Long
ago, a man in Banu Israil had a stunningly beautiful wife. The man loved him to
madness. But she died soon. The man was so out of his senses that he stayed at
her grave spending many days crying, wailing, weeping. One day Hazrat 'Isa عَلَيْهِ
السَّلَامُ passed by the man. Seeing his unbearable distress, his torment
and laments, Hazrat 'Isa stopped to enquire him about the cause of his
travails.
“Do you
want me to try and bring her back to life?” asked Hazrat 'Isa عَلَيْهِ
السَّلَامُ upon learning of the man’s cause of distress.
“Of course,
Hazrat. That’s exactly what I long for.”
Hazrat 'Isa
عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ called out to the
resident of the grave. Out came an Abyssinian slave with flames erupting out of
his nostrils, eyes and other body parts. When his eyes fell on Hazrat 'Isa, he
immediately recited the then Kalimah (formula) of Islam:
لا إله إلا اللّٰه، عيسى روح اللّٰه.
There is
no god other than Allah, and 'Isa is Allah-granted spirit.
“Oh no,
Hazrat. I made a mistake. This is not my wife’s grave. It is this one,” said
the Israili man pointing to another grave nearby. Hazrat
'Isa asked the slave to return to his grave. The slave died there and then
falling over his grave. They covered his body with earth.
Turning
towards the other grave, Hazrat 'Isa said: “O dweller of the grave! Come out
alive by the command of Allah.” The grave cracked apart and the Israili’s wife
came out dusting off her clothes. The man confirmed she was his wife. Hazrat 'Isa
asked the man to return home with his wife. But the man had been awake for so
many days. And just now his insomnia-causing anguish had evaporated. So, all of
a sudden he felt uncontrollable sleepiness. He said to his wife, “Weeping and
wailing and staying awake at your grave has killed me. Let me have some rest
for a while.” The wife agreed, “Yes, please have some rest.” The man he lied
down to sleep in the desolate graveyard keeping his head in his sitting wife’s
lap.
As she sat
a prince whose handsomeness was the tale of the town passed by the place riding
his horse (the latest SUV of the age). The woman saw him, fell in love and lost
control of her heart. Acting on the formula of My body, my choice, she
slowly lifted her loving husband’s head off her thigh, placed it on the ground,
and got up to meet the prince. The like saw like, and the prince too felt love
for her gorgeous youth and charm. He helped the woman sit behind her on his
horse and took her with him at her request.
The husband
got up to find his wife nowhere in sight. Mad in love as he was, he began
thinking frantically. He got the idea of following her footsteps, and then the
horse’s. Ultimately, he met his wife at the prince’s palace. The Israili man
submitted to the prince that the woman was his wife and implored him to let her
return with him. Even before the prince could say anything, the woman shouted
out, “I don’t know you. I am not your wife. I am the prince’s slave.”
The prince
chided the Israili man. “Are you making a claim on my slave?”
“By Allah,
she is my wife whom my leader Hazrat 'Isa has brought back to life after
death,” said the man crying.
They were
in the midst of this conversation when Hazrat 'Isa happened to pass by the
place. The Israili asked Hazrat 'Isa, “O Allah-imparted spirit! Isn’t she my
wife whom you brought back to life for me?”
“Yes, this
is her,” said Hazrat 'Isa.
The woman
denied vehemently saying, “O Allah-imparted spirit, this man is lying. I am a
slave of this prince.”
“Aren’t you
the woman whom I brought back to life by Allah’s command?” asked Hazrat 'Isa.
“By God, I
am not her, for sure.”
“Give back
the life which I had returned to your body by Allah’s command,” commanded
Hazrat 'Isa.
No sooner
had the words come out than the woman lost her balance and fell down dead.
“If one
wants to see a person who died a Kafir then returned to life and embraced Islam,
let him see the Abyssinian slave. If one wants to see a person who died a
Muslim, then Allah returned her life which she used to turn apostate, let her
have a look at this woman,” said Hazrat 'Isa عَلَيْهِ
السَّلَامُ.
Shocked and
dumbfounded, the Israili vowed never to marry again. He set out towards the
forests where he kept worshipping Allah till he died. May He have mercy on him!
(Source:
Hikayatus Salihin)
Lesson:
The story shows the consequences of the acceptance and denial of the prophet of
the time. It tells us that success lies in obeying and loving the prophet
alone. We too should give precedence to obeying our Prophet صَلَّى
اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ in all circumstances. Whether our heart
likes or dislikes, we should always stay loyal to the path of the Prophet صَلَّى
اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ. May Allah help us learn from this story.
(Adapted
from 101 Sabaq Amoz Waqi'at by Maulana Harun Mu'awiyah p. 16)
No comments:
Post a Comment