Stories

[Jurayj]

Hasan al-Basri and his Neighbour

Hasan al-Basri once fell sick. His neighbour, an unbeliever, came to pay him a visit.
"O Imam," he exclaimed, "I detect a bad smell." The Imam told him it was caused by illness, but the neighbour insisted: "That is not the odor of sickness. It is a lavatory smell. For the love of Allah, tell me what it is!"
He had not noticed that sewage was leaking from his house into that of the Imam.

When the neighbour pressed him, the Imam finally said: "For some months your drain has been seeping through to our side. I tried to fix it, but without success."
His neighbour asked why he had not told him before, but the venerable Imam said: "I might have offended you."

The unbeliever was so impressed by this ethical refinement that he was ennobled with True Faith, for he recognized the Imam's morality as a ray of Islam.

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The Four Men in the Mosque

Four Men entered a mosque and each busied himself in salah, humbly prostrating before Allah.

Each one said the "Allahu Akhbar" after first having made his intention, and began to pray with humility.

Meanwhile the Mu'adhdhin came in and gave the call to salah.

The first man blurted out to the Mu'adhdhin, "Are you calling to the prayer? Are you sure it is the right time?"

The second spoke on the spur of the moment, "You have wasted your salah by speaking during prayers!"

The third retorted, "Why did YOU speak? Tell your OWN self how to behave!"

The fourth mumbled, "Praise be to Allah! I wasn't a party to their arguments."

Thus all the four broke their salat and wasted it. The fault-finders went more astray than the one who made the orginal mistake.


Correct yourself before correcting others.


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Fajr in the Masjid

A man woke up early in order to pray the Fajr prayer in the masjid. He got dressed, made his ablution and was on his way to the masjid.

On his way to the masjid, the man fell and his clothes got dirty. He got up, brushed himself off, and headed home. At home, he changed his clothes, made his ablution, and was, again, on his way to the masjid.

On his way to the masjid, he fell again and at the same spot! He, again, got up, brushed himself off and headed home. At home he, once again, changed his clothes, made his ablution and was on his way to the masjid.

On his way to the masjid, he met a man holding a lamp. He asked the man of his identity and the man replied "I saw you fall twice on your way to the masjid, so I brought a lamp so I can light your way." The first man thanked him profusely and the two where on their way to the masjid.

Once at the masjid, the first man asked the man with the lamp to come in and pray Fajr with him. The second man refused. The first man asked him a couple more times and, again, the answer was the same. The first man asked him why he did not wish to come in and pray.

The man replied "I am Satan."

The man was shocked at this reply. Satan went on to explain, "I saw you on your way to the masjid and it was I who made you fall. When you went home, cleaned yourself and went back on your way to the masjid, Allah forgave all of your sins. I made you fall a second time, and even that did not encourage you to stay home, but rather, you went back on your way to the masjid. Because of that, Allah forgave all the sins of the people of your household. I was afraid if i made you fall one more time, then Allah will forgive the sins of the people of your village, so i made sure that you reached the masjid safely."


So do not let Satan benefit from his actions.

Do not put off a good that you intended to do as you never know how much reward you might receive from the hardships you encounter while trying to achieve that good.