The man explained, “O’ Prophet of God!  I am a wealthy person, but whenever a poor man approaches me for help, I feel as if a bolt of fire has approached me.” 

 

On hearing this, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) warned:

 

“Stay away from me and do not burn me in your fire!  By He, Who has sent me with Guidance and Honour, if you were to offer prayers between al-Rukn and al-Maqaam (around the Ka’bah) for two thousand years and weep in such a measure that your tears flow as rivers and quench the trees, and after all this, if you were to die while still possessing the vice of stinginess, God would hurl you into Hell.  Woe be unto you! But do you not know that Allah has said:

 

And whoever is niggardly is niggardly against his own soul.Holy Qur’an, ch. Muhammad (47), vs. 38,Ibid, ch. Al-Hashr (59), vs. 9

and He has also said: And whoever is preserved from the niggardliness of his soul, is among the successful ones.”

Jaame’ al-Sa’adaat, vol. 2, pg. 110; I’lm-e-Akhlaaq-e-Islami, vol. 2, pg. 154.