Junaid Baghdadi and Love for Allah

Once at the time of Hajj, there was a gathering in Mecca of some friends of Allah; the youngest among whom was Junaid Baghdadi (Ra). In that gathering, there was a discussion on the subject of ‘Love for Allah’ and as to who is the lover of Allah. Many of them expressed their views on the subject, but Junaid (Ra)kept quiet. He was pressed to say something.

With his head bowed down and tears in his eyes, he said, “The lover of Allah is he who forgets his own self, remains engaged in Allah’s remembrance with due regard to all its requirements; sees Allah with the eyes of his heart, which is burnt by the heat of Allah’s fear; Allah’s remembrance affects him like a cup of wine, he speaks the word of Allah as if All Mighty Allah speaks through his mouth; if he moves, he does so under the command of Allah; he gets pace of mind only through the obedience of Allah; and when such a stage is reached, his eating, drinking, sleeping, awakening and, in short, all his actions are for the pleasure of Allah; he neither pays heed to the worldly customs, nor does he attach any importance of unfriendly criticism by people.”

Jummah Mubrik

The Carpenter

A highly skilled carpenter who had grown old was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his family. He would miss the pay check, but he needed to retire.

The employer was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter agreed to this proposal but made sure that this will be his last project. Being in a mood to retire, the carpenter was not paying much attention to building this house. His heart was not his work. He resorted to poor workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.

When the job was done, the carpenter called his employer and showed him the house. The employer handed over some papers and the front door key to the carpenter and said “This is your house, my gift to you.”

The carpenter was in a shock! What a shame! If he had only known that he was building his own house, he would have made it better than any other house that he ever built!

Our situation can be compared to this carpenter. Allah ta’la has sent us to this world to build our homes in paradise by obeying His commands. Now, we have to decide how well we wish to build the homes where we will live forever.

The King and The Poor Man

There was a king who decided to take a tour of his country. As he passed by different places, everyone rushed to see him. However, while passing by a certain place, he noticed a poor old man who did not pay any attention to the king’s arrival and remained engaged in his own activities. The king went up to his poor man and asked why he did not join the people to see him. The poor man replied, “Before you, there was another king who once passed by this place, Everyone gathered to see him as well. But. Few days later he died  and was buried in a place nearby. A poor man also died during that time and was buried near the king’s grave. After some time, a strong flood passed through that area causing those graves to overturn. As a result, the bones of the poor  man became mixed up with those of the king’s. We could not differentiate between them any longer, After seeing this, It does not matter to me anymore as to who is a king and who is a beggar. In the end, our home is the same.”

A world of Smile

About ten years ago when I was an undergraduate in college, I was working as an intern at my University’s Museum of Natural History. One day while working at the cash register in the gift shop, I saw an elderly couple come in with a little girl in a wheelchair.

As I looked closer at this girl, I saw that she was kind of perched on her chair. I then realized she had no arms or legs, just a heard, neck and torso. She was wearing a little white dress with red polka dots.

As the couple wheeled her up to me I was looking down at the at the register. I turned my head toward the girl and gave her a wink. As I took the money from her grandparents, I looked back at the girl, who was  giving me the cutest, largest smile I have ever seen. All of a sudden her handicap was gone and all I saw was this beautiful girl, whose smile just melted me and almost instantly gave me a completely new sense of what life is  all about. She took me from a poor, unhappy college student and brought me into her world; a world of smiles, love and warmth.

That was ten years ago. I’m a successful business person now and  whenever  I get down and think about the troubles of the world, I think about that little girl and the remarkable lesson about life that she taught me.