Thirst for Learning

Hadhrat Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) says:
"After the passing away ofthe Prophet (peace be upon him), I said to
an Ansari friend of mine: 'The Prophet is not now with us. But a large
number of Sahabah are still among us. Let us go to them and get
knowledge of the Islamic practices.' He said: 'Who is going to
approach you for learning a regulation in the presence of these
eminent Sahabah?' I was not discouraged. I kept up my quest for
knowledge and approached every person who was supposed to have heard
something from the Prophet. I managed to gather substantial
information from the Ansar. If on my visit to someone of the Sahabah,
I found him asleep, I spread my shawl at the gate and sat waiting.
Sometimes my face and body would get covered with dust, but I kept
sitting till they woke and I was able to contact them. Some of them
said: 'Abdullah you are the cousin of the Prophet; youcould have sent
for us. Why did you take the trouble of coming to our places?' I said
to them: 'I must come to you, for I am a student and you are my
teachers.' Some peoplefor whom I had waited said: 'Since when have
youbeen waiting for us?' I informed them that I had been sitting there
for a pretty long time. They said: 'What a pity! You could have
awakened us from our sleep.' I said: 'I did not like to disturb you
for my own sake.' I thus carried on my pursuits, till there came a
time when people began to flock to me for learning. My Ansari friend
realized this at that time and remarked: 'This boy has surely proved
himself more sensible than us.'"
Source: From the book"Stories of the Sahabah" by Shaikh Muhammad
Zakariyya Kaandhlawi.
Besides our quest for knowledge to earn a livelihood in this world, we
must as well gain sufficient knowledge of Islam. No matter what
agegroup we belong to at thismoment, we should atleast have that much
Islamic knowledge with which we can turn our 24 hours life into
worship. Those with knowledge and practice will be exalted in this
world and in the hereafter.

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The Fisherman

An investment banker wasat the pier of a small coastal village when a
small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were
several large yellow fin tuna. The investment banker complimented the
fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to
catch them.
The fisherman replied,"Only a little while."
The investment banker then asked, "Why didn't you stay out longer and
catch more fish?"
The fisherman said, "With this I have more than enough to support my
family's needs."
The investment banker then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of
your time?"
The fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, playwith my
children, take siesta with my wife, stroll into the village each
evening and spend time with my family, I have a full and busy life."
The investment banker scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you.
You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a
bigger boat: With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy
several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats.
Instead of selling your catch to a middlemanyou would sell directly to
the processor; eventually opening your own cannery. You would control
the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this
small coastal fishing village and move to a big town and eventually to
the the city where you will run your ever-expanding enterprise."
The fisherman asked, "But,how long will this all take?"
To which the investment banker replied, "15 to 20 years."
"But what then?" asked the fisherman.
The investment banker laughed and said that's the best part. "When the
time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to
thepublic and become very rich, you would make millions."
"Millions?...Then what?"
The investment banker said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small
coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little,
play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village
in the evenings andspend time with your family."

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Army of Elephants

The following incident is mentioned in Surah Feel ofthe Holy Quran and
it happened during the period of the birth-year of Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him). Abraha Al-Ashram was thegovernor of Yemen on
behalf of the king of Ethiopia. He (Abrahah) thought to build a house
(like the Kabah at Makkah)in Sana (the capital of Yemen) and call the
Arabs to perform the pilgrimage there in Sana instead of the Kabah in
Makkah, withthe intention of diverting the trade and benefits from
Makkah to Yemen. He presented his idea to the king of Ethiopia who
agreed to it. So the house (church) was built and he named it
Al-Qullais; there was no church of its like atthat time. Then a man
from the Quraish tribe of Makkah came there and was infuriated by it,
so he relieved his nature (stools and urine) in it, soiled its walls
and went away. When Abrahah Al-Ashram saw that, he could not control
his anger and raised an army to invade Makkah and demolish the Kabah.
He had in that army thirteen elephants and amongst them was anelephant
called Mahmud which was the biggest of them. So that army proceeded
and none amongst the Arab tribes that faced them (fought against them)
but was killed and defeated, till it approached near Makkah. Then
there took place negotiations between Abrahah Al-Ashram and the chief
of Makkah (AbdulMuttalib bin Hashim, the grandfather of the Prophet),
and it was concluded that Abrahah would restore the camels of Abdul
Muttalib which hehad taken away, and then he (Abrahah) would
decidehimself as regards the Kabah. Abdul Muttalib ordered the men of
Makkah to evacuate the city and go to the top of the mountains along
with their wives and children incase some harm should come to them
from the invading oppressors. Then that army moved towards Makkah till
they reached valley Muhassir. While the army was marching towards
Makkah, in the middle of the valley, suddenly it was overtakenby
flocks of birds, flocks after flocks, air-raiding that army with small
stones slightly bigger thana lentil seed. There never fell a stone on
a soldier except it dissolved his flesh and burst it into pieces. So
they perished with a total destruction. Abrahah Al-Ashram fled away
while his flesh was bursting into pieces till he died on the way (back
to Yemen). Such was the victory bestowed by Allah,(the All-Majestic,
All-Powerful) to the people of Makkah and such was the protection
provided by Him for His House (Kabah in Makkah).

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