Tools of a Winner!

Tools of a Winner!

By Amatullah Abdullah

It was a Saturday, and as usual I went to my son's school for the mothers' meeting held every Saturday. The school usually runs women's programs. That day, the mothers were asked to speak on an issue or a topic that touches their heart. One sister came forward mentioning the following hadith. Abdullah ibn `Umar reported that Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said,

«Three persons set out on a journey. They were overtaken by rain and they had to find protection in a mountain cave, where at its mouth there fell a rock of that mountain and thus blocked them altogether.

One of them said to the others, "Remember your good deeds that you performed for the sake of Allah and then supplicate Allah the Exalted, that He might rescue you."

One of them said, "O Allah, I had my parents, who were old, and my wife and my small children, too. I tended the flock and when I came back home in the evening, I milked them (the sheep, goats, cows, etc.) and first served that milk to my parents.

One day, I was obliged to go out to a distant place in search of fodder; I could not come back until evening and found my parents asleep. I milked the animals as I used to and brought the milk to them and stood by their heads avoiding to wake them up; I did not deem it advisable to serve milk to my children before serving my parents.

My children wept near my feet. I remained in that very state until it was morning. And (O Allah), if You are aware that I did this in order to seek Your pleasure, grant us riddance from this trouble."

The rock slipped a bit that they could see the sky.

The second one said, "O Allah, I had a female cousin whom I loved more than any man can love a woman. I wanted to have sexual intercourse with her; she refused.

It was with difficulty that I could collect one hundred dinars and then paid them to her. When I was going to have sexual intercourse with her, that she said, 'Servant of Allah, fear Allah and do not break the seal (of chastity) but by lawful means.' I got up, gave her the money she needed, and did not touch her. O Allah, if You are aware that I did this for Your sake, rid us from this trouble."

The situation was somewhat eased for them, as the rock further moved away from the entrance.

The third one said, "O Allah, I employed a hand for a measure of rice. After he had finished his work, I gave him his dues (in the form of) a measure of rice, but he did not accept them. I used this rice as seeds, and that gave a bumper crop and I became rich enough to have cows and flocks (in my possession.)

He came to me and said, 'Fear Allah, and commit no cruelty upon me in regard to my dues.' I said to him, 'Take away this flock of cows and sheep.' He said, 'Fear Allah, and do not make fun of me.' I said, 'I am not making fun of you. Take the cows and the flock.' So he took them. O Allah, if You are aware that I did it for Your sake, end this calamity."

The rock further moved away, and they managed to get out» (Al-Bukhari).

The sister at the mothers' meeting then said, "I always think about this supplication of the three persons of the cave." She added, "I always wonder, do we have any deeds like these persons, which would come to our rescue when there is a disaster?"

I too have felt many times, "Is there any deed we have done solely for the sake of the Creator alone? Can any of our deeds help us the way the deeds of these three men in the cave helped them?".

No doubt, most of us have noticed that when we begin an act of worship - for example, salah (ritual prayer) -, our intention will be sincere, but the moment we are in the salah, Satan tries to distract us from it, thus makes us lose our sincerity in intention. The good news is that we can still battle Satan by being conscious, seeking refuge in Allah from Satan, and constantly asking Allah to purify our intention and make it sincere.

Du`aa'(supplication) is a blessing from Allah, a tool to achieve our goals in this life and the hereafter. Allah loves it when we ask Him for anything. He is expecting us to ask Him for our needs. Allah says in the Qur'an what means,

{I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls on Me (seeking My help without any mediator or intercessor). So let them obey Me and believe in Me, so that they may be led aright.} [Al-Baqarah:186].

When we ask Allah something, it proves that we are admitting we are weak and He is the Almighty, the Most Merciful, and most Bountiful!

{O humankind! It is you who stand in need of Allah, but Allah is Rich (Free of all wants and needs), Worthy of all praise.} [ Fatir:15].

May Allah continue to bless us with listening to our du`aa', help us to make our deeds sincere, and help us to purify our intention to get closer to Him.