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Islam - Children's Corner
A Prize for Piety
Once long ago, a young man named Salman came to perform Hajj. He was poor and
had no money for good food. So he stayed at Makkah spending much of his time in
the Haram. During the day, he worked to earn his bread which he ate with Zam-Zam
water.
One day while in the masjid al-Haram, he saw something glittering under the sun
in the distance. "What could that be?," thought Salman.
As he came closer, he found that someone had dropped their purse. When he opened
it, he found an expensive necklace along with plenty of money.
"I could buy a lot of nice things with all this money," Salman thought. "I could
buy a good house and good food with that money". But his piety spoke to him: "It
is haram - it's not your property".
Then Shaitan whispered to Salman to be greedy and to keep the money. Then Salman
thought that he could spend some of the money and give some of the money to
charity. He thought that he was doing the right thing by keeping the money.
Meanwhile, the owner of the purse came searching for it. Salman saw the owner
asking people if they had seen their purse. "I'm a thief," thought Salman, "I
have the purse".
But Shaitan again whispered to him, "Don't be a fool. You need this money
badly". But Salman remembered the du'a to say to make Shaitan go away from him;
A'udhu bilAllahi min ash-shaitan ar-rajeem
I ask Allah to protect mee from the rejected Shaitan.
Salman quickly returned the purse to the owner who jumped with joy. He kissed
and embraced Salman and gave him a lot of money in prize to thank him for his
honesty and kindness.
But Salman returned the money saying that it was his duty as a good Muslim. The
man was stunned of the piety of this young man. He embraced him again and
returned with his family.
Salman continued his hard life of worship and earning halal. He collected some
money and planned to return home. He bought some gifts for his parents. He
sailed on a boat from Jeddah to the south. After three days at sea, there was a
heavy storm, the boat hit a huge rock and the passengers had to abandon it.
Fortunately for Salman, he got hold of a plank off the broken boat and stuck to
it. The waves took him to the middle of nowhere. To survive, he drank sea water
and caught small fishes for food. It was horrifying to see big sharks preying on
the other survivors.
Salman was scared, and prayed to Allah to save his life. After three days, the
wind and tide took him near the shore. He swam until he reached the beach and
walked to the nearby village.
He entered the mosque, thirsty, hungry, injured and tired. The villagers in the
mosque saw the tried looking stranger, and were very kind and helpful to him.
Salman stayed in the mosque, trying to gather his strength after the ship-wreck
and continued with his worship. Then he led the people in salat like an Imam and
gave them sermons full of good advice and piety. He also used to help people
with jobs that they needed doing, and was kind and helpful as much as he could.
The people were impressed with this young pious man.
There was a rich man in the village who had a beautiful daughter named Shayma.
He wanted to give her in marriage to the pious young man who would also manage
his business.
One night, he came to Salman and said, "You are a very loving person to me. I
want you to marry my daughter."
Salman could not believe what he heard. He knew that the person was the richest
man in the village. Salman kissed his head and the rich man embraced Salman.
After three days, a simple nikah was arranged in the mosque and the bride came
to live with him. When he entered the room he found a beautiful lady wrapped in
silken clothes. She stood to welcome him.
As Salman came closer to greet his new wife, he saw something glisten under the
sun. His sight was caught by the necklace Shayma was wearing. It was the same
necklace which he had returned in the Haram!
Salman turned his face and fell in prostration to Allah and said, "Thou Art
Great. Truly, Thou never waste the reward of righteous ones."
Shayma told the whole story to her father. The next day, the father came to
Salman with a key in his hand saying, "This is the key of all my businesses and
properties." He embraced Salman.
Piety smiled in Salman's heart and said, "Will you love me not?"
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The
Holy Quran Quotes
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“Don't be humiliated and ask for peace, while you are on the Uppermost and Allah is with you.”
(Muhammad, 47:35)
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