Never judge a book by its cover...

[Adaminmy]

Sultan Murad IV, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1623-1640, would often anonymously go into the midst of the people and see their state. One evening, he felt an uneasiness in himself and the urge to go out. He called for his head of security and and out they went.

They came to a busy vicinity, and found a man lying on the ground. The Sultan prodded him but he was dead and the people were going about their own business. Nobody seemed to care about the dead man lying on the ground. The Sultan called upon the people. they didn't recognise him and asked him what he wanted.

He said, "Why is this man lying dead on the ground and why does no one seem to care? Where is his family?"

They replied, "He is so and so, the drunkard and fornicator!"

The Sultan said, "Is he not from the Ummah of Muhammad (s.a.w)? Now help me carry him to his house."

They people carried the dead man with the Sultan to his house and once they reached, they all left. The Sultan and his assistant remained. When the man's wife saw his dead body, she began weeping. She said to his dead body, "Allah have mercy on you! O friend of Allah! I bear witness that you are from the pious ones."

The Sultan was bewildered. He said, "How is he from the pious ones when the people say such and such things about him. So much so that no one even cared he was dead?"

She replied, "I was expecting that. My husband would go to the tavern every night and buy as much wine as he could. He would then bring it home and pour it all down the drain. He would then say, "I saved the Muslims a little today." He would then go to a prostitute, give her some money and tell her to close her door till the morning. He would then return home for a second time and say, "Today I saved a young woman and the youth of the believers from vice." The people would see him buy wine and they would see him go to the prostitutes and they would consequently talk about him. One day I said to him, "When you die, there will be no one to bathe you, there will be no one to pray over you and there will be no one to bury you!" He laughed and replied, "Don't fear, the Sultan of the believers, along with the pious ones shall pray over my body."

The Sultan began crying. He said, "By Allah! He has said the truth, for I am Sultan Murad. Tomorrow we shall bathe him, pray over him and bury him." And it so happened that the Sultan, the scholars, the pious people and the masses prayed over him.

We judge people by what we see and what we hear from others. Only if we were to see what was concealed in their hearts, a secret between them and their Lord.

"O you who believe, abstain from many of the suspicions. Some suspicions are sins. And do not be curious (to find out faults of others), and do not backbite one another. Does one of you like that he eats the flesh of his dead brother? You would abhor it. And fear Allah. Surely Allah is Most-Relenting, Most-Merciful." (49:12)

[cogito ergo sum]

This is very true. We miserably fail in acting the best we can towards the people we think don't deserve it. And they may deserve it more than us!

[Muhaba]

Buying wine is not allowed, whatever the reason. In a hadith it is stated that 7 people dealing with wine (intoxicants) are cursed and one of them is the one who purchases wine. If the man was spilling the wine, he should have done it in front of all the people instead of bringing it home. He has given a wrong impression to the people. Had he spilled it, the people would have known that he wasn't purchasing it to drink and it would have been a form of dawah on his part.
In the above story, even though the Sultan and pious people bathed him and prayed over his body, yet Allah let this man die in a humiliated state and people spoke badly of him and let him lie dead in that state.

So, although one shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Yet, covers are important and it's important to have a righteous and honorable outward appearance. One's words and actions should be in line with their inner being.

[Karl]

Buying wine is not allowed, whatever the reason. In a hadith it is stated that 7 people dealing with wine (intoxicants) are cursed and one of them is the one who purchases wine. If the man was spilling the wine, he should have done it in front of all the people instead of bringing it home. He has given a wrong impression to the people. Had he spilled it, the people would have known that he wasn't purchasing it to drink and it would have been a form of dawah on his part.
In the above story, even though the Sultan and pious people bathed him and prayed over his body, yet Allah let this man die in a humiliated state and people spoke badly of him and let him lie dead in that state.

So, although one shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Yet, covers are important and it's important to have a righteous and honorable outward appearance. One's words and actions should be in line with their inner being.

It's only a story. The Sultan probably drank wine and had a hundred concubines. A man that buys up the wine and dumps it and pays prostitutes for nothing so they can take the night off would have been considered totally mad. And how could the people in that place be pious if there are wine shops and prostitutes around? If the Sultan was pious he would have forbade wine shops and prostitution. But it is a good story anyway with a good moral to it. Reminds me of "1000 and 1 nights"

Hey there! Looks like you're enjoying the discussion, but you're not signed up for an account.

When you create an account, you can participate in the discussions and share your thoughts. You also get notifications, here and via email, whenever new posts are made. And you can like posts and make new friends.
Sign Up

[Scimitar]

Good points there Karl ! :)

[ardianto]

How could wine shops and prostitution operated if Murad IV prohibited these?. Even he prohibited coffee!.

Murad IV indeed, known as sultan who often patrol at night, disguised as commoner. But he is also known as sultan who executed his siblings and got his throne through conspiration.

I am sure, the story above never happened although it's still good as reminder.

[HamzaTR]

Sadly Turkish people, namely children, are raised with such false stories which "praise" Ottoman rulers. You guys need to hear about the story of how the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa aalih) lead the army of Selim II, by walking through deserts when he massacred shiites of Anatolia and invaded sunni Egypt (Mamluk Dynasty). Yes, the mouthpieces of the sultans even use the Prophet in their stories of "glorious" invasions of Muslim lands and massacring the nations.

I wonder what stories the bought scholars of Turkish govt. will tell us, when by NATO order, they want us to invade the non-subserviant countries, such as Syria, Iraq and Iran.

[MuslimInshallah]

Buying wine is not allowed, whatever the reason. In a hadith it is stated that 7 people dealing with wine (intoxicants) are cursed and one of them is the one who purchases wine. If the man was spilling the wine, he should have done it in front of all the people instead of bringing it home. He has given a wrong impression to the people. Had he spilled it, the people would have known that he wasn't purchasing it to drink and it would have been a form of dawah on his part.
.

When I first read the story, I was, of course, struck by it's ending. It's a clever story. It shocks then has a twist at the end.

But then, when I read Dreamin's post, I realized she is correct. While the moral of not backbiting is very true, the banalization of prohibited things is a subtle evil, I think.

Stories are powerful things... I believe we should be careful of the ones we choose to tell.

Does anyone think that telling this story to their children to teach them correct morals would be a good idea…?

[Muhaba]

Yes, it is a story, but not one I would read to children. The story doesn't depict the man in a good way. It shows that he died in a bad way. He could've died in bed (at home) instead of on the street. I think he died the way drunkards do.

[syed_z]

Buying wine is not allowed, whatever the reason. In a hadith it is stated that 7 people dealing with wine (intoxicants) are cursed and one of them is the one who purchases wine. If the man was spilling the wine, he should have done it in front of all the people instead of bringing it home. He has given a wrong impression to the people. Had he spilled it, the people would have known that he wasn't purchasing it to drink and it would have been a form of dawah on his part.
In the above story, even though the Sultan and pious people bathed him and prayed over his body, yet Allah let this man die in a humiliated state and people spoke badly of him and let him lie dead in that state.

So, although one shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Yet, covers are important and it's important to have a righteous and honorable outward appearance. One's words and actions should be in line with their inner being.

Asalaam O Alaikum... what your saying is correct and no doubt about it. But what your doing is judging from an purely external perspective. Consider the following Hadith of the Prophet (saw):

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "A prostitute was forgiven by Allah, because, passing by a panting dog near a well and seeing that the dog was about to die of thirst, she took off her shoe, and tying it with her head-cover she drew out some water for it. So, Allah forgave her because of that." (Bukhari)

Do you think the people of her nation thought she was righteous even though Allah (swt) had forgiven her? Do you think when she died she was praised by her people? May be Allah (swt) knows best but she was probably still considered a prostitute at the time of her death.


Secondly if you look at the story from an internal perspective, you will know why he would not spill it in front of the people or make the reality be known, consider the following:

1. 1st of all if he started doing in front of the people by buying and spilling, this might cause the people to watch and get inspired and attack the shops and destroy them, this would cause a revolt against the authorities thus causing much more Fitnah. The authorities would react and start killing them due to their revolt. (JFI during the Ottomans rule these places did exist, it was just that they were being operated behind the scenes,). Besides that, the aim of his spilling was not to practically demonstrate Shariah law injunction against alcohol, it was just something he wanted to do that would please his Lord and in turn His Lord would love him for it :). If even for one night he can save that girl's respect by keeping immoral men away from her, his reward is with Allah (swt).

2. Consider the following Verses of the Quran in Surah Baqara that point to us of such a Great Merit in the Sight of Allah (swt) if one does deeds Secretly rather than Openly:

O you who have believed, do not invalidate your charities with reminders or injury

If you disclose your charitable expenditures, they are good; but if you conceal them and give them to the poor, it is better for you

Those who spend their wealth [in Allah 's way] by night and by day, secretly and publicly


The man in the story was trying his best to perform the Charity (Goodness, Good deeds) with perfect Sincerity (Ikhlas) only for the sake of Allah (swt) as the Prophet (saw) said Give such that your left hand does not know from your right hand.

They are inspired by such Verses which Order not to associate any one of anything with Allah (swt) when doing righteous and charitable deeds:

(18:110)...whoever looks forward [with hope and awe] to meeting his Sustainer [on Judgment Day], let him do righteous deeds, and let him not ascribe unto anyone or anything a share in the worship due to his Sustainer!

[syed_z]

Yes, it is a story, but not one I would read to children. The story doesn't depict the man in a good way. It shows that he died in a bad way. He could've died in bed (at home) instead of on the street. I think he died the way drunkards do.

And it so happened that the Sultan, the scholars, the pious people and the masses prayed over him.

Actually the story ends with his burial being done with much honor.

[syed_z]

Does anyone think that telling this story to their children to teach them correct morals would be a good idea…?

Depending upon what their age is, may be you could tell the ones who are mature enough to understand and which one of the child is maturer than the rest is something parents can tell.

Even the ones who are mature should be informed with the purpose to teach them this important Message of Guidance:

"O you who believe, abstain from many of the suspicions. Some suspicions are sins. And do not be curious (to find out faults of others), and do not backbite one another. Does one of you like that he eats the flesh of his dead brother? You would abhor it. And fear Allah. Surely Allah is Most-Relenting, Most-Merciful." (49:12)

The story should in no way be told to inspire them to do the same because they might fall in to that trap of alcohol and women, such inspiration only comes by itself to certain believers whose hearts are very close to Allah (swt), and the hearts come close when their only purpose of living is to obtain Pleasure of Allah (swt).

Allah (swt) says 'My slave keeps drawing nearer to Me with voluntary works until I love him....(hadith)

[gord]

I think it's a nice story. Maybe it's my former Christian background but I see this man as the 'least of these' who was doing what he thought was Allah's will and didn't care what others thought of him, only what Allah thought. Fear what Allah thinks and not others. His reward would have been great.

[Muhaba]

Everyone will see it their own way. Anyway, I don't agree with buying all the wine so there is none for others. Because you will still be helping the wine business even if you're protecting a few people from drinking. The wine shop will get revenue and will be able to increase their supply of wine with the added profits. They may even open another shop elsewhere. So i don't think this is the best way to get rid of the drinking problem. I think it would be better to use one's money to preach to the common public instead of buying the wine (when one doesn't have the authority to ban selling wine).

[Saja]

Did this story actually happen?

When I started reading it, I didn’t expect it to end the way it did, I actually thought he was a drunkard and fornicator, the ending was very surprising and clever.

[syed_z]

Because you will still be helping the wine business even if you're protecting a few people from drinking. The wine shop will get revenue and will be able to increase their supply of wine with the added profits. They may even open another shop elsewhere.

Salaam ... no doubt sister the wine business will keep earning its revenue.... but once the old man has bought wine and has spilled it, a portion of daily drinkers who would've bought and drank that same wine he spilled, will go home to their children and wife or siblings without being drunk and doing violence at home..... they will all be at peace for one night and that night might change the drinkers life....so to whom will all the rewards go if he changes?

...your right its different perspective of each of us...

[*Yasmin*]

hmmm regardless of the man's intention, I believe that the purpose does not justify it means. (esp. when haram means are involved)
We are humans, we don't have special powers to "see" through the hearts/intentions, we see the apparent!
we should be careful about the deeds we do publicly.

[BilalKid]

hmmm regardless of the man's intention, I believe that the purpose does not justify it means. (esp. when haram means are involved)
We are humans, we don't have special powers to "see" through the hearts/intentions, we see the apparent!
we should be careful about the deeds we do publicly.

what if someone does not know something? Like I give free alcohol with good intention of giving something to drink but I dont know its haram.

[*Yasmin*]

what if someone does not know something? Like I give free alcohol with good intention of giving something to drink but I dont know its haram.

here comes the importance of -seeking knowledge- In Islam, knowledge precedes/comes before actions.
Allah swt said: فاعلم ان لا اله الا الله واستغفر لذنبك وللمؤمنين والمؤمنات والله يعلم متقلّبكم ومثواكم

translation: Know, therefore, that there is no god but Allah, and ask forgiveness for thy fault, and for the men and women who believe: for Allah knows how ye move about and how ye dwell in your homes. (47:19)

Allah swt ordered his prophet peace be upon him in this Ayah two things, and He started with knowledge and followed it with action. (know after that ask forgiveness)
hence, before we speak or do anything, we should know. else, may Allah forgive our negligence and sins.