From: "la_latino_muslims" Perfecting Islam Through Generosity The Messenger, peace be upon him, never refused anyone and only said the word "no" when reciting the profession of faith while praying. Once, a bedouin came and asked the Messenger for something. The Messenger complied with his request. The bedouin continued to ask, and the Messenger continued to give until he had nothing left. When the bedouin asked again, he promised that he would give it to him when he had it. Angered by such rudeness, Umar said to the Messenger: "You were asked and you gave. Again you were asked and you gave, until you were asked once more and you promised!" Umar meant that the Messenger should not make things so difficult for himself. The Messenger did not approve of Umar's words. Abd Allah ibn Hudafa al-Sahmi stood up and said: "O Messenger, give without fear that the Owner of the Seat of Honour will make you poor!" Pleased with such words, the Messenger declared: "I was commanded to do so!" [Ibn Kathir 6:63] He never refused a request, for it was he who said: "The generous are near to God, Paradise and people, but distant from the Fire, The miserly are distant from God, Paradise, and people, but near to the Fire." [Tirmidhi, "Birr," 40] and: "O people! Surely God has chosen for you Islam as religion. Improve your practice of it through generosity and good manners." [Hindi, 6: 571] His mercifulness rose up as moisture into the sky, and then rained as generosity so that hardened hearts would be fertile enough to grow "good trees whose roots are firm and whose branches are in the Heavens, and which yield their fruits every season by the leave of their Master." Source: "Prophet Muhammad: Aspects of His Life" - Fethullah Gulen, Vol 2, p. 141 ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> In low income neighborhoods, 84% do not own computers. At Network for Good, help bridge the Digital Divide! http://us.click.yahoo.com/hjtSRD/3MnJAA/i1hLAA/TXWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of Hidayahnet unless sanctioned or approved otherwise. If your mailbox clogged with mails from Hidayahnet, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest". Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hidayahnet/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
