Some time later, there was a knock on the door. It was Salman Al Farisiy (RA) bearing a tray of nine pomegranates. He said that a man had come to the Prophet SAW, asking him to give the pomegranates to ‘Ali (RA). ‘Ali (RA) enquired whether this was all that the Prophet gave him. Salman Al Farisiy(RA) produced a tenth pomegranate which he had purposely concealed! Rasulullah SAW later explained that the poor man was Angel Jibreel, who, in the guise of a man, came to check ‘Ali’s (RA) iman. After ‘Ali (RA) passed the test, Allah sent down the ten blessed pomegranates for the obedience and sacrifice of ‘Ali and his wife for the path of Allah – for Allah rewards tenfold for every good deed performed.
Would the modern day husband and wife have made the same decision? The husband’s obedience to the wife would probably override the compassion to the poor, and the wife’s selfishness would have probably led to a fight if the husband had come home penniless and empty handed.
Anas bin Malik (RA) narrated that: The Prophet (SAW) said: “When Allah created the earth, it started shaking. So He created the mountains, and said to them: ‘Upon it’ so it began to settle. The angels were amazed at the strength of the mountains, so they said: ‘O Lord! Is there among your creatures one who is more severe than the mountains?’ He said: ‘Yes. Iron.’ They said: ‘O Lord! Then is there anything among your creatures that is more severe than that iron?’ He said: ‘Yes. Fire.’ So they said: ‘O Lord! Is there anything among your creatures that is more severe than fire?’ He said: ‘Yes. Water.’ They said: ‘O Lord! Is there anything among your creatures that is more severe than water?’ He said: ‘Yes. Wind.’ They said: ‘O Lord! Is there anything among your creatures more severe than wind?’ He said: ‘Yes. The son of Adam. He gives charity with his right hand, while hiding it from his left.’” (Tirmidhi)
The Real Knowledge
We can relay this message repeatedly, but the litmus test is in our behaviour. The reluctance to spend for Allah is unconnected with one’s belongings, and often times, a person’s stinginess and love of dunia increases with his wealth.
When one gets closer to Allah, his supplications are accepted and Allah will grant him a palace in Paradise, which is more glorious than the earth and all its glitter. However, does our spending pattern indicate that we are believers in jannah and the unseen? Does it reflect faith in life after death? If we believe, then where is the action to uphold and spread the message of Islam?
When someone visited Abu Dhar’s(RA) house,he observed that it was very scant and did not even contain furniture.Abu Dhar (RA) explained that he knew that the owner of the house would not permit him to live for long, and so he “delivered” his furniture to his destination instead. We surely admirehis philosophy, but are we willing to empty our houses of furniture and follow in the footsteps of Abu Dhar (RA)?
Allah gave us the gift of continuing the messengership of Islam (without the revelations), but do we observe the duties attached to that honour? We are still chasing the glory of dunia instead of elevating Allah in our hearts and actions.
Today we have the knowledge, in fact with the internet, knowledge on Islam is freely available in an unprecedented way. We acquire, pass and talk about the knowledge but our behaviour today is not a representation at all of what the knowledge says. Look at our individual and collective conditions. We are racing with each other in the championship of dunia, showing off and in the meantime, the Qur’an we read, the sessions we attend and all the links we pass on are not reflected in our actions. Something is wrong. This means that the knowledge we have is not in the heart. If we believe in all of the above, where is the action in the Qur’an, ahadeeth and even at the time of death?
We see people dying around us, we bury them but after all these incidents, the calamities and suffering in the ummah, we still behave the same way without realizing it. We have sickness in the heart because the heart is absorbed in dunia.
Please reflect about what you read and ask yourself how much of your capital is spent for the sake of Allah, or even for the sake of goodness. How many times do we demonstrate the caring for each other? What do we really carry in our hearts? If we reflect, thinking and contemplating and this reflects in our actions, something is wrong with what we are doing. Unless the knowledge reflects into our behaviour, what we learn does not constitute knowledge. In fact, this can put us in a state of shirk or kufr or hypocrisy, may Allah save us. Please reflect deeply.
May Allah make us the owner and carrier of the knowledge, and make us responsible for the knowledge dunia and akhirah and make this knowledge to be witness for us and not against us.
