السلام عليكم ورحمة الله و بركاته
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And remind for verily, the reminding profits the believers.”
{Surat adh-Dhariyaat, ayah # 55}
It is reported in the history of al-'Amiri that his father was scrupulous. He used to work in a garden belonging to his master where he remained for a long time. Then one day his master came and told him, “I want a pomegranate. ” So he went to one of the trees and brought him a pomegranate. He opened it and found that it was bitter. He asked him, “Do you not know the sweet from the bitter?” “No,” he answered. He said “How is that?” He said, “I have not eaten any of them, so that I would know it.” He asked, “Why have you not eaten?” He said, “Because you did not give me permission.” He investigated that and found that what he said was true and he became great in his eyes and brought him close to him. He had a daughter who had received a marriage proposal. He said to him, “Mubarak, what do you think about marrying this girl?” He told him, “Sir, people disagree about desires. The people of the
Jahiliyyah married for lineage. The Jews marry for wealth and the Christians marry for beauty. This community marries for
din.” When he heard him say that, his intelligence pleased him and he told her mother, “She will have no other husband.” So he married her to him. She brought him this pearl [i.e. `Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak] and the blessing of his father prospered over him.
[The Garden of the Hadith Scholars, Imam ‘Abd al-’Aziz ad-Dihlawi]
1)Honesty should be maintained at all times even if there is a fear that one would be mistreated as in the case above. It was possible that the master of the servant would have beaten him but even then he spoke the truth. As a hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه the Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم said, “A man from Banu Israel borrowed a 1000 Dinars from a friend of his. So his friend told him, ‘Bring me witnesses.’ He said, ‘I have no witnesses but Allah.’ The other man said, ‘I accept Allah as witness.’ He said, ‘Bring me somebody who would take care of this loan if you are absent.’ The man replied, ’I have no one but Allah.’ He said, ‘I accept Allah’ and then he gave him the 1000 Dinar. So the man went and travelled by sea to a different land and he didn’t need money anymore and the time for payback arrived. He would go to the coast and he wouldn’t find any ships that are travelling to the same area because he wanted to send back the money. So he didn’t find any boats going in that direction. Then he said, ‘O’ Allah! That man asked me for witness and I told him that You are my Witness. And he asked me for somebody to promise to pay him back and I said I have no one but You. So O’ Allah! Pay him back.’ So this man had the 1000 Dinar, the money he had to pay back, he put in a log and he stuffed it and sent in the sea and said, ‘O’ Allah pay him back.’ The man that lend him, would go to the port everyday so see if there are any boats coming to get his money back and he didn’t find any. He found this piece of wood floating in the water and said, ‘I’m going to take this as firewood to my family.’ So he took it home and when he was breaking it into pieces, he found inside 1000 Dinar along with a sheet written on it, ‘This is your money that I promised you, take it back.’ Later on, the man who borrowed the money was able to come back and he went to visit his friend and he told him, ‘Believe me I didn’t find to back and this is the first boat and I’m sorry I couldn’t pay you back so here’s the 1000 Dinar.’ So the other man said, ‘Did you send me something?’ He said, ‘This is the first that came.’ Then his friend replied, ‘Well, Allah has paid your debt, take your 1000 Dinar back and Allah has already taken care of it.’”
Even though the man didn’t find any means i.e. ship to return to the same land where his debtor was to return the money, he tried his very best to come and see if there was any chance of a ship coming and he didn’t lose hope in Allah سبحانه و تعالى that he would surely find a way to return his money.
Mubarak رحمه الله had the full opportunity to taste the pomegranate at least once during the farming season but due to the fear of Allah سبحانه و تعالى he didn’t do so.
2) Not to hasten and show greediness and desire in getting married to someone. Mubarak رحمه الله had the right to agree with his master to allow him to get married to his daughter but he didn’t say, “Yes I want to marry your daughter!” Rather he, in his humility, gave him the Islamic solution to the ways of the kuffar exactly as the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said once, “A woman may be married for four things: for her wealth, for her noble descent, for her beauty or for religion. Choose the one who is religious, may your hands be rubbed with dust!” Hadith recorded by Shaykhayn al-Bukhari and Muslim رحمهما الله
3)
“…She will have no other husband….” This statement shows the level of Iman of the master himself who is obeying the Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم saying when he صلى الله عليه و سلم said, “When someone with whose religion and character you are satisfied asks your daughter in marriage, accede to his request. If you do not do so, there will be temptation on Earth and extensive corruption.” This hadith is recorded by Imams at-Tirmidhi, an-Nasaa’i and Ibn Majah رحمهم الله
“Indeed in their stories, there is a lesson for men of understanding…” {Surah Yusuf, ayah# 111}
And, indeed, Allah سبحانه و تعالى knows best.