~ Jewels from Islamic History ~

From the Wise sayings of Luqman:

"If you're in prayer, take care of your heart; if you're eating, take care of your throat; if you're in another man's house, take care of your eyes; if you are among people, take care of your tongue.

Rememer two matters and forget two matters: Remeber Allaah and death; forget any good that you have done to another and any evil that was done to you by another."



The Ruler and His Brother:

A man stood before Al-Wathiq Billah and said, "O Leader of the Believers, join ties with and have mercy upon your relatives, and be generous to a man from your family."

Al-Wathiq Billah said, "And who are you? For i never saw you before this day."

He said," I am the son of your grandfather, Adam."

He (Al-Wathiq) said,"O young man (i.e. attendent), give to him one dirham."

The man said,"O leader of the Believers, and what should i do with this?"

He (Al-Wathiq) said, "Suppose that i were to divide the treasury among your brothers from the children of my grandfather - would your share be equal to even a single grain?"

The man then praised him for his intelliegence, after which he was given a much larger share.



Who is more Honoured?

Ash'ath bin Shu'bah Al-Missisiy realated that Harun Rasheed, the ruler of the time, came to Ar-Raqqa, where the people did not gather around him, but rather around Ibn Mubarak. The enormous crowds caused dust to rise and people would lose their sandals in the rush to gather around him.
The wife of the ruler asked "Who is that?"
The people responded that he was a scholar from the people of Khurasan.

She replied," By Allaah, that is a kingdom, unlike Harun's, where people do not gather except with the force of security and police."

One can conclude that the honour bestowed upon a learned man far surpasses that of a ruler in the hearts of the masses.​

Temptation: (NB. this narration may not be authentic)

Two youths were seated together, when a beautiful woman came and sat beside them. In plain view of the three was a monastery of a monk who would spend his days and nights busy in worship. While they were talking, the woman noticed the monastery, and an idea came to her head. She said to her two companions, "What would you say if i told you that i was going to go and tempt the monk towards evil?"

"We would tell you that you will fail in the attempt," said the two youths.

"You are wrong, for i am able to do so." She then stood, applied perfume to her body, and wore her best and most enticing attire. Instead of going immediately, she waited until the night, for she knew that devils are most active during that time. When night-time came, she went to the gates of the monastery and called out "O slave of Allaah, open the gate for me, for i am afraid and am in need of a safe shelter."

Having no reason to doubt the stranger and wanting to help her, the monk quickly opened the gates for her. When he let her in, he saw her beautiful figure and face and realized it was not safe to be alone with her, and so he climbed the stairs of the monastery, instructing her to remain alone on the first floor. Upon reaching the second floor, he was suprised to see that she had followed him; he had nowhere to escape, and so he tried to keep a safe distance away from her. She then removed all of her clothing and came near to him, offering her body for his pleasure.

He had dedicated all of his life to worshipping Allaah, and now, in the middle of the night and hidden to all created beings, he had before him a temptation that was very difficult to resist. If he could have escaped, he probably would have tried, but the woman stood between him and the door that led to the lower floor. There was a lamp burning beside him and so he quickly put his smallest finger into the fire of the lamp, and as his finger burned, he tried to think about the hellfire. Thus he lost his smallest finger, but the woman still stood there, tempting him towards evil. Again, to remind himself about the fire of the Hellfire, he placed his nxt finger into the fire of the lamp.

When the light of morning appeared through the wondows, the monk had not succumbed to evil, but he had no more fingers remaining on his hands. So overcome was the woman by the experience of the previous night, that she repented and changed her ways: she built a monastery alongside that of the monk, and she spent her remaining days worshipping alongside him.




The Prisoner's Intelligent Ploy:

Haris bin 'Abbad, one of the rulers of Andalus, was looking to capture 'Adi bin Abi Rabi'ah in order to exact revenge from him. His problem, and that of many of his guards, was that he didn't know what Ibn Abi Rabi'ah looked like.

A prisoner said to one of the guards, "Will you free me if i show you to him?"

The guard said, "Yes i promise to do so."

After an oath from him, he said, "I am 'Adi bin Abi Rabi'ah," and, rememebring his promise and oath, the guard felt compelled to free him.​

Political Acumen

It was said to a ruler, "What has made you reach this level?"
He said "I forgave when I was able to exact revenge, I was soft even when I was severe, I was just even regarding my own self, and I left enough place in my love and hate so that I could still easily change from one to the other."


Choosing a Wife

A man asked Hasan bin 'Ali (RA), "I have a daughter and people have proposed to her, so to whom should i marry her [to]?"

He said, "Marry her to one who fears Allaah, for if he loves her, he will honour her; and if he hates her, he will not wrong her."​