LikeThe Prophet (sw) said “Give gifts, it will increase love” (Bukhari)
I was at the local grocery when I noticed an uncle from the mosque shopping there. As I finished my shopping, I began to queue at the till. The uncle was in front of me. He acknowledged me as I did him and that was it, nothing more until he turned around, grabbed a chocolate bar, and offered it to me. I was dumbstruck, I hesitated, he insisted and I accepted. This was to be the start of a loving bond between two Muslims. I went home and couldn’t get the uncle out of my head and had to inform my family.
A few days later while in Makkah, I went to buy some gifts for my family, when the uncle came to my mind. I felt compelled to buy him something. So I bought something I thought was suitable for his age. Throughout my stay, he came in and out of my thoughts, especially the special places for making dua.
After returning, I presented my gift to him and he came into tears and hugged me. From then on, every time we would sit together and chat (which was quite funny since I am way younger than him, and me and him sitting down talking was quite unique).
The last few weeks I had exams and was staying for most of the time, and even spending nights at the institute I study hence I couldn’t attend my local mosque. I was sadly informed by my father that the uncle was ill and was not attending prayers. I made time to see him, and was not expecting him to be too bad, yet when I saw him in his house, I couldn’t hold my tears, I usually don’t cry in front of others, but it simply hurt me too much to see him in that state. In a span of 3 weeks He has weakened considerably and is now using a wheelchair to get around. An elderly who use to attend all five prayers in the mosque even on a cold winters day, when his circumstance would have easily allowed him to pray at home, was now unable to walk without support. When he saw me, he jumped up and hugged me and started crying. It’s as if I had known him for years. He informed me about his state, and said that he will go for Umra for 7 days, and then go back to his home country up till September, and he said “If I make it, I will return to London”. We said our farewells knowing that we might never see each other again.
The Prophet said “Give gifts, it will increase love” (Bukhari)
We sometimes read hadith, and we read commentaries after commentaries, yet never fully appreciate the meaning it conveys. This beloved uncle taught me this hadith in such a manner; it will be hard, if ever, to forget its meaning
I beg all to pray for his recovery and to return him to London in a good and peaceful state. Please pray for his forgiveness.
Peace
Haq
jazakumallahu khayran. this is really beautiful.
A wonderful story…it brought tears to my eyes.
Insha’ Allah you’ll see your friend healthy and well soon.
SubhanAllah………may Allah give him a quick recovery.
Its true what you say about hadiths. Only when you put them into practice and see the results, do you then fully appreciate its meaning.
I read a hadith which said that the way you spread love amongst one another is by saying salam. I went in to work, said salam to my non-practicing muslim colleague – subhanAllah, you should’ve seen the smile on her face. She didn’t reply, however just seeing the smile was enough for me.
I carried on doing this for months, even in front of non-muslims. And then one day, allhamdulillah, they said salam to me first. I can’t describe the joy i felt.
All this because of one hadith
: )
Dear third poster above…I don’t claim to know much, but I do recall reading in the Authentic Supplications of the Prophet (PBUH) that Moslems should not offer Salam to Jews and Christians.
I would suggest that you ask a learned individual about that or insha’ Allah Brother Suhaib can offer his thoughts should he feel it appropriate to do so.
I’m sorry if I’m way off base (in my knowledge or lack thereof) or out of bounds with this post (Moderator, please feel free to remove if the post is inappropriate).
Abdellatif,
http://www.suhaibwebb.com/blog/law-and-life/rules-of-greeting-non-muslims-in-islam-saying-salaamreplying-salaam-bynurideen-lemu-an-nigeri/
Abdullatif:
Asalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh:
The strong opinion is that it is allowable for one to give greetings to people of other faiths based on the fact that the order of the Prophet not to do so was specific to the day that Banu Quraydha were banned from Medina. This is coupled by the fact the Allah tells the Prophet to say to the non-Muslims, “Peace” see the end of the 43 chapter and other verses that denote a general meaning. This was the opinion of Al-Qurtubi and articulated by Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Bari.
Allah knows best
SDW
Shukrun Brother Suhaib for replying as fast as you have.
I’m glad to read your post because I too used to offer Salam to people of the book until reading what I read.
Funny that you mention Ibn Hajar and Fath al-Bari, I had just found it at an Internet site but it’s only in Arabic (my long lost native tongue). Insha’ Allah it’ll be translated into English soon.
Jaza’ka Allahu Khayer for all your efforts and for this wonderful forum.
Assalamualaikum,
Thank you for raising this issue. However if you read the comment i said ‘non-practicing muslim colleague’ ie they are muslim but not practicing. The point i was making is that even though a muslim may not be as practicing as ourselves, this does not mean we should not give our salam to them.
The example showed that by me giving salam to them – took them by suprise, hence why i only got a smile and not a reply. I kept at it, then allhamdulillah i did get a response.
As Salamu Alaikum,
I think there is a great lesson in this beautiful article: As soon as we learn a new hadith we should try to implement it, even if only once. This was the way of the early hadith scholars and I think it would change our lives drastically.
Dear ****,
I learned more than one lesson and I totally misread what you wrote in addition.
My apologies to you for having done so.
And thanks Bro Zubair for posting that link.
wa AsSallamu Alykum wa Rahmattu Allahi wa Barakatu to all.