From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
.ExternalClass .EC_hmmessage P {padding:0px;} .ExternalClass
body.EC_hmmessage {font-size:10pt;font-family:Tahoma;} [EMAIL PROTECTED]
IN A SELFNESS WORLD
By Nour Habib
"HOLD ON TO your sandwich, honey. Make sure no one takes it from you. Don't
share your stuff with other people. They're just tricking you into giving them
something better than they will give you"
Difficult as it is to believe, we actually give advice like this to our 5-
and 6- year-old children as we send them off to school. It obviously speaks to
the concern parents harbor that their children get the best out of life and
don't get taken advantage of.
But something rings wrong in this advice in a very shrill way.
If you look over the previous words of wisdom once more, you'll realize that
not a single syllable even acknowledges the ethic of sharing.
It is a scenario played out over and over in households across the Middle
East, at odds as it is with their historic and religious emphasis on
hospitality. Unfortunately, today's societies have brainwashed individuals
into looking out only for themselves and their families.
Now, if we follow these children to school, and enter any given classroom, we
will see a continuation of the non-sharing principle. Teachers do not
encourage students to share crayons with their neighbors. Nor do they chastise
the kids for keeping others away from the building blocks. The classroom seems
to be governed by an unspoken first-come, first-serve concept.
One child psychologist on an Egyptian show discussing social problems
highlighted selfishness as a main cause of the problems that society now faces.
There is no community effort to make life better. No one sacrifices for the
other. No one cares about the comfort of a neighbor.
But the very idea of sharing underpins all human society, the psychologist
noted. We cannot live without the people around us. We cannot live in the
world alone. Interdependency is a defining human characteristic. When we
think harder about the needs of the people around us, ultimately, we are making
life easier for ourselves.
Selflessness is no foreign concept to Muslims. Everywhere we look in our
religion, we see examples of people caring for others, sharing their wealth,
and having the interest of their fellow Muslims at heart.
The Prophet (PBUH), famously said: "None of you truly believes until he loves
for his brother what he loves for himself" (Muslim).
Allah states in SurahAli-Imran: "You shall never attain to (the highest)
virtue (of faith) until you spend (in charity) from that which you love" (3:92).
These texts are proof that selfishness has no place in Islam. Not only do
they exhort Muslims to share what they have, they call upon them to give from
the very best of what they love. Allah does not simply command His servants to
be charitable with what is extra in their lives. By His wisdom and mercy, He
orders His servants to impart what is most dear to them. Numerous reports from
the life of the Prophet (PBUH), exemplify how seriously he and his Companions
took Allah's exhortation. They were completely selfless.
One striking example took place after the hijrah, when the Prophet (PBUH),
asked each of the Ansar (the Muslims from Madinah) to take one of the
Muhajireen (the Muslim emigrating to Madinah from Makkah) as a brother. So
many beautiful stories unfolded in this instance. Among them is the Ansari who
divided all his possessions, offering half of them to his brother from the
Muhajireen.
There is also the story of the Companion who invited another to his house.
Upon returning home, he asked his wife if they had enough food, for they were
poor. She said they did not, and what they did have would only be enough for
one. He told her that was fine and asked her to prepare the food for the
night, after putting the children to bed. Thus when the guest came over, he
would not see that his host was not eating with him.
Allah revealed an ayah about this incident in Surah Al-Hashr: "As for those
who were (already) settled in the abode (of Madinah), and who were firm in
faith before (the Emigration), they love those who emigrated to them and find
no (covetous) want in their breast for what (the Emigres) have been given.
Rather, they give them preference over their own selves—even when they
themselves are in pressing need. And whoever is safeguarded from the avarice
of his own soul-then it is these who are the (truly) successful" (59:9).
This Companion whose action this verse immortalizes had almost nothing to
give. But what he had, he gave it all, leaving nothing for himself, his wife,
or children. Even the poorest of the poor are able to share.
These stories are amazing. Every time I hear them, my love for the
Companions grows even more. Their actions go straight to the heart. Some
people might say these are Companions, much better than the average person.
They may reason that we cannot rival them, no matter what we do.
There is no doubt that they were remarkable. But, alhamdulillah, there are
still good people nowadays. Just a couple of months ago, the Egyptian
Satellite Channel aired a segment collecting money for a man with brain
disease. He needed about $230,000 for his surgery. Some donated nearly
$100,000, others $50.
One man, Mohammad Sherif, called in. He apologized for the small amount he
was donating. It was 15 Egyptian pounds (about $3). Out of embarrassment, he
explained his family only had 30 pounds at home, and that was why he couldn't
give more. The host thanked Sherif, and he hung up.
The next caller donated 500 pounds to the sick man, and another 100 pounds to
Sherif. The next did the same (with different amounts).
Fast forward a few episodes. Sherif, himself, was now the show's featured
guest. He told his story. He was from a poor family, his mother ill with a
weak heart. His uncle had recently died, and his 15-year-old cousin had been
killed in a motorcycle accident just weeks before.
Sherif and his father were watching when the program began taking donations
for the man's surgery. Sherif's sick mother was asleep in the next room. He
went to wake her up and asked her, "How much money do we have?"
"We've got 28 pounds," she told him. "But we haven't paid the electric bill,
yet," she said. She informed him, thinking he wanted the money for some other
reason.
He told her about the sick man who needed surgery, and asked if they could
donate half of what they had.
"Go ahead," she said, "Only the sick feel the sick's pain.
And that is how the story began. While Sherif was on the show, the host
asked him if he had a job. Sherif said he used to have one as an assistant
director, but that at the moment he was unemployed.
The host then informed him that the program had decided to hire him as their
assistant director.
Sherif was speechless. He thanked the host profusely, and said it was more
than he deserved.
"A million others would have done what I did," he said.
That right there is an example of selflessness. It is not a story of a
Companion. It is a real live 2008 story.
The man shared what little he had, and Allah gave him back 10 times more than
what he gave. He gave him money, and He gave him a job.
Assisting others, and caring about them, is what will, inshaAllah, help this
Ummah return to the state it was meant to be in.
(Courtesy: Al
Jumuah Magazine)
O Allah! Guide us, make our intentions sincere, accept our deeds, answer our
prayers, and make us of those who are patient.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
