 |
| Trust worthy |
Nabi SAW sent an army of three hundred
men towards the sea- shore, under the command of Hadhrat Abu Ubaidah
in 8 A.H. He gave them a bag full of dates for their food. They had
hardly been out for fifteen days when they ran short of food. In
order to provide the Mujahideen with food, Hadhrat Qais
began buying three camels daily from
his own men to feed them, with a promise to pay on return to Madinah.
The Amir, seeing that the slaughter of camels would deprive the party
of their only means of transport, prohibited him from doing so. He
collected the dates that had been left with each person and stored them in a bag. He would give one
date to each man as his daily share. When Hadhrat Jabir later on
narrated this story to the people, one person from the audience
inquired: "How did you manage to live upon one date only for the
whole day?"
He replied: “When the whole stock was
exhausted, we longed even for that one date. We were on the verge of
starvation. We moistened the dry tree-leaves with water and ate
them." When they reached this stage, Allah had mercy on them,
for He always brings ease after every hardship, provided it is
endured patiently. A big fish known as "Ambar" was thrown
out of the sea for them. The fish was so big that they lived on it
for eighteen days altogether.They also filled their bags with the
remaining portion, which lasted them right up to Madinah. When the
episode was narrated to Nabi SAW , he said: "The fish was a
provision arranged for you by Allah ."
Difficulties and hardships are not
uncommon in this world to the people of Allah ; these are bound to
come. Nabi SAW says: "The worst trials in this world are
reserved for Nabis, then for those who are next to them, and then for
those who are best of the rest." The trial of a person depends
on his position near Allah . He bestows solace and comfort by His
Grace and Mercy after each trial. Look how much our ancestors in
Islam have suffered in the path of Allah . They had to live on leaves
of trees, starve and shed their blood in the service of
the true Deen, which we now fail to preserve.
