Saving others from trouble

By Mawlana Junayd Makda Sahib

There was a saint in whose house rats had settled down and were making life most inconvenient for him. They would disturb his sleep, spoil his food items, damage his clothes, and cause many other discomforts.

One day he complained to his friends of this problem. They advised that he should get a cat. That was the only way his problem would be solved.

The saint, for some reason, didn’t pay much attention to their advice.

Within a few days, he again complained to his friends. They again gave him the same advice. But the Saint again ignored their advice.

This happened many times. Whenever he got tired of the problem, he would complain to his friends, but would ignore their advice.

Finally, the friends got tired and said to him, “We are giving you a tried and tested solution which will definitely solve your problem. Yet you are not acting on it!?” seeing his friends were a little upset with him, he said: “The truth is that Rasulullah ﷺ said that none of you can be a perfect believer unless he likes for his brother what he likes for himself”.

If I brought a cat into my house, the rats would leave my home and move into my neighbour’s house. My neighbours would then suffer the same way I am suffering now. I can not do this to anyone. I’d rather I suffer and give them comfort than I find comfort, and they suffer.

Moral:

From this story, we learn how we should treat and deal with others. The saintly man was suffering and troubled by the problem of having rats in his house. He knew there was a solution, but there was a problem. The solution would definitely help him but it would create a problem for his neighbour. This was something this saintly man was not willing to do.

Many people in such a situation would not think about others, and would try to solve their own problem. But if the beautiful characteristics of Islam are present in our lives, then a person will always try to do good for others.