STORIES TO THINK ABOUT A SELECTION OF SHORT STORIES TO REFLECT UPON WHO WANTS TO SEE PROPHET MUHAMMAD*? THE TURNER OF HEARTS THE SULTAN AND THE FISHER-BOY THE SULTAN AND THE WOODCUTTER A HOUSE IN PARADISE THE COBBLER AND THE WORSHIPER THE WORSHIPER AND THE YOUTH THE MAN WHO LOOKED FOR GOODNESS IN EVERYTHING IN LOVE OF THE PROPHET* THE MOUNTAIN, BASIN, BIRD, EAGLE AND THE CARCASS THE RUNAWAY COW THE UNJUST RULER THE FATHER AND HIS SON *Praise and peace be upon him BISMILLAH IR RAHMAN IR RAHEEM WHO WANT'S TO SEE PROPHET MUHAMMAD? Praise and peace be upon him By Khadeijah Darwish This book is copyrighted 2007 by Allah.com, Muhammad.com and Khadeijah Darwish The class had finished, and the shaykh put his books into his case. That day he had been telling his class some stories about Prophet Muhammad, praise and peace be upon him, and the children were sorry the class had ended so quickly. The children loved his class and had sat patiently on the floor listening and enjoying the stories. Nobody was ever late for his class, and their homework was always in on time! Just as the shaykh was about to leave the classroom he overheard one of his young students say, "Oh, I wish I could see Prophet Muhammad." "Me too", said another, in fact all the class joined in and said they too wished they could see him as well. The shaykh smiled and put down his case and asked, "Do you really want to see Prophet Muhammad, praise and peace be upon him?" His students all replied, "Oh, yes Maulana!" "Are you sure?" he asked again. "Yes, yes, very sure", they replied. "All right," he said, "I will tell you want you must do. Before you go to bed tonight you must eat a lot of lentil soup and chili, but you must not drink any water until the morning. Not even one sip – do you agree?" The students were so excited that they all told him they agreed. That night the children ate as much lentil soup and chili they could possibly manage, then, they said their prayers and went to bed feeling very, very thirsty! The next morning the children went to school and sat down ready for the shaykh to arrive and give them their lesson but none of them were at all happy. As the shaykh entered the room they all stood up to greet him, "As-Salaamu alaykum Maulana" they said, "Wa laykum as-Salaam" he replied. The shaykh looked at their faces and asked what the matter was. One of the students stood up and said, "Maulana, we all did exactly as you told us, but none of us saw Prophet Muhammad, praise and peace be upon him." The shaykh smiled gently and asked, "Did any of you see anything at all last night?" The first boy said, "I saw water gushing from a tap." Another said, "I saw a fountain of water." Another said, "I saw a waterfall." Another said, "I saw rain pouring down from the sky." The shaykh asked each of his students in turn what they had seen that night, and each student told him they had seen something to do with water! The shaykh nodded and said, "Think about this for a moment. Last night you went to sleep feeling very, very thirsty on account of all the lentil soup and chili you had eaten – you were very anxious for a drink of water. That is the reason why you all saw water in your dreams. Now, if you had been as anxious to see Prophet Muhammad, praise and peace be upon him, as you had been for water you would surely have seen him!" THE END BISMILLAH IR RAHMAN IR RAHEEM THE TURNER OF HEARTS Adapted by Khadeijah Darwish with a new word vocabulary Copyrighted 2007 www. Allah.com and www. Muhammad.com In the age of sultans and viziers there once lived a poor but pious shaykh who remembered Allah a lot and a vizier who feared Allah. The fact that the shaykh was poor did not concern him he was satisfied with whatever Allah sent him. The shaykh was always mindful of Allah and knew well that He rewards those who give charity in His Name a very handsome reward – a reward far greater than anyone can even begin to imagine. It was not the shaykh's custom to ask anyone for help, but one day he really needed help, not for himself, rather it was to continue with his good work. So, the shaykh decided to visit the vizier and ask if he would help him in the Name of Allah. The vizier loved Allah and His Prophet, praise and peace be upon him and without hesitation he instructed his wakeel to give the shaykh 50 dirhams. The next week the shaykh need more help so he went to visit the vizier and asked him a second time. When the vizier saw the shaykh he was taken aback and exclaimed, "Shaykh, I gave you 50 dirhams only last week!" The shaykh accepted the vizier's decision and started to leave. As he left it seemed to the vizier that the shaykh was muttering something disagreeable about him to himself, however, he could not hear exactly what he was saying and said, "Shaykh, aren't you ashamed to speak against me?" The shaykh was taken by surprise. It had not occurred to him that the vizier might think that he would do such a thing and told him that it was not so, rather he was remembering Allah saying, "O You, the Turner of hearts and eyes." The vizier felt ashamed of himself for thinking that the shaykh would do such a thing and quickly called for his quill and paper. His assistant handed him the quill and paper and the vizier started to write, "Give the shaykh 50 dirhams," but instead of writing "dirhams" he wrote "dinars" – which is a lot more money. The shaykh put the note in his pocket but did not read what the vizier had written. He thanked the vizier then went to the wakeel to receive the charitable gift. When the wakeel read the note both he and the shaykh were surprised as he read aloud, "Pay the shaykh 50 dinars". The wakeel was curious and asked the shaykh what he had sold the vizier. The shaykh told him that he had not sold him anything. Now the wakeel thought he better check with the vizier before giving the shaykh such a large amount of money, so he went to the vizier and showed him what he had written. When the vizier read the note he smiled and said, "His supplication has been answered, the shaykh called upon 'He who causes hearts to turn.' The Turner of hearts has turned both the heart and the pen so give him the 50 dinars."THE END NEW WORDS PIOUS this means someone who prays, remembers and thanks Allah a lot. VIZIER is an advisor to a sultan or king. WAKEEL is someone who looks after the money. SULTAN is similar to a king. DIRHAM in those days a dinar was a silver coin. DINAR this was a coin made of gold. MUTTERING when someone seems to be talking to themselves in a way that can hardly be heard, it is called muttering. QUILL this is an old fashioned type of pen. It was often made from sharpening the point of a feather, which would then be dipped into a pot of ink. SUPPLICATION this is a prayer in which you remember and ask Allah for something. REPENTED when you are very sorry and ask Allah to forgive you, you have repented. BISMILLAH IR RAHMAN IR RAHEEM THE SULTAN AND THE FISHER-BOY Adapted by Khadeijah Darwish Copyrighted 2007 www. Allah.com and www. Muhammad.com There was once a blessed, kind-hearted sultan called Mahmood who would accompany his men whenever they went hunting. One day as the sultan and his men were out riding he felt the need to be alone for a while so that he might remember Allah in the peace and quiet of the countryside, so he galloped off on his horse like the speed of the wind across the fields to find a quiet place. Some time later the sultan reached the bank of a river and noticed a sad young boy sitting all alone trying to catch some fish. The sultan dismounted from his horse and went to speak to the boy and gently inquired, "My dear boy, why do you look so sad? I have never seen anyone look as sad as you." The boy was startled when he saw the sultan in his fine clothes but did not know who he was and thought he must be kind to ask such a question, so he told him, "My mother has seven children and we are very poor and our father has passed away. Every day I come here to try and catch some fish. If I do not catch any then we go hungry and do not have any supper." The kindly sultan smiled and asked, "Would you like me to try and catch some fish for you?" "Yes," replied the fisher-boy and as the sultan cast the fishing net into river he said "Bismillah". Allah blessed the sultan and soon a hundred fish swam into the net and together they hauled the net up onto the bank of the river. The young boy was absolutely amazed by the amount of fish and thought to himself, "I am so lucky that all these fish were caught in my net!" The sultan understood what the young boy was thinking and told him, "Do not deceive yourself, my young friend, I am the cause of your blessing, it is I who caught these fish for you." Before the sultan started to mount his horse, the young boy invited him to share the catch but the sultan kindly declined, saying, "Tomorrow, you shall fish for me and I will take the catch, we will be partners", then he rode off to rejoin is men and they returned to his palace. The next day, the sultan sent one of his guards to the fisher-boy with the instruction to bring him to him in the palace. The fisher-boy had not realized that the kindly man who had caught the fish for him the day before was none other than the sultan and his heart beat faster. When the fisher-boy arrived at the grand palace, the sultan invited the boy to come and sit down beside him on his throne. His courtiers were very surprised and exclaimed, "Your majesty, the boy is nothing but a beggar!" "That does not matter" replied the sultan, "he is now my companion and partner, I will not turn him away." The situation puzzled several of the courtiers, then one day one of them asked the fisher-boy, "How have you become so honored?" The fisher-boy replied, "Happiness has come, sorrow has left me because I met with a blessed sultan. He accepted me as I am and guides me to Allah." THE END BISMILLAH IR RAHMAN IR RAHEEM THE SULTAN AND THE WOODCUTTER Adapted by Khadeijah Darwish Copyrighted 2007 www. Allah.com and www. Muhammad.com Sultan Idris and his army were out riding together on a training exercise. Sometimes, the sultan liked to ride by himself and this time he had ridden on ahead of his men. As he rode a little way off, he caught sight of an old woodcutter walking beside his donkey laden with thorny firewood. Before he reached him the poor old donkey stumbled and fell, and as it did its thorny load fell from his back and landed on top of the old woodcutter and scratched him. When Sultan Idris saw what had happened he rode quickly up to the old woodcutter, who was rubbing his sore head, and offered his help. "Can I help you; are you in need of a friend?" asked the sultan. "You are very kind" replied the old woodcutter who did not recognize him, "if you help me, I will without doubt benefit and you will not be harmed. You look as if you are a blessed person and it is well known that when someone meets a blessed person, goodness comes from such a meeting." The caring sultan dismounted and helped the donkey to get up then loaded the thorny firewood onto its back. The woodcutter was very grateful and as they parted company they greeted each other with peace, and the sultan rode back to join his army. When he reached his army he told them, "An old woodcutter will be coming this way very soon, block his way so that he will have to pass by my tent." Sure enough, a little while later the old woodcutter came upon the army of the sultan and thought to himself, "I cannot pass through all these soldiers with my poor old donkey," so he took the other footpath. Not long after the woodcutter came across the sultan's tent and was somewhat alarmed, but what could he do, there was no other path for him to take. The woodcutter approached the sultan's tent with caution, when, to his surprise he recognized the man who had helped him was none other than Sultan Idris. As the woodcutter drew nearer, Sultan Idris called to him asking, "My poor friend, what do you do for a living?" The woodcutter thought to himself, "This is strange," but replied politely, "I think you already know, honestly, don't you recognize me? I am the woodcutter. I gather thorny firewood every day and sell it but now my poor old donkey is weak and dying from hunger. If you would like to help me, please give me some bread." The sultan took pity on the old man and asked, "How much do you ask for your load of firewood?" The woodcutter told the sultan that rather than selling him the firewood, he would give it to him. When the sultan declined to accept the offer, the woodcutter said, "As you do not wish to take the load as a gift and I do not want to sell it, then give me a purse of gold." The soldiers gasped at the woodcutter's request and said, "Watch what you are saying old man. Your firewood is not worth even a handful of barley – it is worthless!" The old woodcutter turned to the soldiers and replied, "That may be the case but its value has changed. When a blessed man such as the sultan touches a bundle of thorns they become roses. If he wishes to have them then he must give at least a dinar for each because he has increased their value a hundred times by touching them." Sultan Idris smiled and instructed the old woodcutter to be given a purse of gold. THE END BISMILLAH IR RAHMAN IR RAHEEM A HOUSE IN PARADISE Adapted by Khadeijah Darwish Copyrighted 2007 www. Allah.com and www. Muhammad.com A long time ago before there were cars and airplanes there was a man who lived in a far away place called Khurasan who wanted to go on pilgrimage to Mecca and visit the tomb of the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, in Medina. Now the man had quite a lot of money and neither wanted to take it with him nor leave it behind. He had heard of a very trustworthy shaykh called Muhammad, Wasi's son who lived in the city of Basra. The shaykh was known for his piety and would worship a lot during the night when everyone was asleep. He would fast each Monday and Thursday and visitors would often hear him repeating the Names of Allah. Before setting off on his pilgrimage the man decided to visit the shaykh and tell him of his intention, and ask him to do something for him. When the man reached Basra he asked the way to the shaykh's house and was taken to his home. The man from Khurasan greeted Shaykh Muhamamd and told him of his intention then said, "I want to entrust you with ten thousand dirhams. Please buy a house for me with this money." The shaykh agreed and the man left feeling happy that the shaykh accepted to act on his behalf. A while after the man from Khurasan had left to go on pilgrimage Basra was stricken by a severe famine. Men, women and children were very hungry and it distressed the shaykh to see such terrible suffering. Then the shaykh was blessed with a wonderful idea, he had been entrusted with a very large sum of money that could be put to good use feeding all the starving families, so he spent all the money in the Name of Allah to buy food. After the last dirham had been spent, the shaykh supplicated to Allah saying, "O Allah, he asked me to buy a house for him, but did not say whether it was to be in this world or the next, so I have bought from You a house in Paradise for him." Several months passed by and the man returned from his pilgrimage and a few days later went to visit the shaykh. When he met the shaykh he told him of his blessed pilgrimage and how happy he had been to pray at the Ka'ba and at the tomb of the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him. Then he inquired about the house. The shaykh told the man from Khurasan that he had bought a house for him, and so the man asked him for the deed. The shaykh got up and fetched a piece of paper and began to write: Bismillah ir Rahman ir Raheem This deed bears witness that Muhammad Wasi's son has purchased from Allah, the Exalted, on behalf of this man, a house in Paradise. Then he signed the deed, gave it to the man, and told him what he had done with his money. The man from Khurasan was not upset and returned home. Twenty days later, as the shaykh was praying in the mosque, a piece of paper floated down into his hands. The paper was none other than the deed he had given to the man from Khurasan. He turned the paper over and on the back there was a message that read: "Know and pay attention. This buyer has returned to Us and We have given him that which you bought for him and We have relieved you of its obligation." Needless to say, the shaykh was greatly moved and felt very humble so he decided to go to Khurasan and visit the man's family. When the shaykh reached the city he inquired about the man and was told that he had passed away a few days before, so he asked to be taken to his son's house. The son welcomed Shaykh Muhammad and he stayed with him for three days. During that time he asked the son about his father then inquired if he had made a last request. The son told him that his father had indeed made a last request which was that a certain deed be pinned to his shroud. The shaykh nodded his head then asked if he would recognize the deed if he saw it again, and the son replied that he would. When the shaykh showed him the deed that had floated down to him from the heavens, the man's son fainted. When he regained consciousness he told the shaykh that he himself had pinned the deed to the shroud with his own two hands just before his father's burial. Shaykh Muhammad smiled and said, "Allah has power over all things!" When the man died, his son had been very sad, but now that he knew his father had a house in Paradise he was very happy, and although he missed him he was no longer sad. THE END BISMILLAH IR RAHMAN IR RAHEEM THE COBBLER AND THE WORSHIPER Adapted by Khadeijah Darwish Copyrighted 2007 www. Allah.com and www. Muhammad.com A long time ago, before Prophet Muhammad, praise and peace be upon him, was sent for us, an Israelite lived for sixty years by himself in a hermitage on a hillside far away from people where he worshipped Allah. Everyone in the village knew or had heard about him and he was highly respected! One night the Israelite saw a vision in which he was told that down in the village lived a cobbler and he was better than him. The Israelite was curious, and wondered how an ordinary man like a cobbler could be better than himself so he decided to go to pay one of his rare visits to the village and visit the cobbler. When the Israelite entered the cobbler's shop, he was very surprised and felt honored that such a pious man was pay him a visit. He immediately stopped what he was doing, bent down and kissed the Israelite's hands and feet, and welcomed him. Then the cobbler asked what had brought him down to the village and asked if there was anything he might do for him. The Israelite did not answer the cobbler but instead inquired, "Tell me about your work." The cobbler told him that he was just a simple cobbler and whatever money he was blessed to receive from his work he would use half on provide for his wife and family and the other half in charity. Then the Israelite left and returned to his hermitage. That night the Israelite had another vision in which he was told, "Go and ask him why is face is so full of light." The next day the Israelite went down to the village again and made his way to the cobbler's shop and this time asked him why his face was so full of light. The cobbler felt very humble that such a pious man would ask such a question and replied, "Whenever I see anyone I always say to myself, he is better than me, and will go to Paradise, but I will not.'" The Israelite now understood why the cobbler was better than himself he knew he was mindful of his sins and not a proud man. THE END BISMILLAH IR RAHMAN IR RAHEEM THE WORSHIPER AND THE YOUTH Adapted by Khadeijah Darwish Copyrighted 2007 www. Allah.com and www. Muhammad.com Prophet Muhammad, praise and peace be upon him, taught his Companions not to call those in their service, slaves. He told them that they should be referred to as "youths" rather than the degrading word "slave". He also taught them that they should be kind to them and that they should eat the same kind of food as themselves and dressed not lesser than themselves. The youths in service were treated as if they were members of their own family and over time the youths were able to see the teachings and experience the justice of Islam and many became Muslims and were freed. The Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, was given many youths, but when they were offered their freedom to leave many choose to remain in his household so they might serve and be close to him. This short story is about a very pious man who lived during the early days of Islam. There was once a poor, very pious man who had just one sheep and sold its milk to pay for food. One day when he went to milk the sheep he noticed one of its leg was broken an asked his youth, "Do you know who did this?" Now the youth was not a good person and replied, "I did it. I did it on purpose just to make you sad!" The man remembered well the warnings of our beloved Prophet, praise and peace be upon him. He knew that satan was always on the look-out to trick us into doing something evil and had warned his Companions not to get angry, so he turned to the youth and said, "By Allah, I will make satan, the one who commanded you to do this sad – go, you are a free man." THE END BISMILLAH IR RAHMAN IR RAHEEM THE MAN WHO LOOKED FOR GOODNESS IN EVERYTHING Adapted by Khadeijah Darwish Copyrighted 2007 www. Allah.com and www. Muhammad.com There was once a tribe of Bedouins that lived in the desert and amongst them dwelt a kindly, trusting old man. No matter what happened he knew that Allah had already written for it to happen and would always say, even in difficult circumstances, "There is good in it!" Now the kindly old Bedouin had nothing in the world except for his watchdog, a donkey and a rooster. One day a hungry wolf spotted the old man's tent that had been pitched far from the others of his tribe, and before the watchdog had chance to raise the alarm the wolf pounced upon it and killed it, then killed the donkey and the rooster. When the old man saw what had happened he exclaimed, "There is good in it!" Now his wife was upset, it was all they had, and said, "You always say there is good in everything, but what good is there in this – everything we own has been destroyed! But her husband replied, "It may well be that there is good in it." Sometime later a band of passing robbers heard the braying of the donkeys and the sounds of the other animals that belonged to the rest of the tribe so they decided to attack and steal their valuables. One by one the tents were set upon and the people inside were all killed. The only ones to survive were the kindly, trusting old Bedouin and his wife. When the kindly old Bedouin saw what had happened he turned to his wife and said, "You see, there was good in the loss of our animals. If the wolf had not killed them, then their sounds would have attracted the attention of the robbers and they would have found us!" THE END BISMILLAH IR RAHMAN IR RAHEEM IN LOVE OF THE PROPHET Praise and peace be upon him Adapted by Khadeijah Darwish Copyrighted 2007 www. Allah.com and www. Muhammad.com There was once a very devout shaykh who reminded his followers of the very great rewards Allah gives to someone who praises and asks for peace upon Him Prophet and quoted a verse from the Koran that tells us, "Allah and His angels praise and venerate the Prophet. Believers, praise and venerate him and pronounce peace upon him in abundance." 33:56 Then the shaykh told his followers the story of someone he had met who would not take a single foot-step without supplicating to Allah for the praise and peace upon our beloved Prophet. One day the shaykh decided to ask the man why he supplicated so much whereupon the man told him, "If you weren't the most important shaykh of this age I would not tell you my story. My father and I made the intention to make the Pilgrimage to Mecca and visit the tomb of Prophet Muhammad, praise and peace be upon him, in Medina, so we prepared ourselves for the long journey ahead of us. On the way to Mecca my father became very ill and the angels took away his soul. Not long after his passing my father's face turned black so I covered it with piece of cloth. Then, suddenly I became very tired and drifted off into sleep. As I slept I had a vision in which a man with the most beautiful appearance and pleasing manner appeared and removed the cloth from my father's face. After he had removed the cloth from my father's face the man reached out and passed his hands over my father's body and his face began to shine with a dazzling brightness. Then the man turned to me and asked, 'Don't you recognize me? I am Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah. Your father sinned a lot, but he loved me and would supplicate to Allah a lot for praise and peace upon me. When he died he called upon me for help so I came to him.' Then I awoke and saw that my father's face was no long black but clean and bright. From that time onwards I have never forgotten to supplicate to Allah for peace and blessings upon our Prophet." Praise and peace be upon our beloved Prophet Muhammad. THE END BISMILLAH IR RAHMAN IR RAHEEM THE MOUNTAIN, BASIN, BIRD, EAGLE AND THE CARCASS Adapted by Khadeijah Darwish Copyrighted 2007 www. Allah.com and www. Muhammad.com A wise man from the Children of Israel saw a vision in which he was told to go out of the city and eat the first thing he saw, cover and hide the second, not to kill the third, not to disappoint the fourth and to flee from fifth thing he saw. The wise man obeyed the vision and walked for some distance outside the city walls and the first thing he saw was a huge black mountain. He was awe struck and said to himself, "I have been commanded to eat this black mountain, how can I do this, but I must obey the command!" As he journeyed toward the mountain, the mountain grew smaller and smaller. When at last he reached it, it had shrunk to become just bite-size, so he ate it and it tasted as sweet as honey. After he had finished eating it he thanked Allah and continued on his journey. The next thing he saw was a golden basin, so he dug a hole, buried it and started to walk away. Then he looked back and saw the basin had risen up on top of the ground and he thought to himself, "This is very strange", so he went back and buried it again, and this happened seven times. Then a bird flew down to him and said, "O wise man, save me!" So he hid it under his cloak. Next an eagle came and said, "O wise man, do not disappoint me!" So he gave the eagle all his food. The next thing he saw was a rotting carcass so he ran away from it as quickly as possible. When he returned home he supplicated saying, "I have done as I was commanded and request that their meanings be explained to me." A voice replied, "The mountain represents human anger. At first it is a great mountain, but when it is swallowed it becomes like a drink of honey. The basin represents the likeness of good deeds that cannot be concealed. The bird it represents a person seeking refuge with you – do not abandon him or deliver him to anyone. As for the eagle it represents someone who comes to you with a need you should not disappoint him, even if you have nothing other than that which he needs. Whereas the fifth represents backbiting and slander, they are like a foul smelling carcass – flee from them."THE END BISMILLAH IR RAHMAN IR RAHEEM THE RUNAWAY COW Adapted by Khadeijah Darwish Copyrighted 2007 www. Allah.com and www. Muhammad.com Along time ago there lived a humble man who was very poor but was always grateful to Allah for every little thing he had. He never forgot to say his prayers and would thank Allah for His blessings. The day came when there was no food left for his family to eat - they were very, very hungry - and his last dirham had been spent, so he supplicate saying, "O Allah, provide me with food that is lawful." Soon after a cow intended for butchering escaped and made is way to the house of the poor man. The poor man was delighted and said, "My supplication has been answered there is nothing more lawful than this!" He led the cow into his back-yard and slaughtered it, then prepared a fire and arranged the cooking pots over it and started to cook the meat for his family. As the meat was cooking on the fire, a villager ran past the houses crying out, "Has anyone seen a cow on the loose?" And a neighbor told him that he had seen one go to the poor man's house. When he reached the poor man's house and saw what had happened he cried out in protest and accused the man of stealing his cow so the matter was taken to the mufti who was a very just man and feared Allah in order to settle the matter. It seemed to the mufti that the poor man had done something he should not have done and asked , "Why did you take this man's cow and kill it?" You must pay him for it!" Just then an angel appeared to him and said, "You are commanded to take whatever belongs to the one who claims the cow is his and give it all to the poor man." The mufti was surprised but knew there were matters in the unseen that he did not know, so he ordered those around him to go to the owner's him and bring everything he possessed and place it before him. After all the possessions had been gathered, the mufti gave them to the poor man while everyone looked on in bewilderment and muttered, "He was searching for his cow, but now he has lost everything!" The angel appeared to the mufti again, but this time he instructed him, "You are commanded to deliver the owner of the cow to the poor man so he may revenge himself." When the people heard the news they cried out and asked the mufti to supplicate so that the matter might be made clear to them. The mufti supplicated and the angel appeared once more and informed him, "This man killed the poor man's father, stole his property then ran away. The property and the man are to be delivered to the poor man so that he might avenge his father – know that Allah is Wise and the Knower of Secrets."THE END BISMILLAH IR RAHMAN IR RAHEEM THE UNJUST RULER Adapted by Khadeijah Darwish Copyrighted 2007 www. Allah.com and www. Muhammad.com A very long time ago there lived a ruler called Baham. He was not a kind ruler at all. In fact he was a tyrant and governed without justice. He thought nothing of doing whatever he wanted to do and did not care about his people. He was a very proud man who would not listen to his advisors who did their best to guide him. He forgot it was Allah who had permitted him to be His trustee and was watching what he was doing every minute of the day. He was so arrogant he thought he could do just as he liked – after all he thought, I am superior to everyone, I am the ruler, this country rightfully belongs to me! The time came when matters became so bad the people decided to go and seek the counsel of a wise vizier and ask him what they should do. The vizier was a good man and had often tried to advise and guide the Bahram but he refused to listen. The vizier was aware of the problems the people faced and thought for a minute then said, "My advice to you is that each one of you, your family and neighbors leave the city for ten days and see what happens." And so they all went home and packed the things they needed for ten days and when Bahram was fast asleep they left the city. The next day when Bahram woke up everything was so quiet, so he went to the window and looked down upon the market place and to his great surprise saw no one! He could not understand why there was no one about so he called for the wise vizier who told him, "A ruler can only rule if he has subjects. If he has none, he will be miserable." Bahram had never thought of it that way, he needed the people to be a ruler, and so for the first time in his life he was prepared to listen to is vizier and asked, "What do you advise me to do?" "Change your ways" the vizier politely replied. And for the first time Bahram decided he would take the advice of his vizier and said, "I swear from now on I am going to be a just ruler, I will listen to the people and help them as best I can. I realize that what I did was wrong and I am very sorry, Allah has placed me in a position of trust." When the people heard the good news they gathered their belongings and returned to the city. Bahram kept his word and from that time onward ruled with justice and kindness, and knew Allah was watching him – everyone was happy! THE END