Experience It!

A translation of a profound khutbah by a respected Shaikh in London:

I was told a story by a brother from Harimla’, a suburb of the capital city of Riyadh, where a certain woman was inflicted with leukemia, may Allah protect you and us from it. In her need for care, she hired a maid from Indonesia. The sick lady was kind and righteous. A week after having had the maid, the lady noticed that the maid spent a lot of time in the toilet. More than normal and very frequent. Just after one of these occurrences, the lady asked her helper the reason for the lengthy bathroom visits. The maid started crying profusely. When asked what made her cry, she said: ‘I gave birth twenty days ago. When the employment agency in Indonesia contacted me. I took advantage of the opportunity to work for you, for we were in dire need of funds. The reason I spend so much time in the bathroom is, my breasts fill up with milk, so I go to the sink to empty them.’

As soon as the lady knew the reason, she booked the earliest flight for her to return home. She put together exactly a two year salary, summoned her and said: ‘This advance is for your two years salary. Go home to your baby, breastfeed and take great care of it. After two years, return to us.’ She gave her the contact details, in case she wished to return after two years. After the maid returned home, the lady had an appointment with her doctor for an update on her condition. After the routine blood test, to their surprise, she showed no signs of leukemia. The doctor made her do the same test several times, the result was always the same. The doctor was stupefied with her recovery due to the severity of her infliction. When the doctor was certain of her recovery, he asked her if she had used any other healing method, to which she answered: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Treat your sick by giving Sadaqah (charity).”

The Shaikh narating the story then commented: I wish that the reader of this story becomes inspired to ease hardships from those in need. Who knows…it could ward off an unexpected calamity. Give, as the shroud has no pockets.

He continued and said that another extraordinary story relates the following:

A young man’s mother was hospitalized due to old age and fell into coma. She was put in intensive care. A few days later, the doctors told him that her condition was hopeless, she could expire at any moment. He left from the hospital distraught about his mother to tend to some need. On his way back, returning to visit his mother, he stopped at a gas station. As he was waiting for the attendant to fill up his tank, he noticed that a cat had a new litter under a cardboard box. They could barely walk. The mother along with her babies looked weak and helpless. He thought: Who would feed them under these circumstances, and so went to the nearest store and bought a can of tuna, opened and poured out the contents for the tiny creatures and continued on his way to the hospital. When he entered the intensive care unit, He saw that his mother wasn’t there anymore, he dropped what was in his hands, and rushed to ask the nurse about her. And the nurse informed him that her condition had improved drastically, so they had moved her to the next room. He went to his mother and found her fully alert. He greeted her and asked what happened and she said that she had a dream while she was unconscious. She said that she saw a cat and her kittens with their hands extended towards the heavens praying for her. The young man just stood there in amazement while tears poured down his face.

From Hudayfah -Radi Allaahu anhu- that the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- said: ‘A fitnah (trail) which a man faces with regard to his family, his wealth, his own self, his son and his neighbor is expiated by fasting, prayer, charity, enjoining good and forbidding evil.’ [Collected by Bukhari & Muslim]

Shamsuddeen Muhammad bin Abee Bakr Ibn Qayyim aj-Jawzeeyah (d.751 A.H.) -Rahimullaah- said: “Indeed Sadaqah has an amazing effect in repelling different types of trials and tribulations, even if the charity was given by an evil person, or an oppressive person, in fact even if it was given by a non-Muslim! Indeed Allaah Ta’ala repels different types of trials and tribulations due to giving Sadaqah. This is a matter which is well-known to the scholars and the general folk, and all of the people on the earth can associate with this fact because they have experienced it.” [Taken from: ‘al-Wabil as-Sayyib’ p.63]

Taken from Quest for Paradise wordpress