The Moral Stories (part 2)

Encounter With Haroon On Hajtrip

Haroon once departed from Baghdad on his way for Haj in Mecca. When he arrived at Kufa, the people of that place in large number came forward to greet him. Haroon was seated in a grand and pompous way over a camel back and was majestically passing through the people who had gathered to see him. Among them was Bahlool who shouted at the top of his voice:

"HAROON! HAROON" Haroon rather upset enquired from his people around as to who was that dared to call him in this fashion.

"It is Bahlool", they replied.

Haroon raised the curtain over his seat and looked at Bahlool who said this:

"It has been related by Abdullah bin Amiri that when the Prophet of Islam at the time of Ramiye Hajar, i.e. stone throwing - one of the Haj rites - I noticed that there was no obstruction to people in getting nearer to him and he was walking in perfect humility, whereas you in this Haj trip continue to maintain your show of dignity pomp and pride."

Haroon, hearing this, was moved and he shed tears allowing Bahlool to continue with his words of advice "Oh Caliph! Now that you are endowed with wealth and the dignity of your present elevated worldly status, do not be arrogant and forget Allah. Do not listen to the loose talk of your people.

Let your rule be such that those who do not see you and benefit directly from you remember you after your death.

Refrain from disobeying Allah and from oppression of people under you." On hearing these previous words, Haroon praised Bahlool and ordered some valuable gift be presented to him, but he refused saying:

"I am in no need of your favours. Why not gift to those who can not earn their living." Raising his head towards the sky and then Bahlool said:

"I and you are both the servants of Allah. How would He take care of you and desert me!"

That simplicity and humility before the Lord is the essence of the Haj ritual was what Bahlool meant to teach. Once again Bahlool also demonstrated his ascetic philosophy of life by refusing to accept any favours from the ruler of his time.

Haroon's Charitable Offer

One day Haroon gave an amount of money to Bahlool with suggestion to distribute among the poor and the needy. Bahlool took away the money and after thinking for a while returned the money to the Caliph.

Haroon asked him for the reason of doing so and Bahlool replied:

"Much as thought over your suggestion, I find, there is no other more deserving poor and needy than you the Caliph yourself. Therefore I have returned the money to you as I have found your officers and collectors standing in shops and by lashing their whips extract your taxes by force from people.

Thus your treasury goes on swelling and I conclude that your requirement of money must be much more than the poor man of your domain."

What a splendid lesson to those who take pride in making open charities from the money they obtain by exploiting the poor. Bahlool was driving home to Haroon that it was not worth assisting the charity which was from the money he had illicitly and unjustly obtained.

GOD'S BEST BLESSING

Haroon once asked Bahlool: "What is the best blessing from Allah?" Bahlool replied:

"The supreme blessing from Allah can be nothing else but Aql - intellect and power of reasoning. And Khwaja Abdullah Ansari in his supplication had mentioned:

"Oh Allah! To those blessed with intellect what is it that you have not given? And to those not blessed with intellect, what have you given!"

It is recorded that when Allah wishes to punish someone by taking away from him His blessings, the first thing He takes away is his Aql - intellect. And human intellect is considered also as one of the valuable sustenance from Allah.

"The first thing created by Allah is intellect" The human intellect - reasoning - has been defined in the following hadith: "Intellect Is that by which Allah the Compassionate is obeyed and by which one qualifies to enter heaven."

The Prophet of Islam has also said "Indeed all that is good to attainable by (the help and use of) intellect and he who has no intellect has no religion."

ON BIRTH OF A BABY GIRL

Ishaq bin Mohamed bin Sabah was one of the prominent leaders in Kufa. His wife once gave birth to baby girl. For this reason, he had become exceedingly sad and refrained from normal intake of food and drink.

When Bahtool came to learn about this, he went to him and said:

"Oh leader! Why all this sadness and disappointment!!" The reply to this from him was: "I had hoped for the birth of a son but unfortunately my wife delivered a baby girl." Bahlool responded by saying:

"Would you have preferred in place of this beautiful healthy sound baby girl to have an unhealthy and mentally sick or have a son like myself?" The leader on hearing this laughed and expressed his gratitude to Allah, resuming to enjoy food and drink as usual, and allowing people to congratulate him.

The Holy Qura'n has described the strange mentality of those ancient Arabs who hated to see the birth of girls in their homes:

"And when a daughter is announced to one of them his face becomes black and he is full of wrath." (16:58)

"He hides himself from the people because of the evil of that which is announced to him. Shall he keep it with disgrace or bury it (alive) in the dust? Now surely evil is what they judge." (16:59)