Sense of humour of the Sahaba

A group of Sahabah were sitting in the Masjid. They saw Makhramah ibn Nawfal, an old man who was about one hundred and fifteen years old and obviously rather senile. He was related to the sister of Abdur-Rahman ibn Awl, who was a wife of an-Nuayman.

Makhramah was blind. He was so weak that he could hardly move from his place in the Masjid. He got up to urinate and might have done so in the Masjid. But the companions shouted at him to prevent him from doing so.. An-Nuayman got up and went to take him to another place, as he was instructed. What is this other place that an-Nuayman took him to? In fact he took him only a short distance away from where he was sitting at first and sat him down. The place was still in the Masjid!

People shouted at Makhramah and made him get up again all in a frenzy. The poor old man was distressed and said: "Who has done this?" "An-Nuayman ibn Amr," he was told. The old man swore and announced that he would bash an-Nuayman on the head with his stick if he should meet him.

An-Nuayman left and returned. He was up to some prank of his again. He saw Uthman ibn Allan, the Amir al-Muminim, performing Salat in the Masjid. Uthman was never distracted when he stood for Prayer. An-Nuayman also saw Makhramah. He went up to him and in a changed voice said: "Do you want to get at an-Nuayman?"

The old man remembered what an-Nuayman had done. He remembered his vow and shouted: "Yes, where is he?" An-Nuayman took him by the hand and led him to the place where the Khalifah Uthman stood and said to him: "Here he is!"

The old man raised his staff and bashed the head of Uthman. Blood flowed and the people shouted: "It's the Amir al-Muminin!" The dragged Makhramah away and some people set out to get an-Nuayman but Uthman restrained them and asked them to leave him alone. In spite of the blows he had suffered, he was still able to laugh at the deeds of an-Nuayman

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Mutual Respect

A woman from Delhi had the habit of frequenting the home of her parents. Her husband, who was not in favour of her leaving his home on a regular basis, finally issued her a warning, "In future, if you go to your father's home, you are divorced from me.

Soon thereafter, her father passed away and they were left in a precarious situation. She could neither proceed to the funeral home for fear of being divorced from her husband, not could she absent herself from her father's funeral.

Her husband presented his case before a leading scholar of the time, Shah 'Abdul 'Azeez رحمه الله. He explained, "If your wife proceeds to her father's home, she will certainly be divorced from you."

Upon hearing the answer, the husband felt totally despondent and began to weep.

Incidentally, Qadi Thana'ullah Panipati رحمه الله, a student of Shah 'Abdu 'Azeez رحمه الله, was present and listened to the discussion intently. After hearing his teacher's explanation he respectfully said, "Most honourable teacher, I think that the divorce will not take place, since the passing of her father has caused the ownership of the house to be transferred to his children. Since he no longer owns the house, she will not be divorced by entering it."

Shah 'Abdul 'Azeez رحمه الله was amazed with the variant opinion of his student and accepted it with a smile on his face.[Jawahir Pare, vol 1, p 223]

1) Couples need to be cautious with regards to their choice of words. A few moments of uncontrolled anger can easily result in a lifetime of regret.

2) Differences amongst intellectuals are natural. When such differences are based on authentic knowledge, sincere intentions and respectful presentation, they are a source of strength and goodness. However, when such differences are based on paltry knowledge, insincerity or presented in an impolite manner, they fuel the fires of enmity and conflict. [Pearls from the Path]

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Character of the Great Imam (Hazrat Imam e Azam Abu Hanifah (R.A)

This is a story relating to the latter period of Imam Abu Hanifah’s (R.A) life, where due to old age Imam Saab found it extremely difficult to walk.

Imam Abu Hanifah (R.A)’s house was situated on high ground, with a fair number of steps to climb to reach the entrance. One particular afternoon Imam Abu Hanifah (R.A) had just managed to climb up the steps and entered his house. He (R.A) had just sat down with the intention of lying down to rest, when somebody called out to him from the bottom of the steps:

“I wish to ask you a question, please come down”. Imam Abu Hanifah (R.A) came down and asked, “What is the question that you wish to ask?” The person replied, “Oh! Just as you had reached the last two or three steps I forgot!”

Imam Abu Hanifah (R.A) said, it is of no consequence. “When you remember, you may ask”, and Imam Saab went back up the stairs. Just as Imam Saab was about to lie down to rest, this person called out again, “I've remembered! Come down”

This time, too, it was the same story: The person said, “I had remembered, but just as you reached the last step, I forgot!”. In this way he made Imam Saab climb up and down six or seven times! Then finally, when Imam Saab had climbed down and enquired, “What is the question?” this person replied, “Yes! Yes! Now I remember! I want to know what is the taste of faeces?”

Imam Saab responded very calmly, “It depends. What type of faeces are you enquiring about, the taste of fresh faeces, or the taste of stale faeces?”

The person said, “Well… Both!” Imam Saab answered, “The taste of fresh faeces is sweet, whereas the taste of stale faeces is bitter.” The person said, “What...., did you taste each of them?”

Imam Saab replied, “There is no necessity for one to taste each in order to determine these qualities. There are some signs and indications which will equally lead us to this conclusion. I have noticed that flies tend to settle on freshly passed faeces, flies are attracted by sweetness. So, one can conclude that freshly passed faeces taste sweet. Flies do not settle on stale faeces, bitterness repels flies. So, again, one can conclude that stale faeces are bitter!”

The person said, “What you have stated is absolutely correct!” Imam Saab, in turn, asked him, “Why do you say so?” The person explained, “I knew the answers beforehand!” He explained further, “We were a few people sitting together, having a discussion, and the question came up: In this present age, who is that person who possess and acts upon his knowledge? And who would undergo personal inconvenience for the sake of others? It was our unanimous opinion that it was you”.

I came specifically to put you to the test, so that I could see for myself whether our unanimous opinion was correct or not! I confirm it was correct.

Often we acquire knowledge but fail to implement the teachings. As the Great Imam has shown, we should show patience at all times and practice what we preach.

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STORY OF OWAIS (R A)- An Unseen companion of Prophet (SAWS)

Owais (R A) was the only man who was mentioned by name by the Prophet(SAWS) without him having met him. He became a companion without seeing the prophet (SAWS), Owais (R A) was given the honor of being his Companion in Paradise! SubahanAllaah

One day, Omar ibn Khattab, Abu Bakr, Ali and other companions (RadhiAllaahu Anhum) were sitting with the Prophet(SAWS) at the Masjid when the Prophet(SAWS) said to them, “Tomorrow, a man will enter from this door to pray among you and he will be from the people of Paradise.”

Abu Huraira (R A) relates that the next day he hurried to Fajr prayer at the Masjid and lined up in the first row in hopes that he would be the man that the Prophet(SAWS) was referring to the day before.

There were many other Companions standing alongside him who also had the same idea. The Prophet (SAWS) conducted Fajr prayer and sat down. The Companions were eager to know who this man of Paradise was, but it didn’t seem the Prophet was going to mention it. So they sat and waited for a while and some of them had to go, but others still waited. These included Abu Huraira, Abu Bakr, Ali, and Umar ( RadhiAllaahu Anhum).

Just then walked in a man, who was so poor his clothes were dirty and torn. The Prophet(SAWS) immediately stood up and smiled from ear to ear and welcomed the man. The man asked the Prophet to pray for him. The Prophet(SAWS) raised his hands in duaa and said, “Oh Allaah please grant this man a position in the highest levels of Paradise, Al Firdous, with me.” So then when the man left, Abu Huraira (R A) asked the Prophet(SAWS) ,”Was that him?!” “Yes,” replied the Prophet .

“But oh Messenger of Allaah , he is nothing more than a poor slave, how can that be him?” asked Abu Huraira(R A) . “Oh Abu Huraira,” said the Prophet. “What can I do for him if his fate in this world is to be poor? His position on the Day of Judgment is that of a king. Abu Huraira(R A) , the ones that have the most value to Allaah are those that are pure, starving, whose faces are dusty, who are not known on this Earth, but known in the skies.

Prophet Muhammad Peace Be Upon Him ‘s Patience

She thought till late at midnight and finally decided how to take revenge from him. She could not sleep all night, because she was too eager to take revenge for the idols she worshiped. Even before the first ray of sunlight had entered her window, she was busy sweeping her house. She saved all the garbage in a basket, placed it on the roof of her house and proudly looked at it for a while, then with an impatient look on her face, she looked at the street that she lived on, and thought, “No one has ever seen him angry. Everybody will praise me when they will see him shouting at me and getting mad. They will laugh at him and make fun of him.” She looked at the basket again and grinned.

Meanwhile, she heard footsteps, announcing the approach of the end of her waiting. “Finally my prey has arrived,” she thought, as she saw a man dressed in clean, white clothes coming that way. She picked up the basket in her hands and threw all the garbage on him when he passed by. Much to the woman’s disappointment, he did not say anything and continued on his way.

The upper hand is better than the lower hand

Once a father was having a walk with his son. father was a wise man,and was very much concerned with the moral education of his son. both of them headed towards their fields near by while walking.

As they went along,they saw a pair of old shoes lying in path, which they supposed to belong to a poor man who was employed in a field close by,and who had nearly finished his day’s work.

The son turned to the father, saying: “Dad ! how about if we play the man a trick: we will hide his shoes, and conceal ourselves behind those bushes, and wait to see his perplexity when he cannot find them.”

“My Dear Son,” answered the father, “we should never amuse ourselves at the expense of the poor. But you are rich, and may give yourself a much greater pleasure by means of this poor man. Put a coin in each shoe, and then we will hide ourselves and watch how this affects him.”

Former American Soldier Reverts To Islam

My reversion to Islam begins as a child, were my first religious exposure was to a Christian Cult that my now divorced mother and father were deeply involved in. During my adolescence this was short lived as my mother turned towards drugs, alcohol and a violent motorcycle gang’s counter culture. As a result my childhood was saturated with being molested by our step father for eleven years, drugs, violence and then intense physical abuse by our second step-father. It was very hard growing up in this environment and I sought the first available means of escape, the Army at the age of seventeen.

The Army was both good and bad for me, I learned how to be a strong person through the Army; unfortunately that strong person was very prone to violence. Coping with my childhood wasn’t easy, thus beginning a period of self-medicating with hard drugs and alcohol. None of these were strong enough to numb my minds’ eye of the past; I did find one thing that was though-violence. I became very aggressive, very violent towards people. I became very calculating and malicious and would fight people just to see how they fought back; as a result the Army released me from duty and my family admitted me to a psychiatric hospital, were I was a frequent in patient for over a year.