Once upon a time, there was a rich merchant who had four (4)
He loved the 4th wife the most
and adorned her with rich robes and treated her to delicacies. He took great
care of her and gave her nothing but the best.
He also loved the 3rd wife very
much. He's very proud of her and always wanted to show off her to his friends.
However, the merchant is always in great fear that she might run away with some
other men.
He too, loved his 2nd wife. She
is a very considerate person, always patient and in fact is the merchant's
confidante. Whenever the merchant faced some problems, he always turned to his
2nd wife and she would always help him out and tide him through difficult
times.
Now, the merchant's 1st wife is a
very loyal partner and has made great contributions in maintaining his wealth
and business as well as taking care of the household. However, the merchant did
not love the first wife and although she loved him deeply, he hardly took
notice of her.
One day, the merchant fell ill.
Before long, he knew that he was going to die soon. He thought of his luxurious
life and told himself, "Now I have 4 wives with me. But when I die, I'll
be alone. How lonely I'll be!" Thus, he asked the 4th wife, "I loved
you most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over
you. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?"
"No way!" replied the
4th wife and she walked away without another word.
The answer cut like a sharp knife
right into the merchant's heart.
The sad merchant then asked the
3rd wife, "I have loved you so much for all my life. Now that I'm dying,
will you follow me and keep me company?"
"No!" replied the 3rd
wife. "Life is so good over here! I'm going to remarry when you die!"
The merchant's heart sank and turned cold.
He then asked the 2nd wife,
"I always turned to you for help and you've always helped me out. Now I
need your help again. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?"
"I'm sorry, I can't help you out this time!" replied the 2nd wife.
"At the very most, I can only send you to your grave." The answer
came like a bolt of thunder and the merchant was devastated.
Then a voice called out:
"I'll leave with you. I'll follow you no matter where you go." The
merchant looked up and there was his first wife. She was so skinny, almost like
she suffered from malnutrition.
Greatly grieved, the merchant
said, "I should have taken much better care of you while I could
have!"
Actually, we all have 4 wives in
our lives. The 4th wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we
lavish in making it look good, it'll leave us when we die.
Our 3rd wife is our possessions,
status and wealth. When we die, they all go to others.
The 2nd wife is our family and
friends. No matter how close they had been there for us when we're alive, the
furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave.
The 1st wife is in fact our soul,
often neglected in our pursuit of material wealth and sensual pleasure.
Guess what? It is actually the
only thing that follows us wherever we go. Perhaps it's a good idea to
cultivate and strengthen it now rather than to wait until we're on our deathbed
to lament.
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and
Anecdote about Three Friends
Four Wives Story:
Why a
Woman can't marry more than one Husband?
In a delightful report about how
Imam Abu Hanifa received his name (his original name was Numan bin Thabit bin
Zuta bin Mah), an account of why the wife is forbidden to take more than one
husband is recounted. 'Abu Hanifa' is an unusual name because it means 'the
father of Hanifah', and Hanifah was his daughter. It was not the custom in
those days to do this. Normally, the name would be 'the father of the name of a
son.' How this came about is quite edifying.
One day Imam Abu Hanifa was asked
a question that, for the first time in his illustrious career, he was unable to
answer. The question was, "Why were women forbidden to marry more than one
husband at a time?"
To make a long story short, Abu
Hanifa's daughter said that she knew the answer and would solve this question
if her father would make a promise to her that if she succeeded in solving this
problem, he would then assure her a place in history. Abu Hanifa agreed.
So she gathered a group of women
together and gave each of them a cup. Then she brought in a large bowl of milk
and asked each of them to dip their cups in the milk and to fill their cups.
They did so. She then asked them to pour back the milk into the bowl. They did
this too. She then asked them to re-fill their cups taking back only their own
milk that they had poured into the bowl.
This, obviously, was impossible
to do. Hanifah had clearly demonstrated the kind of predicament that would be
created if a woman had several husbands. With more than one husband, if she
were to become pregnant, she would have exceptional difficulties determining
who the actual father was? Identifying parentage and lineage would then be
insurmountable for the offspring. Imam Abu Hanifa was so pleased with her
answer that he took the name 'Abu Hanifa', 'the father of Hanifah', so his
daughter did indeed earn a place in history.
Wonderful Stories of Islam: Be careful what
you Plant (Anecdote Illustrating Real Life)
An emperor in the Far East was
growing old and knew it was time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing
one of his assistants or his children, he decided something different. He
called young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, "It is time
for me to step down and choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one
of you."
The kids were shocked! But the
emperor continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today. One
very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it and come back here
after one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will
then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next
emperor!"
One boy named Ling was there that
day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly told
his mother the story. She helped him get a pot and planting soil, and he
planted the seed and watered it carefully. Every day he would water it and
watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other youths
began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.
Ling kept checking his seed, but
nothing ever grew. 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 5 weeks went by. Still nothing. By now,
others were talking about their plants but Ling didn't have a plant, and he
felt like a failure. Six months went by, still nothing in Ling's pot. He just
knew he had killed his seed.
Everyone else had trees and tall
plants, but he had nothing. Ling didn't say anything to his friends, however.
He just kept waiting for his seed to grow.
A year finally went by and all
the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the emperor for inspection.
Ling told his mother that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But honest
about what happened, Ling felt sick to his stomach, but he knew his mother was
right. He took his empty pot to the palace. When Ling arrived, he was amazed at
the variety of plants grown by the other youths. They were beautiful in all
shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many of the other kinds
laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him and just said, "Hey nice
try."
When the emperor arrived, he
surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the
back. "What great plants, trees and flowers you have grown," said the
emperor. "Today, one of you will be appointed the next emperor!" All
of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty
pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified.
"The emperor knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!"
When Ling got to the front, the
Emperor asked his name. "My name is Ling," he replied. All the kids
were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down.
He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, "Behold your new
emperor! His name is Ling!" Ling couldn't believe it. Ling couldn't even
grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor? Then the emperor said,
"One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the
seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all
boiled seeds, which would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought me
trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you
substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Ling was the only one with the
courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the
one who will be the new emperor!"
If you plant honesty, you will
reap trust.
If you plant goodness, you will
reap friends.
If you plant humility, you will
reap greatness.
If you plant perseverance, you
will reap victory.
If you plant consideration, you
will reap harmony.
If you plant hard work, you will
reap success.
If you plant forgiveness, you
will reap reconciliation.
If you plant openness, you will
reap intimacy.
If you plant patience, you will
reap improvements.
If you plant faith, you will reap
miracles.
But
If you plant dishonesty, you will
reap distrust.
If you plant selfishness, you
will reap loneliness.
If you plant pride, you will reap
destruction.
If you plant envy, you will reap
trouble.
If you plant laziness, you will
reap stagnation.
If you plant bitterness, you will
reap isolation.
If you plant greed, you will reap
loss.
If you plant gossip, you will
reap enemies.
If you plant worries, you will
reap wrinkles.
If you plant sin, you will reap
guilt.
So be careful what you plant now,
It will determine what you will reap tomorrow, The seeds you now scatter, Will
make life worse or better, your life or the ones who will come after. Yes,
someday, you will enjoy the fruits, or you will pay for the choices you plant
today. Honesty in Islam
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