A STORY OF AN IMAAM

From my mail box..

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

When his stop came, the Imaam paused momentarily at the door, and 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!"

We may never see the impact our actions have on people.

(23/11/2009)

'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak

He used to say, "The beginning of knowledge is the intention, then listening, then understanding, then action, then preservation, and then spreading it."

***

Qadi Abu'l-Fadl said that as-Sadafi mentioned, "When Ibn al-Mubarak came of age, his father sent him 50,000 to use for commerce. He sought after knowledge until he had spent the money. When it was gone, his father met him and said, 'What have you bought?' He brought out his books for him and said, 'This is my trade.' His father went into the house and gave him 30,000 dirhams more and said, 'Take this and follow your trade with them,' and he spent them."

***

Ibn al-Mubarak said, "I studied adab for thirty years and I studied knowledge for twenty years."

***

Some Lessons from Ibn al-Mubarak :


1- No matter how bad you think you are, you can always become better.

2 – You should associate with honorable people.

3 – You should be a helpful guest.

4 – You should give money to the poor.

5 – You should always return borrowed items to their owners.

6 – You should be brave, and hide your good deeds.

7 – Have a tender heart.

8 – Be generous to your friends.

9 – Don’t give in to Satan’s whispers.

10 – Sincerely pray for people.

***

He was asked, "Which person has the best state?" He said, "The one who devotes himself to his Lord."

***

Ibn al-Mubarak died in Hit, returning from a naval expedition and was buried in Hit in Ramadan in 181.

Al-Bukhari said that he was born in 118.

When he was near death, he told Nasr, his client, "Put my head on the earth." Nasr wept. He said, "Why do you weep?" He said, "I remember what you had in it of blessing and now you are dying a stranger and a pauper."

He told him, "Be quiet. I asked Allah to let me live the life of the rich and to make me die the death of the poor." Then he said, "Put me down and do not address me again unless I speak again. Put me down so that it is my last words."

***

(Sources : "Tartib al-Madarik" & "Sifat as-Safwah" )

The Bees

Amina is not feeling very well today. She has caught a cold and she coughs. Mummy tells her: “What you need is a nice hot drink with honey. Let’s go and buy some honey, and you’ll see your cough will get better insha Allah.”

Amina and her mother go out to the supermarket. They stop in front of the shelf where the honey is.

“Oh, Mummy, there are all sorts of different colours!”Amina says excitedly. “Look, this honey is almost white, and this one is golden, and that one over there is brownish.”

“Yes, Amina”, her mum answers. “They are different sorts of honey. There’s clover honey, lavender honey, eucalyptus honey... and mixed wildflower honey.”

“But then, does honey come from flowers?”Amina asks.

“Come on, you know it doesn’t!” her Mum answers. “You know bees make honey. The bees fly from flower to flower to collect a fine powder called pollen and a liquid called nectar. And then they make the honey with their bodies. Since there are different sorts of flowers with different colours and smells, this produces different sorts of honey.

If the bees have been only on clover flowers, they make clover honey, which is almost white, like the one in this jar.

If the bees have been on lavender, as in the South of France, you get this nice golden colour. And if the bees go about on all sorts of wild flowers, they produce mixed wildflower honey.”

Amina asks: “And what colour is mixed wildflower honey?”

“Well, it depends on the flowers!" Mummy answers,. “Look, the honey in this jar is yellow, this one is brownish, and yet they’re both mixed wildflower honey.”

Amina thinks for a while and then she asks: “But who has taught the bees how to make honey?”

“Allah has taught them, darling”, Mummy explains. “When the bees make honey, they obey Allah.

Do you know Allah tells us about bees in the Quran? Listen to what He says.”

And then Amina's Mum recites for her the verses from surat an-Nahl, “The bees".


"And your Lord inspired the bees, saying ‘Take your habitations in the mountains and in the trees and in what they erect. Then, eat of all fruits, and follow the ways of your Lord.’ There comes forth from their bellies a drink of varying colours wherein is healing for men.”

(Qur'an - Surah Nahl l, 68-69).

[Link to : http://sesekali.blogspot.com/2009/05/honey.html ]