Enjoy Your Life

Be concerned about others

People usually like to be valued. This is why one sees individuals at times acting in a certain manner in order to attract attention. They may even invent tales or stories of their valour so that people may show them concern or be amazed by them.

Imagine a person who returns home from work tired. He enters his living room and finds his four children sitting alone. The oldest of them is eleven-years old and is watching a television program. The second is having his dinner. The third is playing with his toys, and the fourth is doing his homework. The father then greets them in a loud voice: "as-Salaamu 'alaykum!" One of the children is lost in his television program, the second is completely enchanted by his toys and the third is busy with his dinner. As for the fourth, when he turns around and sees his father, he drops his books and rushes in delight to welcome him, kisses his hand, and then returns to his books.

Which of the four children would be the most beloved to the father?

I say with certainty that our response would be the same: the most beloved of them would of course be the fourth; not because he is the most beautiful or the most intelligent, but only because he showed his father that he valued him. Hence, the more one cares for others, the greater their love and respect will be for him.

The best of the creation Peace Be Upon You would consider these factors in people. He would make everyone feel that their problem was in fact his own problem, and that their worry was indeed his own. Once, when the Prophet Peace Be Upon Youstood on his pulpit to address the people, a man entered the mosque. He looked at the Messenger of Allah Peace Be Upon Youand said: "O Messenger of Allah!", and then began to ask him about his religion, for he knew little about it.

The Prophet Peace Be Upon Youturned to him and noticed that he was a Bedouin who might not have been able to wait for the sermon to finish in order to obtain an answer. He feared that the man may have even left the mosque and never returned.

The issue was of utmost importance to the man, to such an extent that he had interrupted the sermon in order to ask him about religious rulings! The Prophet Peace Be Upon Youwas thinking from the perspective of others and not his own. Thus, he (Peace Be Upon You) descended from his noble pulpit and called for a chair to be brought. He (Peace Be Upon You) sat in front of the man and began teaching and explaining religious rulings to him until he understood. He then stood up and returned to his pulpit to finish his sermon. How great he was! How persevering he was!

Since he also cultivated the Companions in his school, they would also show concern for others, be welcoming towards them, and share with them in their moments of happiness and grief.

An example of this is how Talhah dealt with Ka'b – may Allah be pleased with them both. Ka'b bin Malik – may Allah be pleased with him – was an old man. Let us sit with him after he has grown old, his bones have weakened, and he has become blind, as he relates to us the memories of his youth, when he lagged behind in the expedition of Tabuk, the last expedition the Prophet Peace Be Upon Youparticipated in...

The Prophet Peace Be Upon You called the people to set off for Tabuk and prepare for an expedition. He collected people's contributions to prepare an army, until the number of combatants reached 30,000 - this was in a season when the shade was pleasant and the fruits had ripened, yet the desert heat was severe. The journey was long and the enemy was mighty and haughty. The Muslims were great in number but some of their names were not listed in the register.

Ka'b said, "I was the wealthiest I had ever been at the time. I had managed to accumulate two rides, and I found myself the strongest that I had ever been. At that time, I inclined towards the shade and the sweetness of fruits, and remained so until the Messenger of Allah Peace Be Upon Youset off to leave.