A lesson for us !

A lesson for us !

Abu ‘Abdillaah, the mu’adhdhin of the mosque of Banoo Haraam, said:

“My neighbour was a young boy, whenever I called the adhaan and iqaamah for prayer, it would seem that he was standing at the nape of my neck. When he had prayed, he would put on his shoes and enter his house.

I would hope that he talk to me or ask me for something and one day he asked me, “Abu ‘Abdillaah, do you have a mushaf that you could lend me that I may recite from?“

I gave him one, he took it and held it against his chest and said, “Something will happen to you and I today.“

That whole day I did not see him. I called the iqaamah for Maghrib but he did not come, and likewise for ‘Ishaa’, so I started having suspicions. I went to his house and all I saw there was a bucket and a washroom. There was a curtain on his door which I pulled back and saw him there, dead.

My mushaf was also there which I took and then called some people to help me lift him onto his bed. I spent the night thinking who I could ask concerning his burial sheet. I called the adhaan for Fajr and entered the masjid to see a light coming from the direction of the qiblah, I went to it and found a wrapped burial sheet there which I took, all the while praising Allaah, the Most High.

I put it in my house and then called the iqaamah; after prayer I found sitting on my right hand side Thaabit Al-Bunaanee, Maalik Ibn Dinar, Habeeb Al-Faarisee and Saalih Al-Murree.

I said, “Brothers, what has brought you here?“

They said, “Has someone died here this night gone by?“

I said, “A young boy who used to pray with me.“

They said, “Show us.“

When they entered the house, Maalik Ibn Dinar (radhiAllaahu ‘anhu) removed the garment covering the deceased face and kissed his forehead on the place where he would prostrate and said, “May my father and mother be ransomed! You – Hajjaaj, if you became known in a particular place, you would move on to a place in which you were not known… come let us wash him!“

Each one of them had a burial sheet in which they wished to wrap him, I informed them of what had happened that morning and they agreed to bury him in the burial sheets I had found. We then left and could hardly lift up his bier for the great crowd of people who had gathered to attend his funeral!”

[Source: Related in "The Journey Of The Strangers", translated by Shaykh Abu Rumaysah, Pg. 50-51]

A Great Lesson for Us :

That young worshiper of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) was afraid of fame, he was afraid of his good deeds or worship being known to people around him. He wanted to remain unknown, so much so that, he would make sure to have his deeds between himself and Allah that nobody else would know of. So, if the people were to come to know of this act of worship that he was engaged in, he would quickly leave that area and move on to the next place in order that he would be once again hidden from the people. This is why so many people came in search of this young man, who had once stayed in the localities of these people, worshiped, and then moved on to the next.

But today, the situation is opposite. People often deceive themselves by becoming show-offs under the pretense of making casual conversation. There are people who cannot sit with others without saying: “I did this and I did that… I spent so much in charity.” Or some of them would put up their photographs doing good deeds or to show to the common people how popular they are, or to be known in front of the public.

Sometimes they can be a bit more subtle – usually deceiving themselves more than those with whom they are speaking – saying things like: “Actually, I cannot stay up in prayer at night more than two hours…” or: “Unfortunately, I cannot cope with fasting every day, so I must suffice with fasting on Mondays and Thursdays…” By saying these things, they want to show others just how much they are praying and fasting.

Compare our situation, with that of the youth about whom we mentioned and also, with the character of all the sahaabahs, and all our righteous ta'ibeen, may Allaah be pleased with them all. They were miles away from talking about their good deeds and were very particular about having both their apparent and inner conditions be one and the same, even if in the most difficult of circumstances.
Subhan Allah ! Can we also try to be one like them. In sha Allah. A honest sincere heart would take us to such a position.Let's do a sincere intention (niyyah) .