Reality: Facts of life – A couple’s great sacrifice to combat evil
Maharoof and Mamnoon story
Sura Baqara v218 of the Holy Qur’an states: Those who believed and those who suffered exile and fought (and strove and struggled) in the path of Allah,- they have the hope of the Mercy of Allah: And Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful. 002:218
This brings us to the struggle shared by a couple named Maharoof and his wife Mamnoon. Maharoof was a very poor man who lived in a large city surrounded by lots of wealthy people. Maharoof and his wife were very strong in the Zikr of Allah (swt). They had two sons named Aftab and Jaleel, who were very kind and obedient to their father.
For a number of years Maharoof’s wife had disappeared for a while, due to certain circumstances. Only Maharoof knew where she was, and for many years he was following her instructions. When Maharoof’s children were about seven and eight years old he sat them down and told them that he had a story to tell them about their mother, but since they maybe too young to understand the entire story he would tell them only a little. He also had a few messages from her to deliver to them. Maharoof said: “Your mothers name is Mamnoon and she was a very kind and God-fearing person. She wanted both of you to grow up with Allah’s (swt) blessings and guidance, and when you both reach the age of marriage she wanted both of you to marry some one who is kind, faithful and understanding.
So she requested me to teach you both these two short prayers, which have enormous spiritual benefits, and can, bring you material wealth and spiritual blessings. They are as follows: Rabbir hamhuma kama rabbayaanee sagheera. Which means:
“My Lord? Bestow on them (my parents) thy Mercy even as they cherished me in childhood.” 017:024
The second dua is: Rabbana Hablana min az-wa-jena, wa thurriyyatina qur-ra-ta aah-yunin, waj aall-na lil-mutta qeena imaman. Which means:
Oh my Lord! Grant unto us wives and offspring who will be the comfort of our eyes, and give us (the grace) to lead the righteous. 025:074
Aftab and Jaleel said “If this is our mother’s wish then we will do as she asked us. Maharoof replied: “Your mother would be very pleased to know that both of you are quite obedient. I only hope by the will of Allah’s (swt), both of you will stay this way.
As the boys grew older they started to feel much oppressed by the other children in their school, because they were not as wealthy as the other children. One day as both boys went home, they said to their father: “Father we want to move away from this city, for the people here are too wealthy, and unkind.” Maharoof replied “This is more of a reason why you should stay here, so that they can learn a lesson or two from both of you.” They replied “What lesson father?” He said “Well all of your spiritual wealth has resulted with both of you being blessed with humility and kindness; this brings me to the second set of advice from your mother. One of the two prayers that she advised you to recite earlier is for the fruit of your labour and one day if you both hold on to the rope of patience and faith you will be able to enjoy the fruit of you labour, which is why your mother wanted me to tell you that Allah (swt) test us in ways such as: prosperity and adversity. In prosperity we must show humility, kindness, justice and mercy, and in adversity we must exercise patience, faith, wisdom and understanding. If we are wealthy we must not let our wealth consume us. We must not allow pride to enter into our hearts, which can also bring evil into our minds, for this can destroy us. We must not get depressed in adversity, or think that because we are financially wealthy problems cannot reach us. The boys told their father that so far it seems that through our mother’s blessings and her advice, Allah (swt) will help us overcome the oppression we are facing from some members of the community, and Inshaa-Allah we would not pressure you to move any more, for we will take it as a challenge in our experience in life which will help us to achieve strength, faith and courage to face up to the test, trial and tribulations that life has to offer. The boys told their father that the only thing they would pressure him for is the whereabouts of their mother. Maharoof told the boys “I am afraid to tell you now because it might cause too much grief on your hearts and it may come in the way of your studies. The boys replied “Father! You have it all wrong! If you tell us it might give us the push we need right now to choose our careers, and help us with the courage to continue with our studies, for we are now at that stage in our lives, and knowing what kind of help our mother needs would surely encourage us, and maybe one day we can help her.
Maharoof said “Alright you guys have made a good point. I would try to explain a little about your mother. When you were both very young (too young to remember) your mother was very involved in the Zikr of Allah (swt). She used to invite her brothers and sisters to join with us in doing the Zikr, eventually there was one person who withdrew from the Zikr, and she started to corrupt every one else who was participating in the Zikr, and eventually they all became spiritually blind and withdrew as well. Your mother has three brothers and four sisters, she is the eldest one, and she was the most God – fearing one amongst them. They were all very miserable and corrupted due to the one rotten person who withdrew from the remembrance of Allah (swt). This person joined the family by marrying one of your mother’s brothers. She was involved in evil and the evil spread to the rest of them and blinds them spiritually.
Your mother tried to talk to them and educate them on how evil can cause corruption, but they all turned on her. It got so bad that they all physically abused her more than once! This was where I drew the line and insisted that your mother stay away from all of them. Things were going peacefully until one day when your mother just finished her prayers, she turned around and said to me, that she saw a vision of a calamity coming our way, and she felt that she might be the victim of it. She then told me if any thing should happen to her she made me promised her, to take both of you very far away from her disgraceful and undisciplined family, preferably to the city where there would be vast experience so both of you could receive proper education. She also wanted both of you to be famous amongst the wealthy and the poor. As it turned out the inspiration she received was right, so I fulfilled my promise to her when we migrated over to this country. My sons! There is no easy way for me to say this, but I have to tell you that your mother is in a mental hospital, she was accused of killing her brother and she received jail for life. She began to lose her mind the minute she saw her brother lying dead on the floor.
She suffered a great shock, she couldn’t speak, and as a result she was unable to defend herself. This is why she was placed in the mental institution. She did not want me to take you boys there for she felt it would be too difficult for both of you to see her in there, but I am always visiting her. Whenever I come home late during the weeks it was your mother that I was visiting.”
Needless to say the boys were extremely shocked by what their father had told them, after they summed up enough courage they told their father that they were going to see their mother, and after they came back from visiting her by Allah’s (swt) will, they would make up their minds as to what career they would each pursue. The boys went to see their mother for the first time in 15 long years, when she saw them she said “Qul Amara Rabbee Bilqisti” which means: My Lord hath commanded justice (indeed). Then she hugged them with great joy and sat them down and related the entire story to them. She said “What had happened was her big brother, whose name was Bushra, had a fight with his wife Azeeman, and after the fight Bushra phoned her and asked her to come over and talk to his wife about her provocative dressing and behavior that was very disgraceful. I told him that I would be there in about an hour. Azeeman overheard Bushra speaking with me on the phone and knew that I was coming over, and because she was so evil and unstable she planted a knife in the basement, as she was planning a surprise attack on me. But before I got there Azeeman and Bushra got into another fight and she carried out the surprise attack on him instead, but just as she did this horrible thing I came downstairs and witnessed it, as she turned around and saw me standing there in shock she called the police, accusing me of killing my brother. I had to think very quickly, for we were the only three people there and it would have been her word against mine, and I know the rest of the family would have sided with her, so I decided to pretend as if I was loosing my mind. I did this to save you guys from the harassment of the court system, the taunt of the people, the depression and oppression would have been too much for you boys to grow up with.
After hearing this the boys cried and said “We couldn’t have been more blessed than we are right now, mom don’t worry by Allah (swt) grace we will get you out of here.” Aftab became a judge and Jaleel a doctor, and both of them worked together and cleared their mother’s name. Azeeman was found guilty and put away in jail where she belonged. Both of the boys married, their wives were beautiful, humble and very kind. Aftab had two boys who grew up to be very righteous. Jaleel had five girls who were also very righteous.
This is what the Zikr of Allah (swt) does, through the Zikr of Allah (swt) Mamnoon and Maharoof was blessed with guidance, patience and courage to make a very wise decision. They made great sacrifices for the sake of their two loving children, who were very humble and kind. The boys were very obedient to their father and made the sacrifices to listen and carry out the commands of their mother. The great sacrifice that Mamnoon and Maharoof made also helped to steer their lives and their children lives away from the family feud, conflicts and corruption from the evil chain in their relatives.
Let’s just imagine all the grief, pain and the anguish that this loving family of four would have to go through if Mamnoon and Maharoof didn’t think wisely. Indeed the Zikr of Allah (swt) is the greatest and do lead to true guidance.
Lessons:
- We learned from Azeeman reckless behavior that indeed there are evil people in the world.
- Some men are totally blind to their wives behavior, but in Bushra case it was the opposite.
- Evil can destroy a man spiritual and material life (if he allows it to happen). Maharoof and Mamnoon stood firmly in their faith with their Lord for justice in which they were very successful. Al-Hamdu Lillah. Mamnoon great sacrifice saved her two boys from lots of pain and anguish.
- The great love these two people had for each other helped them to achieve their goal, which was justice.
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