Tunnel Vision: Story of a Young Man with Strong Desires

A young man came to a Shaykh and said, “I am a young man with strong desires. I cannot help looking at people when I am in the bazaar(market). What do I do?” The Shaykh handed him a cup of milk that was full to the brim, and told him to deliver it to an address that would take the young man directly through the bazaar (market). He then instructed the young man that the milk should not spill, and the man said that it would not. The Shaykh then summoned one of his students and told him to accompany the man through the bazaar to the destination, and to severely beat him if any milk were to spill.

This man successfully took the milk to the destination and returned to give the good news to the Shaykh. The shaykh asked, “Tell me, how many sights and faces did you see in the bazaar?” The man replied incredulously, “Sheik, I didn’t even realize what was going on around me. I was only fearful of the beating and disgrace that I would have to endure in public if a drop of milk were to spill.”

The Shaykh smiled and said,
“It is the same with a believer. The believer fears that Allah may disgrace him in front of the entire creation on the Day of Judgment if his faith were to spill over from his heart.” Such people save themselves from sin because they constantly remain focused on the 

Day of Judgment !

Honor of the Heart

Qari Muhammad Qayyam (may the mercy of Allah be upon him) related that a great deal of fighting and bloodshed had started prior to theIndo-Pakistan partition of 1947. He said that a very beautiful daughter of a very rich man in a certain community stepped out of her house to visit her aunt, who lived no more than a few streets away. Suddenly a riot erupted as she had gone halfway and she found herself trapped with apparently nowhere to go. She saw a Masjid nearby and quickly went inside, sitting in the women’s section. The rioting continued late into the night and this girl did not know what to do.

The custodian of the Masjid was a very young student there and late at night when he walked through the Masjid before locking up he noticed this beautiful young lady. He was a respectful young man who feared Allah and so politely asked her to leave, saying that if she was found there then both would be dishonored and thrown out. She pleaded with him because of the extreme danger outside and so he agreed that she could spend the night, and sat down to study at the opposite end of the masjid.

The girl was unable to sleep with the events of the day in her mind and so watched the young man sitting studying by candle light at the opposite end of the masjid. She kept watching him and was very surprised at something she saw. From time to time this young man would extend his hand and keep it over the open flame, only withdrawing it when the flame obviously became unbearable. He then would resume his studies and continued this throughout the night until the dawn broke.

The young man called the Adhan and asked the girl to leave before the congregation started coming to pray since now everything was calm outside. She agreed on the condition that he tell her why he was placing his hand on the candle flame throughout the night. The young man said that that was his own business and so the girl refused toleave until he told her what she wanted to know. The young man gave in and said, “I am at the age of youth and strong desire. We were alone and my desire was increasing, and although I was studying the Devil (Shaitan) would occasionally put temptation in my heart. Hence wheneverI would feel any temptation I would put my hand on the flame and my fingers would burn. I would say to myself that this flame is nothing compared to the fire of Hell.”

The girl left the Masjid and reached home, calming her parents’ fears as to what had happened to her. She also confided in her mother that she wanted to marry the custodian of the Masjid near their house. She related the night’s events to her parents and said that only such a man with true fear of Allah in his heart can be true to his wife. Only such a man who truly fears Allah can fulfill a wife’s rights properly.

Hence the poor custodian of the Masjid earned the daughter of a rich household in marriage. He received this honor not because of his looks but because of his character. Everything disintegrates and turns to dust but character remains strong. Honor is not bestowed because of handsome clothes or beautiful jewelry but because of what is in the heart. 

 

Knowledge is only beneficial when it is captured within the heart, and not merely written in books.

Character of Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be Upon Him): Argument

Once the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) was sitting with his Companions, and one person used insulting words against Abu Bakr causing him pain. But Abu Bakr remained silent. The person again used bitter words against Abu Bakr, and still Abu Bakr did not respond. The third time when this ignorant person hurt Abu Bakr with his tongue, Abu Bakr tried answering 

back. At this point the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) got up.

Abu Bakr asked him, "Are you displeased with me, O Messenger of Allah?"

The Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) replied, "No, but (when you remained silent) an angel came down from the heaven responding to this man's talk. But the moment you started replying to that man, the angel went away and the devil sat down. And I cannot sit where the devil is sitting." 

[Abu Dawud]

Eyes are Always Watching

Several years ago an Imaam moved to London. He often took the bus from his home to the town area. Some weeks after he arrived, he had occasion to ride the same bus.

When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had accidentally given him twenty pence too much change. As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, you better give the twenty pence back. It would be wrong to keep it. Then he thought, oh forget it, it’s only twenty pence. Who would worry about this little amount? Anyway, the bus company already gets too much fare; they will never miss it.  Accept it as a gift from Almighty Allah and keep quiet.

When his stop came, the Imaam paused momentarily at the door, then he handed the twenty pence back to the driver and said “Here, you gave me too much change.”

The driver with a smile replied “Aren’t you the new Imaam in this area? I have been thinking lately about going to worship at your mosque. I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change.”

When the Imaam stepped off the bus, his knees became weak and soft. He had to grab the nearest light pole and held for support, and looked up to the heavens and cried “Oh Allah, I almost sold Islam for twenty pence!”

Remember, we may never see the impact our actions have on people. Sometimes we are the only knowledge of Quran someone will read, or the only Islam a non-Muslim will see.

What we need to provide, Insha Allah is an example for others to see. Be careful and be honest everyday, because you never know who is watching your actions and judging you as a Muslim.

"One positive incident,one incident involving you taking a brown paper bag of sandwich and giving it to somebody is enough to undo twenty years of fox news programming in their heads.one incident. One encounter."

Little Thanks We Give

A young and successful executive was travelling down a neighbourhood street going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something.

As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead a brick smashed into the Jag’s side door! He slammed on the breaks and drove the Jag ba

ck to the spot where the brick had been thrown.

The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car shouting, “What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing? That’s a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost me a lot of money. Why did you do it?”

The young boy was apologetic. “Please mister...please, I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do. I threw the brick because no one else would stop.” With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car. “It’s my brother. He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up.”

Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive “Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me.”

Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the lump in his throat. He lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out his handkerchief and wiped at the fresh scrapes and cuts. Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy push his wheelchair- bound brother down the sidewalk toward home. It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar.

The damage was very noticeable but the driver never repaired the dented side door. There are many lessons in this story: but he kept the dent to remind him of this message:

Don’t go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention. Every day we are reminded of the ‘whisper’ of our experiences around. When our Creator has blessed us with ‘sight’; then why do we continue life so blindly? Sometimes when we don’t take the time to take heed, a ‘brick’ is thrown at us; so that we may take lessons there from.