An Islamic Treasury of Virtues
5. Piety
~ 132 ~
THE FEELINGS INSPIRED BY FAITH ARE
MISINTERPRETED BY THE PROFANE
Abu Salma and Abu Hurayrah tell of one
occasion when the Prophet, intending to
despatch a force, urged the people to offer their
contributions. A merchant, Abdur Rahman ibn
Auf, who was among them, spoke up:
“Messenger of God, I have four thousand. Two
thousand are for my household. The other two I
lend to God.” “God bless you in what you have
given and in what you have kept,” said the
Prophet. Abu Aqeel Ansari, on the other hand,
was a poor man, who had spent his whole night
working in an orchard, for which he was paid
just two
sa’a
of dates. One
sa’a
he kept for his
household, the other he presented to the
Prophet. The Messenger of God prayed for
blessings upon these two. As far as Abdur
Rahman ibn Auf was concerned, they said he
was just being ostentatious. And as for Abu
Aqeel, they said, “Couldn’t God and the Prophet
have done without his one
sa‘a?”
(AL-BAZZAR)
