- Details
- Hits: 1153
The Rank of the Repentant
There was once a butcher who fell in love with a slave girl belonging to one of his neighbours. One day, his neighbours sent their slave girl to another village on some errand. (Realizing that she would be travelling alone, he saw an opportunity to meet her and) so he followed her and tried to seduce her.
She said to him, “Do not do this! I actually love you more than you even love me – but I am afraid of Allah Ta‘ala (so I am not prepared to commit this sin with you)!” (Hearing these words, the butcher was instantly affected and) he exclaimed, “You fear Allah Ta‘ala whereas I do not fear Him!” So he returned while repenting to Allah Ta‘ala.
Thereafter (as the butcher was traveling), he became very thirsty,
until it seemed as though he would die from thirst. While he was in this condition, he suddenly saw a messenger of one of the Ambiyaa of the Banu Israaeel. The messenger asked him what the matter was, to which he answered that he was suffering from thirst. The messenger said, “Come! Let us make du‘aa and beg Allah Ta‘ala to send a cloud to shade us until we reach the village.” The butcher replied, “I do not have any good actions to my credit so that I can make du‘aa (through the blessing of these actions).”
The messenger responded, “I will make du‘aa, and you can say ‘aameen’ to the du‘aa.” The man agreed, and accordingly, the messenger made du‘aa, and the man said “aameen”. Shortly thereafter, Allah Ta‘ala sent a cloud which provided them with shade until they arrived in the village. On arriving in the village, they parted ways, with the butcher heading to his home. However, as he separated from the messenger, the cloud continued to follow him!
Seeing this, the messenger remarked, “You claim that you have no good action to your credit. Hence, I made the du‘aa while you said ‘aameen’. The cloud then shaded us both, but it has now followed you to shade you! You must inform me of the reason behind this (and the good action which you must have carried out)!”
The man thus informed the messenger of his encounter with the slave girl, and how he had abstained from committing sin and had repented to Allah Ta‘ala. After hearing his incident, the messenger replied, “Indeed a person who sincerely repents to Allah Ta‘ala, enjoys such a special position in the sight of Allah Ta‘ala that no other person enjoys.”
(Shu‘abul Imaan #6763)
Lessons:
- We must constantly remind ourselves and ponder over the fact that Allah Ta‘ala is watching us. When the awareness of Allah Ta‘ala settles into the heart, a person will find it practically impossible to disobey Allah Ta‘ala.
- Sometimes, when a person is on the verge of committing a sin, they feel discomfort in their conscience. This is a reminder from Allah Ta‘ala, urging us to pull back while we can. If we heed this reminder and abstain from the sin, Allah Ta‘ala will bless us further, in future, to abstain from sins.
- No matter how sinful we may be, we must never lose hope in the mercy of Allah Ta‘ala. The doors of Allah Ta‘ala’s mercy are open so wide that even if the greatest sinner raises his hands and sincerely cries in remorse and repents, he will find space to enter into Allah’s mercy.
(Al Haadi)
