An evening with a scholar

By: Nishan
The temperature was blazing outside. But our zeal to see the holy city of Medina was overwhelming. A colleague of us studying in Medina University was our guide.  There were five of us including our guide.  The car had no Air-condition so we opened the windows and rode off.  We have planned to visit some holy sites inMedina. The first place we visited was the place where the famous battle of Uhud took place.  Our hearts were pounding and we were engulfed by sorrow and the joy at the same time when we saw the site. The Mount of Uhud was quite big and on the side of the Uhud was the famous small Hill where the 50Archers were placed by our Messenger Muhammad (Peace be upon him).  The main attraction was the graves of the Martyrs from the Muslim Army.It reminded us of the state of our Ummah. These Shahaba gave their life for this Ummah who used their bodies to shield our Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). They gave their life to dignify the name of Allah (Subu’haanahu wata’ala). But now our numbers are multiple compared to then, our armies are equipped with the latest Armory. But yet the Muslims are poor, weak and treated like dirt. Our Brothers and Sisters are massacred in front of our eyes, but the Ummah has no time even to make a single du’a for them. We are great in numbers but our hearts have hardened and we are so much devoured in this materialistic world that we have nothing in our mind but its temporary pleasures. There are dua’s made on every Friday prayer for the Ummah but the victory of Allah (Subu’haanahu wata’ala) does not come down to the quantity of people, but comes down to the quality of Thaqwa and Emaan of the people.

We left the site of Uhud and then visited Quba mosque which was the first Mosque our Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) built.  We prayed two units of prayer and then left to meet a Sheikh(scholar) from Madina who was a Ustaz(teacher )in the Islamic university of Madina and he was also an Imam of a famous mosque in Madina. We got this chance because we wanted to clarify some religious doubts we had.Therefore we asked our guide to help uswith this. He took us to the mosque where this Sheikh was the Imam. He took us there because this was the ideal place to meet him. When it was time for Asr prayer we prayed at that mosque and asked a person whereabouts of the Sheikh. TheSheikh was sitting beside a Pillar in the mosque.Our guide went to him first and asked him if he could give us some time to answer few questions. He welcomed us with a bright and a smiling face and made us sit around him and asked about our names, our occupations and about our families. After that he clarified our doubts and answered our questions. One thing we noticed during our conversation was that he was very humble and peaceful. He spoke in a low voice and his words were carefully placed. He praised Allah (Subu’haanahu wata’ala)all the time and pronounced Allah’s greatness repeatedly over and over again. He was constantly engaged in dhikr (remembrance of Allah) even between the gaps of his talks and when he was quiet.

When we were done,to our surprise he invited us to his home to breakfast with him as it was Ramadan which greatly reflected his noble manners. We happily accepted his invitation and we went to his house at the time appointed. When we went there we met one of his sons (about 10 years old) outside the house waiting for us. He welcomed us and directed us to the sitting room and sat beside us. This shows how the sheikh was training his children with good manners.  After some while the sheikh came and sat with us. When we were there he tried to entertain us as much as he can by talking and sometime joking and he made us feel we were like his close friends. When the Maqrib prayer was called we broke our fast and went to pray in the mosque.

After maqrib prayer we again went to his house and met another son of the Sheikh near the door waiting for us to welcome us again. Again we were directed to the sitting room and after some while the sheikh came and sat beside us with his two sons. Then we requested him to give us some advice and he gave us some advice regarding the month of Ramadan. When t the food was ready we were invited for the feast. To our surprise there were varieties of food. We did enjoy the feast very much. And throughout the feast the sheikh was entertaining us by talking and laughing with us. After the feast it was time for us to leave and the sheikh and his sons made farewell to us.

There were many things we noticed and learned in the few hours we spent with the sheikh. The first thing that we noticed from the Sheikh was the way he welcomed us. How he greeted us and welcomed us reflected his noble manners greatly.   Next thing we noticed from the Sheikh was his constant remembrance of Allah (swa) and making of Dhikr. I heard a Hadhith that says the likeness of the one who remembers Allah and one who does not is similar to the living and dead.

The next thing we noticed was that we never saw a women or a trace of a women in the house. So this gave us the importance of keeping our women from fitnah of mixing with men. The fourth thing we noticed was how he trained his children with good manners and obedience. We were truly amazed to see the obedience of the kids and how they welcomed us and served us during the feast. The next thing we noticed was his simplicity and his humility. He the Sheikh was very open and he sat with us in the floor and ate at the feast. He served us when our food was empty and talked with us just like we were his close friends.  Regardless of being a scholar his noble character portrayed him as a very simple man. We could see that the Sheikh was very excited and was very happy for us that we had the chance to come to Madina.

This experience with the sheikh was a remarkable and a memorable experience and in the few hours we spent with him our hearts were filled with deep love and deep respect for him. And beside the answers for our question we gained a lot of knowledge from his noble manners. Like Imam Az-Zuhri once said” We would come to a scholar and what we would learn of his manners would be dearer to us than his knowledge”.  This was truly the case we experienced with the sheikh. May Allah bless him and his family.

(I did not mention his name because I know he won’t like to be mentioned)