THE GREETINGS OF
A JEW
While the wife of Messenger (SA) of Allah, 'A'ishah, was sitting with him, a Jew came and
instead of saying: "Assalamu 'Alaykum" (peace be on you), he said: "Assamu
'Alaykum" which meant that 'may death come over you'. Not much time had passed
that another Jew came to Allah's Messenger (SA) and he also instead of saying: "Assalamu
'Alaykum", said: "Assamu 'Alaykum." Hence it was clear that
these people wanted to hurt the feelings of Allah's Messenger (SA), under an organized
plan. 'A'ishah got very angry on this act of Jews and she shouted and said: "May
death come on you all."
Allah's Messenger (SA) said:
"Don't use such indecent words. If these words had taken their physical shapes, they
would have been very unpleasant and ugly. Instead, softness, politeness and patience make
things look beautiful, charming and attractive. Affection and softness doubly increase the
human beauty. And if there is a deficiency in softness, politeness and patience in any
thing, then the beauty and charm of that thing gets reduced. "After all, why did you
get so angry and furious?"
'A'ishah: "O Allah's
messenger (SA)! don't you see what these people are saying instead of 'Salamun
'Alaykum' irrespectfully and shamelessly?"
"So what?" [asked the
Messenger (SA) of Allah] "I think you didn't notice that in reply to them, I had also
said: 'Alaykum', which means 'same to you'. And it was enough for their
reply."
* * *
Sikaki was a skilled artist and artisan. With great expertise and interest, he made such a
nice and beautiful inkpot that it could be presented to the king. He expected that,
appreciating his artistic skill, the king would encourage him as far as possible. So, with
countless hopes and thousands of desires, he presented that inkpot to the king. In the
beginning the king was very impressed by his artistic skill. But afterwards such an
unpleasant event occurred that it caused an extraordinary change in Sikaki's life and
artistic capabilities.
When the king was observing the
skilled artistry of the beautiful inkpot and Sikaki was lost in the world of thoughts, the
people informed that a learned or literary person or jurisconsult is about to come to the
court. After a while this learned man entered the court. The king got so much absorbed in
welcoming and talking with him that he could not keep in mind anything about Sikaki and
his skilled artistry. This incident was enough to adversely affect the heart and brain of
an artist like Sikaki. So, this carelessness of the king had a deep effect on his heart.
He realized that now he would not
receive the encouragement he had expected. And now to have a hope or to keep any desire is
of no use. But Sikaki's high thinking and his artistic capability did not allow him to
remain in peace and he started thinking as to what he should do? He decided that he should
also do the same as the others have done uptil now. (He thought:) "I will also have
to follow the same path as the others have been following uptil now." Hence he
finally decided to search for his lost hopes in the world of knowledge, literature and
books. But for such a wise man who had spent the days of his youth in other works, it was
not easy to get engaged in studies and start teaching small children. Still, he remained
firm with his decision. Moreover, there was no other alternative before him. After all
when the fish is taken out from water, it is fresh.
But the most difficult thing was
this that in the beginning, he did not find any interest in reading and writing. Perhaps,
his spending a long time in artistic and handicraft works was the reason for stagnancy in
his scientific and literary talent. But his advanced age and less capability could not
stand in the way of his decision. And with great interest, enthusiasm and zeal for
attaining knowledge, he got busy with his studies. Meanwhile, another incident occurred.
The teacher, who was teaching Fiqh-iShafi'i
(Shafi'i jurisprudence), taught him this lesson: "It is the teacher's belief that the
skin of the dog becomes 'tahir' (pure) after tanning." Sikaki repeated this
sentence for at least ten times, so that at the time of examination he might succeed in
securing good marks. But when he was questioned on this lesson, giving the answer, he
said: "Dog's belief is this that the teacher's skin becomes tahir after
tanning."
On hearing his reply like this,
all the audience started laughing. And everyone thought that the old man is absolutely
incapable of reading and writing. After this incident, Sikaki not only left that school,
but he also left that town and went towards the jungle. By chance, he reached the foot of
a mountain, where he saw that the water is falling drop by drop from the top. And because
of the falling of water, drop by drop, a hole has been formed even in that hard stone. For
some time, he kept on thinking over this matter. It had a deep effect on his heart and
mind. And he said, "May be my heart is not at all inclined towards reading and
writing, but it is not as hard as this stone. Therefore, it is absolutely impossible that
I go on studying continuously with diligence but do not attain knowledge." Thinking
like this, he came back and got busy with the attainment of knowledge. The result of this
was that after some time, he was reckoned among the popular scholars of his time.
* * *
Prophet Muhammad (SA) recited his morning salat (prayer) in the mosque along with
other people. By this time, it was becoming bright and the people could be clearly seen.
At this moment, the Prophet (SA) saw a youngman whose condition seemed to be
extraordinary. His head could not rest properly on his body and was continuously moving
this way and that way. The Prophet (SA) looked at his face and saw that it was pale; his
eyes had gone deep into his head. His limbs had become thin and lean. He asked him:
"In what condition are
you?" "I am in the condition of certainty, O Messenger (SA) of Allah".
(Replied the youngman.)
"Every certainty has got
some symptoms which indicate its truth; what is the symptom of your certainty?"
"My certainty is the one
which is associated with my distress. In the nights, it has taken away my sleep; and I
pass the days with thirst. And I have turned my back towards the comforts of the world. I
have turned my face towards the other side. It is like this that I am seeing the Empyrean
of Allah on the Day of Judgment and similarly I also see the resurrection condition of the
whole of the creation of Allah. It is as if I am seeing the people in Heaven in pleasure
and the people in Hell in severe torment. It is as if the dreadly noise due to the flames
of the Hell-fire is just now ringing in my ears." Prophet (SA) turned his face
towards the people and said: "He is a worshipper of Allah whose heart has been
illuminated by the light of faith."
Then he turned towards the
youngman and said: "keep up this good state of yours for yourself." The youngman
said: "O Messenger (SA) of Allah! Pray that Allah gives me an opportunity for Jihad
(holy war) and shahadah (martyrdom) for the sake of the right path.
The Prophet (SA) prayed. It did
not take long when an opportunity arose for Jihad and that youngman participated in
that Jihad. The tenth person who got martyred in that war was no one but this
youngman.
* * *
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