STORIES FOR CHILDREN

THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD WAS A NATURAL LEADER

The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was a natural leader of men even before his Prophethood. He was always just in whatever he did. He loved to help others. He was quick in understanding the nature of problems. He was a young man of thirty-five. That year the draperies of Kabah caught fire and its walls were damaged. So the people of Makkah decided to rebuild it.

Within the Quraish tribe, there were many clans. These all worked . The walls of the Kabah were raised. Then a dispute arose among them. The dispute was over the Black Stone. Each clan wanted the honour of lifting the Black Stone and placing it its place. They continued to quarrel because it was a question of honour for them. No clan was ready to compromise with their honour.

When the tension was at the highest, Hudhaifah Ibn al-Mughirah gave his suggestion. He was the oldest person there at that time. His suggestion was liked by everybody. He suggested, " O men of Quraish! We wil take as judge the first man to enter Kabbah." They all agreed to leave the maater to Providence.

The first man to enter the Kabah was the young Muhammad, peace be upon him. When the people saw him, they all exclaimed, "This is al-Amin (the trustworthy)." They all agreed to accept his judgment. He understood the reason for their problem. The reason was their ego.

Muhammad, pbh, "Bring me a sheet of cloth." When it was brought, he spread it on the ground. He took the Black Stone and placed it on the sheet of cloth. Then, he said, "Let the leader of each clan take hold of the border of the sheet." When they raised it, he took the Stone and placed it in its place. After this, the people continued their work happily to complete the reconstruction of Kabah.

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A PLEDGE OF HELP

Once a merchant from Yemen came to Makkah to sell his goods. He sold his goods to one person. After taking the goods from the merchant, he did not pay the price. That merchant was a stranger and did not know anybody in Makkah. The helpless merchant wrote a poem about his helpless condition in Makkah. He recited that poem in his painful voice, standing at the market-place there. At that time, Zubayr, one of the uncles of Muhammad, peace be upon him, passed that way and heard the poem.

Zubair was much ashamed to learn how an helpless outsider had been cheated by a citizen of Makkah. He was more ashamed that nobody had come to the help of that merchant. Zubayr called the elders of the town to a meeting. This meeting took place in the house of Abdullah ibn-Judan. In this meeting, they all decided that they would always protect the oppressed, even if he is from another town or country. They all took a pledge to be kind to the helpless people. This organization was called Hilf al-Fudul. All the people present in the meeting there became the members of Hilf al-Fudul.

Zybayr was one of the founders of it. He had brought his nephew, young Muhammad to this meeting. As Muhammad was present in the meeting, he was also a member of Hilf al-Fudul. After becoming the Prophethood, Muhammad, pbh, once said, " I was present in the house of Abdullah ibn Judan. It was such an excellent pact that I would not exchange my part in it for a herd of red camels. If somebody should appeal to me in the name of that pledge, I would certainly help him." Abu Quhafah with his son was also present. And this son was Abu Bakr who was a year or two younger to Muhammad, peace be upon him.

Muhammad, pbh, was always ready to help anybody, even those who were disbelievers.

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THE CAMEL SELLER FROM DESERT

Once a a man from the tribe of Irash came to Makkah with his camels to sell them. Abu Jahl bought these camels from him. He took away the camels but did not pay the money to the seller. The helpless man came to Kabah to make a complaint to the assembly of the Quraish. The camel seller said in his loud voice, " Who among you will help me to get what is due to me from Abul Hakam Ibn Hisham. I am a stranger to this place, and he refuses to pay me the price of my camels." Abul Kakam Ibn Hisham was the real name of Abu Jahl. Away from him, The Prophet, peace be upon him, was sitting by the side of Kabah.

People sitting there pointed towards the Prophet, pbh, and told him, " Go to that person. He will help you." It was their way of making fun of the Prophet. The innocent man went to the Prophet, pbh, and related the whole story. He even told the Prophet, pbh, "I came here to seek the help of people, and those people sent me to you." The Prophet, pbh, assured him, " Certainly I will. Let us go to that man."

At a distance those people were watching how he would help the merchant get his money. The Prophet, pbh, took the merchant to the house of Abu Jahl and knocked at his door. Abu Jahl asked who it was. The Prophet, pbh, replied, " I am Muhammad. Open the door." Abu Jahl opened the door and came out. Suddenly, the face of Abu Jahl lost colour. The Prophet, pbh, said, "Pay this man his due."

Abu Jahl went inside and brought the money and paid it to the camel-seller. He went back to the group of men and said, "May God reward him. He helped me get back my money."

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SENSE OF JUSTICE

When Umar bin Abdul Azeez was the Caliph of Muslims, a group of people came from Samarkand. They came to the Caliph to complain against Qutaibah ibn Muslim, the Commander-in-Chief of his army. His army had captured their country. Their complaint was that the army had not followed the Islamic principles in taking over their country.

According to the Islamic principles three choices are given to a non-Muslim country before attacking it. Those three choices are: accept Islam or pay the poll-tax or engage in war. They said the Commander had not given them any choice and captured the country.

After hearing this complaint, the Caliph wrote to the governor of Iraq to appoint a special judge to look into the matter. The governor appointed the judge, Jumai ibn Hadir an-Naji. The judge listened to the views of both the parties. He gave the judgment that the Commander had not followed the principles of justice. The judge passed the orders that the army should withdraw from Samarkand. The Muslim Commander accepted the judgment and asked his army to vacate the place. The people of Samarkand were deeply impressed by the Muslim sense of justice. They requested the army to stay there.