THE LINGERING PAIN OF SINNING


During the caliphate of Umar bin al-Khattab, Sa'eed bin 'Amir was the governor of Hims, a city in ash-Shaam. When Umar visited Hims to see how things were going there, he was met by a large group of people who began to complain to him about Sa'eed.

They found fault with him in four matters. First, they said, he would not come out to them until mid-morning. Second, he would refuse to answer any caller during the night. Third, once a month, he would stay away from the people. And fourth, once in a while, Sa'eed would faint and lose consciousness for no apparent reason.

The Leader of the Believers asked Sa'eed to respond to their complaints.

In regard to the first complaint, Sa'eed explained that he had no servant and that, every morning, he had to crush his own wheat in order to make bread. As soon as he would finish making his bread, he said, he would then go out to serve the people.

As for not answering any callers during the night, he said that he dedicated his days to serving the people and his nights to worshipping Allah.

As for not going out to the people once a month, he explained that he had only one garment and that he washed it once a month and had to then wait until it dried.

As for passing out every so often, Sa'id gave this explanation:

"When I was a polythiest, I witnessed the brutal execution of Habib al-Ansaari in Makkah. I saw how Quraish cut up his flesh little by little. They said to Habib, 'Do you now want Muhammad to take your place?' He said, 'By Allah, I would not want to be safe with myself, my family and my children if Muhammad were even to be pricked by a thorn.' Every time I remember that day and how I refrained from helping Habib- for I was a polythiest and did not believe in Allah, the All-Mighty- I begin to think that Allah, the Posessor of Might and Majesty, will never forgive me. It is then that I faint, O Leader of the Believers."





THE INTEGRITY OF AL-FUDAYL BIN 'IYAAD


Ar-Rashid, a first century ruler, once said to al-Fudayl bin Iyaad, "Admonish me."

"O Leader of the believers!" said al-Fudayl. "Indeed your grandfather, al-Abbaas, the uncle of the Prophet, once went to the Prophet and said, 'O Messenger of Allah, appoint me to be a leader.' The Messenger of Allah said, 'My uncle, indeed, being a leader leads to sorrow, and regret on the Day of Resurrection. If you are able to go without ever being a leader, then do so!'"

Moved to tears, ar-Rashid said, "Give me more."

al-Fudayl looked at ar-Rashid and said, "O one who has a handsome face, if you are able to protect that face from the Hell-fire then do so. And beware of ever cheating or betraying your people."

Being much moved by al-Fudayl's words, ar-Rashid wanted to reward him.

"Do you have any debts?" he asked.

"To my Lord, yes, and He will hold me accountable for them," said al-Fudayl.

"I am of course referring to debts to other human beings," said ar-Rashid.

After al-Fudayl answered in the negative, ar-Rashid said to one of his assistants, "Give him 1000 dinars, which he can use to help his family."

Al-Fudayl was greatly offended by these words and said, "How perfect Allah is! I am guiding you to safety and you want to reward me with this paltry, worldly sum!"

He then left, having refused to take anything.