Yesterday Shaikh Assim AlHakeem posted a wonderful Hadith on his status,which gave me an immense joy and hope. Here it is: The Prophet sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam said: The most beloved of people to Allaah is the one who brings most benefit to people. I wondered how this hadith, inspite of being from Bukhari, didnt run under my eyes ! Now I want my readers to be benefited from this hadith so today I will discuss a few issues related to benefiting people so that you may be benefited from me and others from you and we all be loved by Allah.
- Is it necessary to be very rich to benefit people?
- Does one have to be an influencial Authority to benefit people?
The person who has the most right of your benefit is your mother. Owais Qarni could not get the title of THE COMPANION OF THE PROPHET because he was busy serving his ailing old mother and though he was in the time of the Prophet sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam yet he could not come and meet him. Infact he was exempted by the Prophet himself. Another companion was not allowed to participate in Jihad because he had old parents at home to look after.You may be good to the rest of the world but if your affection your cheerfulness, your wealth ,your warmth does not reach that poor lady from whom you have benefited the most, then you have missed the bus. When was the last time you really bought some gift for your mother? Or did you insist that you would accompany her to the doctor or you urged your brother to do it? Prepare a long list of wonderful things that you can do to make you mother happy and comfortable and dont let it be on your desktop rather stick it on the wall of your heart and mind and implement it and see.
One of my friend Absar khan.. is not rich , he works and earns, but he completed a huge task of getting a kidney transplantation operation done. He ran here and there and collected money . He accompanied the patient to the doctor many times and today the patient, whom I used to see lying like a plucked leaf of a plan in the corner of a masjid, is about to get up and walk to Masjid and earn his living. Absar co ordinated with other rich people who wanted to spare their money for a good cause. Absar spent his time and the rich people ,their wealth, together they benefited a patient to recover. No, rather they have helped an entire family to stand back on its feet.
Many of you may not be able to co ordinate such a huge task but there are many small opportunities that come in our way and we over look those while waiting for a big one.Well thats not how big achievements are achieved. Dont miss out a single opportunity. Even if it is like, you see a little boy going to school with torn raincoat, take out some time and buy a new one for him and see the smile on his face..an instant and an unexpected benefit right? A friend of mine always keeps aside a share of his income for his needy relatives and the most motivating thing is that he himself goes and gifts it to them. If you can’t fulfill the need of a needy then at least intercede on his behalf. Sahih Hadith says: who ever ties the reins of a Mujhaid’s horse will get reward equal to the mujahid…and the Qur’an also says.. Help you each otheri n Birr and taqwa.. and also who ever intercedes in a good cause shall have a share in it..I Hope you are benefited from today’s note and look for opportunities in every nook and corner of your life.
The lesson is simple and easy. If you want to benefit the people most then grab as many opportunity that comes in your way, big or small.
Author: Nisaar Nadiadwala speaks and writes from Islamic perspective. He can be reached at nisaar_yusuf@yahoo.com