GENEROSITY

Islam got its roots with the overall of the Sahaba but it was their generosity that rendered more stability to Islam. Madinatul Munawwara was a strange place for the Glorious Prophet of Islam (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) but the generosity of the Ansaar (the local inhabitants) made Madinatul Munawwara the City of the Beloved Habeeb (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam). The Ansaar offered their homes to those who migrated along with the Holy Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) and also made them partners in their farm produce.

Sayyiduna Sa�d Bin Al-Rabi� (radi Allahu anhu) offered to Sayyiduna Abdur Rahmaan Bun Awf (radi Allahu anhu) one of his wives along with his property but Sayyiduna Abdur Rahmaan (radi Allahu anhu) refused with thanks.

The Glorious Prophet of Islam (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) asked the Ansaar to give land for the House of Allah Ta'ala and wished to give them its price, but their generosity demanded something else. They said: �We want the price of our land from Allah Ta'ala alone.�

�Umri� is a kind of gift in Islam under which a person offers a gift to the other person for the lifetime. When the immigrants arrived in Madinatul Munawwara, the local inhabitants, called the Ansaar, offered them their properties as lifetime gift. But the Holy Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) prevented them to do so.

Among the Ansaar, Sayyiduna Sa�d Bin Ubadah (radi Allahu anhu) was one of the most generous man. Every day his man gave a call from the rooftop of his castle: �Whoever wishes meat and fat, can come over here and take it.� When the Beloved Habeeb (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) arrived in Madinatul Munawwara, Sayyiduna Sa�d (radi Allahu anhu) sent him food. The sustenance of the People of Suffah mainly depended on his generosity. Ever evening, other Sahaba used to feed two or three persons from among the People of Suffah, but Sayyiduna Sa�d (radi Allahu anhu) fed over eighty persons every day.

Sayyiduna Ja�far Bin Abi Talib (radi Allahu anhu) was also very generous to the People of Suffah as he loved poor people. He likes to live with them like one of them. Sayyiduna Abu Hurayra (radi Allahu anhu) was also a member of the Suffah group. He reports: �I used to ask the Sahaba about the verses of the Quraan, which I knew better than them. My only objective was that somebody should take me home and feed me. Sayyiduna Jaa�far Bin Abi Taalib (radi Allahu anhu) also took me home and feed me till my utmost satisfaction then answered my queries about the Holy Quraan�.

Among the Muhajireen, Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (radi Allahu anhu) migrated to Madinatul Munawwara along with the Glorious Prophet of Islam (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam). Before leaving Makkatul Mukarrama, he took with him his wealth worth five to six thousand Dinars, to spend for the welfare of his Muslim brethren. After Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (radi Allahu anhu) left for Madinatul Munawwara, his father Abu Quhafah said to the family: �He has gone leaving us misers�. But Sayyidah Asma (radi Allahu anhu) collected some stones and kept these in a bag. She said to Abu Quhafah, who was a blind man: �Feel that bag. Abu Bakr has left behind his entire wealth.�

Among the Muhajireen, Sayyiduna Uthman (radi Allahu anhu) was the richest and equally a generous person. When the number of Muslims increased during the lifetime of Sayyiduna Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam), he wanted to expand the Mosque. There was a piece of land adjacent to the Mosque for which the Beloved Habeeb (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) had asked: �Who is going to purchase this land and offers it to Allah?� Sayyiduna Uthman (radi Allahu anhu) purchased that land with 20 thousand Dirhams and gifted it to the Mosque.

Muslims had a scarcity of water. Sayyiduna Uthman (radi Allahu anhu) bought the Well of Roma and donated it to the Muslims.

During the Battle of Tabuk, the Muslims were facing a highly developed and wealthy enemy and the Sahaba possessed less equipment of Jihad. Sayyiduna Uthman (radi Allahu anhu) alone provided the Muslims with the necessary logistic support to the Muslim forces.

Sayyiduna Qays Bin Sa�d (radi Allahu anhu) was a very generous and brave companion of the Glorious Prophet of Islam (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam). During the battles he held the flag of the Ansaar. During a Battle, he borrowed money to feed the Muslim army. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (radi Allahu anhu) and Sayyiduna Omar (radi Allahu anhu) were also present in this expedition. They wanted to prevent Sayyiduna Qays (radi Allahu anhu) from spending out the entire wealth of his father. Sayyiduna Sa�d (radi Allahu anhu) called on Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) and complained: �Who will save me from the sons of Quhafah and Khattab. They want to make my son a miser.�

Sayyiduna Adi (radi Allahu anhu) was the son of famous generous person, Hatim Tai. Once a person demanded from him one hundred Dirhams. He said: �You are asking only one hundred Dirhams from the son of Hatim. By Allah, I shall not give.�

Sayyidah Ayesha (radi Allahu anha) was such a generous lady that she donated everything that she possessed. Sayyiduna Abdullah Bin Zubair (radi Allahu anhu) wanted to prevent her from doing so. She became annoyed with him and stopped speaking with him.

Sayyidah Asma�s (radi Allahu anha) generosity was also of the same calibre. But there was a difference in the modus operandi of both the sisters. Sayyidah Ayesha (radi Allahu anha) used to accumulate wealth and after collecting a considerable, she used to donate it to the needy. Sayyidah Asma (radi Allahu anha), on the other hand, never left anything for the next day and whatever she got; she spent it on that day itself.

On one ocassion, Sayyiduna Munkader Bin Abdullah (radi Allahu anhu) called on Sayyidah Ayesha (radi Allahu anhu). She asked him: �Do you have a son?� He replied in the negative. She said: �If I had ten thousand Dirhams, I would have given them to you.� Sayyiduna Ameer Mua�wiyyah (radi Allahu anhu) sent her some money that very evening. She exclaimed: �How, in a hurry I have been put to the test?� She sent ten thousand Dirhams to Sayyiduna Munkader (radi Allahu anhu) who purchased a slave girl. The slave girl bore him many children.

Sayyiduna Sa�eed Bin A�as (radi Allahu anhu) was also a very generous person. If he possessed nothing at the time when somebody begged him, he used to write a promissory note to the beggar. He used to assemble his brethren every Friday, feed them, give them five dresses and sent gifts to their houses. He was the Governor of Kufa. On every Thursday, he used to send his slave with guineas to the Kufa Mosque to keep the guineas in front of the persons performing the Salaah. It was because of this that the Kufa Mosque was overcrowded every Thursday. He owed eighty thousand guineas to various moneylenders. His son asked the reason for such a magnanimous debt. He replied: �I helped some gentleman, gave money to some other before he started begging. Hence, I owe the money-lenders this magnanimous debt�.

One day, Sayyiduna Abdullah Bin Omar (radi Allahu anhuma) received more than twenty thousand Dirhams which he distributed then and there among the people who were present there. When one person was left out without getting a share of the money, Sayyiduna Abdullah Bin Omar (radi Allahu anhuma) borrowed some money from someone amongst the group and gave it to that person. He was in the habit of fasting regularly but he used to break his fast whenever he received a guest. The mat on which he served food used to become so crowded sometimes, that people had to eat while standing. Once he desired to eat fish. When the dish was served to him, he heard the call of a beggar. He at once gave the entire food to the beggar. Once he fell ill. People purchased five grapes for one Dirham. A beggar passed by and he wanted to give the beggar those grapes. People said that they would give him his share. But he did not agree. Finally, people gave those grapes to the beggar and later bought back from him.


to be continued..InshaAllah Azwajal


FORBEARANCE


The Holy Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) is reported to have said: �The person whom Allah saves from the evils of two things � tongue and the genital parts � will enter the Paradise�. The Sahaba abstained from backbiting, abuses, criticism, sarcasm and useless talks.


Sayyiduna Harith Bin Hisham (radi Allahu anhu) was a man of few words. Once he requested the Beloved Habeeb (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) to teach him something, which he could do regularly. Sayyiduna Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) pointed at the tongue and said: �Control it�. Sayyiduna Harith (radi Allahu anhu) already spoke very less. He said: �This is very easy for me�. He reports: �But when I tried to control my tongue, it appeared to be a very difficult task.�


On one occasion, Sayyiduna Abdur Rahmaan Bin Harith (radi Allahu anhu) narrated a Hadith to Marwan (radi Allahu anhu) on the authority of Sayyidah Ayesha (radi Allahu anha) and Sayyidah Umm-e-Salmah (radi Allahu anha). Earlier Sayyiduna Abu Hurayra (radi Allahu anhu) had narrated the same Hadith in a different way. Marwan (radi Allahu anhu) forced Sayyiduna Abdur Rahmaan (radi Allahu anhu) to openly contradict Sayyiduna Abu Hurayra (radi Allahu anhu) but he refused. One day he met Sayyiduna Abu Hurayra (radi Allahu anhu) and said to him: �Had Marwan (radi Allahu anhu) not forced me, I would not have told you this Hadith.� Then he narrated the Hadith on the authority of Sayyidah Ayesha (radi Allahu anha) and Sayyidah Umm-e-Salmah (radi Allahu anha).


Once, the Holy Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) gave Sayyiduna Jaabir Bin Salim (radi Allahu anhu) some pieces of advice, which included: �Don�t use a bad word for anyone.� He says: �From that day onward I never used a bad word even against a camel or goat�.


On one ocassion, Sayyiduna Shaddad Bin Aws (radi Allahu anhu) was travelling. He halted at a place and said to his slave: �Bring a knife, we will play with it�. Since this was a worthless act, people criticized it. He said: �That was the only useless thing I uttered ever since I embraced Islam, otherwise I always controlled my tongue while talking.�


The Sahaba felt sorry when they used any hard word unknowingly. Once Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (radi Allahu anhu) uttered a harsh word to Sayyiduna Rabi�ah bin Kaab al-Aslami (radi Allahu anhu) but later realized his mistake and said to Sayyiduna Rabi�ah (radi Allahu anhu): �Say the same word to me to compensate my mistake.� He said: �I can�t do that.� Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (radi Allahu anhu) said: �I will complain to the Holy Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam).� Sayyiduna Rabi�ah (radi Allahu anhu) again said: �I will not do that.� The matter was brought to the notice of the Beloved Habeeb (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) who said to Sayyiduna Rabi�ah (radi Allahu anhu): �You have taken a good stand. Pray for the forgiveness in favour of Abu Bakr (radi Allahu anhu).�


Once there was a hot exchange of words between Sayyiduna Omar (radi Allahu anhu) and Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (radi Allahu anhu). Later, Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (radi Allahu anhu) repented and apologized to Sayyiduna Omar (radi Allahu anhu). Sayyiduna Omar (radi Allahu anhu) refused to accept his apology. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (radi Allahu anhu) became very impatient and called on the Glorious Prophet of Islam (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam). The Beloved Habeeb (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) said thrice: �May Allah forgive you.� Sayyiduna Omar (radi Allahu anhu) lamented on his behaviour and rushed to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (radi Allahu anhu) but could meet him. Then he called on Sayyiduna Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) and found him in a changed mood. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (radi Allahu anhu) himself feared lest the Glorious Prophet of Islam (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) admonishes Sayyiduna Omar (radi Allahu anhu). He knelt down before the Holy Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) and said: �O Allah�s Apostle (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam)! I have committed great atrocity.�


Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (radi Allahu anhu) sometimes lost control over his tongue and he was ever repenting for that. On one ocassion, Sayyiduna Omar (radi Allahu anhu) saw him pulling out his tongue. He said: �May Allah forgive you. Don�t pull out your tongue.� He said: �It is this tongue that has ruined me.�