A story of the Burglar and Maalik bin Dinaar

A burglar scaled the wall of Maalik bin Dinar’s house one night and easily managed to get inside. Once inside the house, the thief was disappointed to see that there was nothing inside actually worth stealing. The owner of the home was inside at the time, he was busy performing prayer. Realizing that he was not alone, Maalik quickly ended his prayer and turned around to face the thief. Without showing any sign of being shocked or afraid, Maalik calmly extended greetings of peace and then said, “My brother, may Allah forgive you. You entered my home and found nothing that is worth taking, yet I do not want you to leave my home without taking away some benefit.”

He stood up, went to another part of the room, and came back with a jug full of water. He looked into the eyes of the burglar and said, “Make ablution and perform two units of prayer, for if you do so, you will leave my home with a greater treasure than you had initially sought when you entered it.”

Much humbled by Maalik’s manners and words, the thief said, “Yes, that is a generous offer indeed.”

salah

After making ablution and performing two units of prayer, the burglar said, “O Maalik, would you mind if I stayed for a while, for I want to stay to perform two more units of prayer?”

Maalik said, “Stay for whatever amount of prayer Allah decrees for you to perform now.”

The thief ended up spending the entire night at Maalik’s house. He continued to pray until the morning. Then Maalik said, “Leave now and be good.”

But instead of leaving, the thief said, “Would you mind if I stayed here with you today, for I have made an intention to fast the day?”

“Stay as long as you wish,” said Maalik.

The burglar ended up staying for a number of days, praying during the late hours of each night and fasting throughout the duration of each day. When he finally decided to leave, the burglar said, “O Maalik, I have made a firm resolve to repent for my sins and for my former way of life.”

Maalik said, “Indeed, that is in the Hand of Allah.”

The man did mend his ways and began to lead a life of righteousness and obedience to Allah. Later on, He came across another burglar he knew. [His friend] said to him, “Have you found your treasure yet?”

He said, “My brother, what I found is Maalik bin Dinaar. I went to steal from him, but it was he who ended up stealing my heart. I have indeed repented to Allah, and I will remain at the door [of His Mercy and Forgiveness] until I achieve what his obedient, loving slaves have achieved.”

[al-Mawaa’idh wal-Majaalis: 85]

Source: The above is taken from the book “Stories of Repentance” from dar-us-salam publications

Source: e-aalim.com

The daughter who would not lie

Umar (radhiAllahu ‘anhu) one night went in disguise with his companion Ibn Abbas (radhiAllahu ‘anhu) to check the condition of the people on the outskirts of Madinah. They strolled from one quarter to another. At last they came to a tribe where very poor people lived. While passing by a small hut, the Caliph overheard voices from inside. A mother was telling her daughter that the amount fetched by her that day on account of the sale of milk was very little. She told her that when she was young, and used to sell milk, she always mixed water with milk, and that led to considerable profit. She advised her daughter to do the same.FLOWER

 

The girl said,

“You diluted milk, when you were not a Muslim. Now that we are Muslims, we cannot dilute milk.”

The mother said that Islaam did not stand in the way of her diluting the milk. The daughter said, “Have you forgotten the Caliph’s order? He wants that the milk should not be diluted.”

The mother said, “What else should we do but dilute milk in order to survive?”

The daughter said,”Such living would not be lawful, and as a Muslim I would not do anything which is against the orders of the Caliph, and whereby other Muslims are deceived.”

The mother said, “But there is neither the Caliph nor any of his officers here to see what we do. Daughter you are still a child. Go to bed now and tomorrow I will myself mix the milk with water for you.”

The girl refused to fall in with the plan of her mother. She said,

“The Caliph may or may not be here, but his order is order, and it must be obeyed. My conscience is my Caliph. You may escape the notice of the Caliph and his officers, but how can we escape the notice of Allah and our own conscience?”

Thereupon the mother remained quiet. The lamp was extinguished and the mother and the daughter went to sleep.

The next day, Umar (radhiAllahu ‘anhu) sent a man to purchase milk from the girl. The milk was undiluted. The girl had kept her resolve. Umar (radhiAllahu ‘anhu) turned to Ibn Abbas (radhiAllahu ‘anhu) and said, “The girl has kept her resolve in spite of the demands of her mother. She deserves a reward. What reward should I give her?” “She should be paid some money” said Ibn Abbas (radhiAllahu ‘anhu).

Umar said,

“Such a girl would become a great mother. Her integrity is not to be weighed with a few coins; it is to be measured in the scale of national values. I shall offer her the highest award in my gift, and which shall also be in the highest interest of the nation.”

The Caliph summoned the daughter and the mother to his court. The mother trembled as she stood before the mighty ruler. But the girl faced Umar (radhiAllahu ‘anhu) with a calm repose, and there was an impressive dignity about her.

Then before the gathering, Umar (radhiAllahu ‘anhu) related how he had overheard the mother and the daughter, and how in spite of the pleads of the mother the daughter had kept he resolve.

Someone suggested that the mother should be taken to task. The Caliph said that ordinarily he would have punished the mother, but he had forgiven her for the sake of her daughter. Turning to the girl Umar (radhiAllahu ‘anhu) said,

“Islaam needs daughters like you, and as a Caliph of Islaam I wish to reward you by taking you as a daughter”.

The Caliph called his sons, and addressing them said:

“Here is a gem of a girl who would make a great mother. I desire that one of you should take this girl as wife. I know of no better bride than this girl of sterling character. In matters of wedlock, it should be the character, and not the stature in life that should count.”

Abdullah and Abdur Rahman (radhiAllahu ‘anhumaa) the elder sons of Umar (radhiAllahu ‘anhu) were already married. Asim (radhiAllahu ‘anhu) the third son was unmarried, so he offered to marry the girl.

Thereupon with the consent of the milkmaid and her mother Asim (radhiAllahu ‘anhu) was married to the girl, and the milkmaid became the daughter-in-law of the Caliph.

From this marriage was born a daughter, who became in due course the mother of Umar bin Abdul Aziz – who later became a Caliph.  Umar bin Abdul Aziz upheld standards of austerity and simplicity following in the footsteps of Umar the second Caliph of Islam. It is said that if ever there was a noble Caliph after the ‘Rightly Guided Caliphs’, such a man was Umar bin Abdul Aziz. He inherited the noble qualities of the milkmaid who married the Caliph’s son, and those of Umar Farooq (radhiAllahu ‘anhu) who had the eye to discern the noble and honest qualities in the girl.

Source: www.idealmuslimah.com

 

The boys bad temper

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.fence - Copy

The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally, the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper!

The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence He said, “You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won’t matter how many times you say “I’m sorry”, the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.

Source:theauthenticbase.wordpress.com

 

Hadith: People in the cave who asked for Allah’s help

Narrated Ibn ‘Umar (ra):

Allah’s Apostle (peace be upon him) said, “While three persons were traveling, they were overtaken by rain and they took shelter in a cave in a mountain. A big rock fell from the mountain over the mouth of the cave and blocked it. They said to each other. ‘Think of such good (righteous) deeds which, you did for Allah’s sake only, and invoke Allah by giving reference to those deeds so that Allah may relieve you from your difficulty. one of them said, ‘O Allah! I had my parents who were very old and I had small children for whose sake I used to work as a shepherd. When I returned to them at night and milked (the sheep), I used to start giving the milk to my parents first before giving to my children. And one day I went far away in search of a grazing place (for my sheep), and didn’t return home till late at night and found that my parents had slept. I milked (my livestock) as usual and brought the milk vessel and stood at their heads, and I disliked to wake them up from their sleep, and I also disliked to give the milk to my children before my parents though my children were crying (from hunger) at my feet.

cave

So this state of mine and theirs continued till the day dawned. (O Allah!) If you considered that I had done that only for seeking Your pleasure, then please let there be an opening through which we can see the sky.’ So Allah made for them an opening through which they could see the sky. Then the second person said, ‘O Allah! I had a she-cousin whom I loved as much as a passionate man love a woman. I tried to seduce her but she refused till I paid her one-hundred Dinars So I worked hard till I collected one hundred Dinars and went to her with that But when I sat in between her legs (to have sexual intercourse with her), she said, ‘O Allah’s slave! Be afraid of Allah ! Do not deflower me except legally (by marriage contract). So I left her O Allah! If you considered that I had done that only for seeking Your pleasure then please let the rock move a little to have a (wider) opening.’

So Allah shifted that rock to make the opening wider for them. And the last (third) person said ‘O Allah ! I employed a laborer for wages equal to a Faraq (a certain measure: of rice, and when he had finished his job he demanded his wages, but when I presented his due to him, he gave it up and refused to take it. Then I kept on sowing that rice for him (several times) till managed to buy with the price of the yield, some cows and their shepherd Later on the laborer came to me an said. ‘(O Allah’s slave!) Be afraid o Allah, and do not be unjust to me an give me my due.’ I said (to him). ‘Go and take those cows and their shepherd. So he took them and went away. (So, O Allah!) If You considered that I had done that for seeking Your pleasure, then please remove the remaining part of the rock.’ And so Allah released them (from their difficulty).”

Sahih Bukhari Volume 8, Book 73, Number 5: