100 Moral Stories 28
my feet’s are my conveyance.” I explained, “I am asking you regarding bread and water.”
He replied! “Oh Shaykh if someone invited you to his house, would it be appropriate to take your
own food?” I exclaimed, “No!” “Similarly, My Lord has invited His servant to His house, it is only
the weakness of your Yaqeen that makes us carry provisions. Despite this, do you think Allah will
let me go to waste?” “Never” I replied. He then left. Sometime later I saw him in Makkah. He
approached me and inquired, “Oh Shaykh are you still of weak belief?”
Source: Stories of the Pious by Shaikh Ahmad Ali.
A VERY POWERFUL STORY
He remembered his grandmother’s warning about praying on time: “My son, you shouldn’t leave
prayer to this late time.” His grandmother’s age was 70 but whenever she heard the Adhan, she got
up like an arrow and performed Salah/Namaz/prayer. He, however could never win over his ego to
get up and pray. Whatever he did, his Salah was always the last to be offered and he prayed it
quickly to get it in on time. Thinking of this, he got up and realized that there were only 15 minutes
left before Salat-ul Isha. He quickly made Wudhu and performed Salat-ul Maghrib. While making
Tasbih, he again remembered his grandmother and was embarrassed by how he had prayed. His
grandmother prayed with such tranquility and peace. He began making Dua and went down to
make Sajdah and stayed like that for a while.
He had been at school all day and was tired, so tired. He awoke abruptly to the sound of noise and
shouting. He was sweating profusely. He looked around. It was very crowded. Every direction he
looked in was filled with people. Some stood frozen looking around, some were running left and
right and some were on their knees with their heads in their hands just waiting. Pure fear and
apprehension filled him as he realized where he was.
His heart was about to burst. It was the Day of Judgment. When he was alive, he had heard many
things about the questioning on the Day of Judgment, but that seemed so long ago. Could this be
something his mind made up? No, the wait and the fear were so great that he could not have imag-
ined this. The interrogation was still going on. He began moving frantically from people to people
to ask if his name had been called. No one could answer him. All of a sudden his name was called
and the crowd split into two and made a passageway for him. Two people grabbed his arms and led
him forward. He walked with unknowing eyes through the crowd. The angels brought him to the
center and left him there. His head was bent down and his whole life was passing in front of his
eyes like a movie. He opened his eyes but saw only another world. The people were all helping oth-
ers. He saw his father running from one lecture to the other, spending his wealth in the way of
Islam. His mother invited guests to their house and one table was being set while the other was
being cleared.
He pleaded his case; “I too was always on this path. I helped others. I spread the word of Allah.
I performed my Salah. I fasted in the month of Ramadan. Whatever Allah ordered us to do, I did.
Whatever he ordered us not to do, I did not.” He began to cry and think about how much he loved
Allah. He knew that whatever he had done in life would be less than what Allah deserved and his
only protector was Allah. He was sweating like never before and was shaking all over. His eyes were
fixed on the scale, waiting for the final decision. At last, the decision was made. The two angels with
sheets of paper in their hands, turned to the crowd. His legs felt like they were going to collapse. He
closed his eyes as they began to read the names of those people who were to enter Jahannam/Hell.
His name was read first. He fell on his knees and yelled that this couldn’t be, “How could I go to
