King Masjoor’s efforts to stop conflicts among the Muslim Umma
In the name of Allah most gracious most merciful, Almighty Allah says in Al-Qur’an:
On that day those who reject Faith and disobey the messenger will wish that the earth Were made one with them: But never will they hide a single fact from Allah! (swt).004:042
There was once a very pious man named Hafezoon, he had six sons named: Mansoor, Taheed, Yasir, Belad, Fad, and Allbab. For all of Hafezoon’s life he was involved in many debates on the topic of tazeem (standing in respect of the beloved Holy Prophet Muhammad), (owbp) as per Allah’s (swt) commandment in Sura Ahzab (33) v.56).
Allah (swt) and His Angels send blessings on the Prophet: O ye that believe! Send ye blessings on him and salute him with all respect. 033:056
Hafezoon followed the Sunni tradition, and saw nothing wrong in standing with respect for the Holy Prophet (owbp), when reciting tazeem. Most of the community mocked and insulted Hafezoon for his belief; even three of his six sons joined the people and ridiculed their father. Things were becoming over-bearing for Hafezoon, so he lifted his hands in prayers and pleaded with Allah (swt) for help. He asked for Allah’s (swt) guidance to show the people how important it is for them to respect the words that are written in the Holy Qur’an.
Hafezoon said “Oh Allah (swt) please show the people that standing in respect for our beloved Holy Prophet (owbp) is not bidda, nor is it a form of worship. Please accept my du’a and let there be a water shortage, so that the people can acknowledge the importance of your message.” After his du’a he went out and told the people that he asked Allah (swt) to send a drought so that they may see clearly standing in respect for our beloved Prophet (owbp) and sending Darood and Salaam to our beloved Prophet Muhammad (owbp) is neither bidda nor a form of worship, but instead it equals peace and tranquility for this world and the hereafter.
The people replied “Oh Hafezoon! You will see we are right and you are the one that is wrong because there is not going to be any drought, and if such be the case then you have to stop harassing us.” Hafezoon replied, “Okay, I promise that I will do as you wish should Allah (swt) ignore my request.” But let’s keep this in our minds at all times, the Holy Qur’an states:
Allah is never unjust in the least degree If there is any good (done) He will double it, and giveth from His own presence a great reward.004:040
Three months later there was no rain. All the crops, gardens, animals and even some of the people started to die. Allah’s (swt) signs were rapidly spreading, but before the people opened their eyes and put fear into their hearts to change their lives by being obedient to Allah’s (swt) command they started to rebel on Hafezoon. They threatened him and told him that if he did not ask Allah (swt) to give them rain they would kill him, and they gave him seven days to do this. Hafezoon was very surprised at the people’s reaction, for he thought this drought would have put fear in their hearts. So he went back in his prayers, and first he sought Allah’s (swt) forgiveness, because he thought he did something wrong by asking for the drought in the first place. Then he asked Allah (swt) for a second sign which would show his three sons and the people once again the truth about standing in respect and sending darood to the Holy Prophet (owbp). After his du’a he heard a voice calling out for him, he rushed to the door to see who it was and to his surprise he saw a royal caravan and the King’s son, Kareem. Kareem greeted Hafezoon with Salaam’s and said, “My father requested you to meet with him, as he would like to meet with you” and so Hafezoon joined Kareem and they went off to the palace.
When they arrived at the palace the King welcomed Hafezoon and said “My name is Masjoor and nothing in my life had any meaning even though I am so wealthy. I am never happy, so I went into prayers and asked Allah (swt) to bless me with the knowledge to guide me to a passage from the Holy Qur’an that would bring me peace of mind. After I finished my prayers I went out in the country for a walk, and I heard you were lecturing to the people telling them about the drought you prayed for, and right after I heard you was reciting the Holy Qur’an and I recognized it was Sura 33 verse 56 that you were reciting. On my way home I was wondering if this was the answer to my prayers that I made earlier. Upon arriving home I decided to open my Qur’an to that particular verse for I never really paid attention to this particular passage of the Holy Qur’an. I used to ignore Milad – Shareef functions. I then started to recite this passage with zeal, as I was doing this a very strange feeling came over me.
It was a heavenly feeling which I have never experienced in my whole life. I then remembered what you said to the people, how you prayed for the drought to be a sign for them, and I knew that your prayers would be accepted, because of the heavenly feelings that I received after reciting that holy passage. So after that I started to save water by building vessels upon vessels just in case the people rebelled on you, as I remembered Surah Al-Baqara verse 175 from the Holy Qur’an:
They are the ones who buy Error in place of Guidance and Torment in place of Forgiveness. Ah! what boldness (They show) for the Fire! 002:175
Allah (swt) also said in this same passage, that the people show boldness for the fire of hell. Considering the power of sin and how it gets hold of the hearts of men, and considering all the wrong that men have done, it is the height of foolishness and injustice on their parts to turn away from warnings which are given specifically for their own good. Knowing all of this I made sure I have a lot of water and food supplies for those who Allah (swt) chooses to show His mercies to. Hafezoon asked the king “How can we know who the people are that will gain Allah’s (swt) mercies?” The king replied “we will soon find out after you go back and tell the people they can come in six groups with one leader each for water and food supplies, and let your sons be the leader’s of each group. I will put my four sons at the entrance of the four gates as guards, and my only request for the people, is that I want them to salute my sons and that is the only way the gate will open to let them inside to collect their water and food supplies.”
Hafezoon went home and had a talk with his sons and the people in his village, he told them that after he was threatened, he went home and prayed for Allah (swt) to give them food and water, and right after his prayers king Masjoor sent for him. Hafezoon then told the people that this was a second sign to them from Allah (swt). He told them about the King’s request and they all agreed. So the people divided into six groups, Hafezoon’s sons became the leaders of each group. Hafezoon told them that they must leave separately and on separate days to go see the king to receive food and water.
So Hafezoon’s eldest son Taheed left first with his group, as they approached the first gate they started to worship the guard who was Kareem, (the king’s eldest son) thinking that this was the right thing to do. They willfully disobeyed the king’s order, just as the people willfully disobey Allah’s commandment in Surah 33 verse 56.
The next day Hafezoon’s second son Yaasir and his group left for their journey. As they came to the first gate they observed the first group worshipping the guard. Yaasir tried to talk to Taheed and told him that he is not following the instructions in the right way and they began to argue.
The first groups of people are those who go to the extreme, almost as if they worship the Holy Prophet (owbp).
The second group of people indicates those people who completely forget their duty. They know what to do, but they are so consumed with the conflict that they ignore their duties.
The third group set out on the third day with the third son Belaad, they went to the second gate and prayed to Allah (swt), asking him to bless the guard, who was Waeed the king’s second son, they also disregarded the king’s request, but they were let inside for some relief from the sun’s scorching rays. They managed to get the king’s mercy, but no food or supplies. This describes the people who say that Darood Shareef is sending blessings on our beloved Holy Prophet, (owbp) so we do not need to perform Salaam. On one hand they will gain Allah’s (swt) mercy for sending blessings on the Beloved Prophet, (owbp), but if they are in a gathering where people stand in respect to send Salaam on the beloved Prophet, (owbp), and they walk out, then they will be punished by Allah (swt) for their disobedience to Allah’s (swt) commandments (as was mentioned earlier Allah and His angels send blessings on the Prophet: O ye that believe! Send ye blessings on him, and salute him with all respect. 033:056
The fourth group (Mansoor’s group) set out for their journey, as they reached the third gate they saluted the king’s third son Waqar as they were told, but the fifth group of people which was Fad’s group came and started a fight with them telling them that they are doing wrong (bidda or shirk). When word got back to the king he sent out his soldiers to whip the fifth group, and send them back home. So the gate was open to let Mansoor and his group inside, and they were given a double portion of food, water and supplies. This group of people refers to those who are obedient to Allah’s (swt) commandments. After this Mansoor and his group headed home.
The fifth group of people is an indication of the oppressors, those who create conflict amongst those who stand in respect by sending darood and salaam on our Beloved Prophet Muhammad (owbp), as stated in the Qur’an.
The sixth son’s group (which was Allbab’s group) set out on the sixth day. They went to the fourth gate where the King’s fourth son Aslim was the guard, and when Allbab and his group arrived at the gate, they just sat down and did nothing else, and because of this they were ignored; the gate did not open for them. This refers to those who make an effort to attend gatherings where Salaam is recited, but do not take part in it.
When Mansoor arrived at home Hafezoon asked him, “What happened to your other brothers? So far I have seen your brother Fad and his group, they came back without any supplies, and they were all in a very miserable state of mind.” Mansoor replied, “Father do not grieve over my brother Fad and his people. They were oppressing me and my people, because we were carrying out the commandments of the king in the right way, and they were severely punished by the king, which resulted in their hungry and miserable state. Hearing this Hafezoon rushed over to the palace to see what his son Mansoor was talking about.
He then saw King Masjoor walking around his garden, Hafezoon greeted the king, told him what he had heard and asked him about it.
The King replied: “I am performing an experiment with the people, which also include your three sons, to show them all what can happen to those who disobey Allah’s (swt) commandments; because I was made to understand that some of the people misinterpreted the passage (v.56) in Surah Ahzab and created conflict.”
“Your experiment shows that you are indeed a true and faithful servant of Allah (swt), and a sincere follower of our beloved Holy Prophet Muhammad (owbp).” replied Hafezoon.
“Ok let us go and bring your six sons and their groups of people and ask them what they learned from this experience.” the King said.
The king and Hafezoon proceeded to retrieve the people. The King then asked each of Hafezoon’s sons to explain what caused them to go against his request.
The first son Taheed said “We felt that if we showed your son extreme love you would give us more food and water than the rest of the people.” This is an example of what some people think of concerning the Holy Prophet Muhammad (owbp, but they fail to realized that they are going against the command of Allah (swt) . The second son Yaasir said “We were so angry with the first group for coming to the point of almost worshipping your son that we began to argue with them, so much so that we forgot our duties until we were punished like them, and this is how we learned our lesson.”
The third son Belaad said we thought praying for blessings for your son would help us to achieve supplies, but we were wrong, and when you did not punish us like you did the others, but gave us shelter from the sun, then we realized that we were not doing enough. This is an example of those people who said that doing darood is enough to send blessings on the Prophet.
The fourth son Mansoor replied: “It was a pleasure to carry out the king’s commandments.”
The fifth son Fad replied: “I was a fool, and due to my punishment I have realized how foolish I was”.
The sixth son Allbab said: “I realized how silly I was because we made the effort to travel so far, and we ignored the king’s commands, and did our own thing, and because of this we did not achieve any benefits.” After each group gave their account, the King called his four sons out to explain how they felt in all of this.
The King’s eldest son Kareem said “I was furious with the people’s behaviour for two reasons: one for acting as if they were worshipping me and the second for disobeying my father’s request.” This might explain the holy Prophet’s feelings for his Umma who act contrary to Allah’s (swt) commands.
The second son Waeed said “My heart was grieving for the people. I accepted the fact that they were sending blessings upon me, and I loved them for doing that but I was saddened to observe how they were willfully disobeying the King’s commandments. This reaction may explain the Prophet’s feelings for those who send darood for him but do not stand in respect for him. What the people fail to realize is that in Allah’s (swt) commandments we cannot go halfway; we have to go all the way before we can receive the full rewards for our good actions.
The third son Waqar said: “I was so pleased with the way the people listened to my father’s request that I asked my father to double their share of supplies. This is exactly how our beloved Prophet Muhammad (owbp) will feel on the Day of Judgment for his sincere followers.
The fourth son Aslim stated “I did not open the gate because they misunderstood the meaning of the word salute. They were ignorant and lazy, and you my father dislike these two things in your servants, so I figured you would dislike these people, so I did not open the gate for them”. The indication here is Allah (swt) dislikes His servants who are ignorant and arrogant.
This story just goes to show us how easily we can become a victim of hurting our beloved Holy Prophet Muhammad’s (owbp) feelings, and due to this we would have wronged our souls. We would also have hurt Allah (swt) and his angel’s feelings as well. So please I am pleading with all Muslims let us stop this conflict and start doing the right thing, for the benefit of our own souls. As Allah (swt) warned us in the Holy Qur’an:
“Those who annoy Allah (swt) and his Messenger, Allah (swt) Almighty has cursed them in this World and in the Hereafter, and has prepared for them a humiliating Punishment. 033:057
And those who annoy believing men and women undeservedly bear (on themselves) a calumny and a glaring sin.”033:058
Points of this story
- We saw clearly that the people did not have any regard for Allah’s (swt) punishment (the drought) which was supposed to change their belief.
- King Masjoor felt the great joy in standing in respect and sending blessings on our beloved Holy Prophet (owbp) that he realized right away that Allah (swt) would accept Hafezoon’s prayers.
- King Masjoor also knew that the people would fail from their promise to Hafezoon, and they would rebel on him so he started to save water to protect Hafezoon. He also decided to teach the people a few lessons by using his sons, and Hafezoon’s sons to show the people how ignorant and blind we as human beings can be, and also how angry or happy we can cause our beloved Prophet (owbp) to feel, and how we can make Allah (swt) feel pleased with us.
- How important it is to follow Allah’s (swt) commands from His noble Qur’an.
- We also learned how easily we can forget our duties, through conflict.
- We also learned how oppressors are the losers in this world, and they will also be the losers in the hereafter, if they do not change their actions.
Advice
Any good that we do raises our own spiritual status and dignity. We must not think that when we speak of Allah’s (swt) service, or His cause that we are doing any thing for His benefit. He is independent of all needs whatsoever, and He is forgiving and most merciful. The Holy Qur’an states:
O ye men! It is ye that have need of Allah: but Allah is the One Free of all wants, worthy of all praise. 035:015
Whatever good we do, our own merits are comparatively small, Allah’s (swt) grace must lift us up and blot out our shortcomings. Even in piety there may be an arrogance which may become a sin. We should seek Allah’s (swt) grace and His mercy in all humility. Every soul must redeem itself by faith, prayers and respect for Allah’s (swt) commandments in His book: The Holy-Qur’an.
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