7 A DESCENDANT OF THE HOLY PROPHET _

& A FIRE-WORSHIPPER
There was an old woman in Samarqand who was a descendant
of the Holy Prophet _. Once, when she had no money to feed
her starving children, she approached a wealthy man who
professed to be a Muslim and said, My children have nothing to
eat. Give me somethingat least for being a descendant of
Rasoolullah _.
The man replied, What proof do you have that youre the
Prophets _ descendant?
I cant provide any proofIm just a poor woman. Will you
not just trust me?
Unless you have proof, you can leave.
The woman had no option but to then take her children to a
wealthy fire-worshipper of her area, who heard her plea and
replied, Even though Im not a Muslim, I have great respect for
your Prophets family. You may stay here, and Ill make sure
food and clothing for all of you is taken care of.
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That night, while the man (whom the woman had first met) was
asleep, he saw the Holy Prophet _ in a dream in an enormous,
illuminated palace and asked him, O Rasoolullah, whos this
mansion for?
The Prophet _ replied, Muslims.
Im a Muslim. Grant it to me.
Rasoolullah _ asked him, Are you a Muslim? Wheres your
proof?
This question startled the man, and the Holy Prophet _ then
said, One of my descendants approached you in need of
assistance, yet you asked for proof from her. So too will no-one
enter this building without evidence.
The man then awoke and began to cry intensely. After some
time, he set out to find the woman hed rebuked earlier, and after
coming to know that she was in the house of a fire-worshipper,
he proceeded to the house anyway and said to its owner upon his
arrival, Take these 1,000 coins from me and allow me to look
after the woman and her children.
The man replied, Should I trade a lovely palace for just a
thousand coins? Never! You see, the house you were shown and
were kept away from in your dream was shown to me too, and
after proclaiming the Kalima, I was let inside and was even given
the good news that due to my entire family now accepting Islam,
we will surely be counted amongst the inmates of Jannah.
Nuzhatul-Majaalis, Vol. 2, Pg. 194
Lesson A person requiring proof before showing respect to
anything connected to the Holy Prophet _ was denied Jannah,
while the one who did the exact opposite was favoured in the
Hereafter. We come to know then that requiring proof before
showing respect to anything for the sake of Allah _ is a sign of
being deprived of Imaan.
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48 A DESCENDANT OF THE HOLY PROPHET _
& HADRAT ABDULLAH IBN MUBAARAK _
Hadrat Abdullah ibn Mubaarak _ was once exiting a musjid
with a large assembly behind him when a young man approached
the Saint and said, O Abdullah _! What sort of congregation is
this? Im a descendant of the Holy Prophet _, not you.
Hadrat Abdullah ibn Mubaarak _ replied, Whatever was done
by your ancestor (i.e. Rasoolullah _) is being done by me, and
yes, even though Im not one of his descendants, I inherited the
knowledge that he left behind which made me what I am today.
You, on the other hand, inherited my fathers inheritanceand
you wont gain any honour as a result.
That night, Hadrat Abdullah _ had a dream in which he saw the
Holy Prophet _ expressing his displeasure. So, the Saint asked
him, O Rasoolullah _, why arent you happy?
He replied, You criticized one of my family members today.
The Prophet _ also appeared in the boys dream and said, Son,
if you were truly a good individual, why were you spoken to in
that way by Hadrat Abdullah _?
Both then awoke; and after searching for him, Hadrat Abdullah
ibn Mubaarak _ found the boy, and each then sought forgiveness
from one another. Tazkiratul-Auliya, Pg. 173
Lesson We learn that the Holy Prophet _ is aware of all of the
happenings in his Ummah, and that showing disrespect to
anything connected to him is in fact showing disrespect to the
Beloved of Allah _ himself.