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| Bilal bin Rabah |
Someone inquired of Saidina Bilal how
Nabi SAW met his expenses. Saidina Bilal replied: "He never
kept back anything for future use. I arranged money for him. Whenever
a needy person, whether hungry or naked came to him, he would make
him over to me and I would then arrange for his needs by borrowing
money from somebody. This is what usually happened. Once a Mushrik
came to me and said: 'Look here! I have a lot of money to spare.
Don't borrow money from anybody else. Whenever you need it, come
straight to me.' I exclaimed: 'This is indeed fine.' I began to
borrow money from him to meet the needs of Nabi SAW.
One day, after I had taken my Wudhu and
was about to call the Azan, the same Mushrik accompanied by some
people came and shouted, 'O, Negro!' When I attended to him, he began
to abuse me, using filthy language and said: 'How many days are left
of this month? 'I said: 'It is about to finish.' He said most rudely:
'Look here! There are only four days left of this month. If you fail
to clear up your debts by the end of the month, I shall take you as
my slave for my money and then you will be grazing sheep as you have
been doing before.’
After saying this he went away. I
remained downhearted and full of grief throughout the day. After Isha
Salaah, when Nabi SAW was alone, I went and narrated the story to
him, saying: 'O, Nabi of Allah! You have nothing with you, nor can I
arrange any money from somewhere so quickly. I am afraid the Mushrik will disgrace me. I therefore
intend to keep away until such time you get sufficient money to clear
the debts.’
I went home, took my sword, shield and
shoes and waited for the morning to leave for some other place. Just
before dawn, somebody came to me and said. 'Hurry up! Nabi SAW wants
to see you.' I hurried to the masjid and found four loaded camels
sitting near Nabi SAW. He said: 'Good news, Bilal. Allah has made
arrangements for clearing your debts. Take these camels with their
load. The Chief of Fidak has sent them as a gift to me.’
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| Maqam of Bilal bin Rabah in Jordan |
I thanked Allah and took the camels and
cleared up all the debts. In the meantime, Nabi SAW kept sitting in the
musjid. When I returned, I said: 'Alhamdulillah! All the debts are
now clear, O, Nabi of Allah' He inquired: 'Is there anything left
from the gift?’ I said, ‘Yes, something is still left.’ He
said, ‘Go and spend that as well. I shall not go home until the
whole lot is spent.' Nabi SAW kept sitting in the masjid all day
long.
After Isha Salah he inquired again if
everything had been spent. I said: 'Something is still left unspent.
A few of the poor have not turned up so far.' He slept in the masjid
that night. Next day after Isha Salah he again called me and asked:
'Bilal! Is everything finished now?’ I said: 'Yes, Allah SWT has
blessed you with peace. Everything is now spent and gone.’ Nabi SAW
began to hymn the praises of Allah SWT over this news, for he did
not like death to overtake him while any of the riches were in his
possession. He then went home and met his family."
It is common with pious people that
they do not like to keep any wealth with them. How could Nabi SAW
being the fountain- head of all piety, like to keep anything in his
possession? It is said of Mau-lana Abdur Rahim (May Allah have mercy
on him), a Saint of our time, that all that he received as gifts from
the people was immediately spent by him and he did not keep anything
for himself.
A few days before his death, he gave
over all his clothes to one of his attendants and said: "If I
need to wear any clothes in my life, I shall borrow them from you."
I also know about my late father, who
whenever he had any money left after Maghrib, would give it to one of
his creditors (he was several thousand rupees in debt) and would say:
“I would not like to keep this source of trouble with me for the
night.”
