Your actions and deeds
The columnist Nazneen Gulamhussein Mukhtar (Arusha, Tanzania) is the headmistress of Yaadgare Murtazawi Madressa, She is a mother to five children and loves writing and reading. She always wanted to inspire children – her favourite audience. Writing has been her passion for as long as she can remember, and believes that effective learning takes place through story telling.
Summaya was really proud of herself. She always managed to do everything she wanted to. She was not only intelligent, but she was also good at performing her religious duties. She just couldn’t understand why Fatima seemed to think she was wrong in being too pleased with herself. Sumayya had just received the top prize in madressa Quran Competition. All her teachers were happy with her, and so were her parents.
Fatima met her as she was going home and said, “Salam Alaikum Sumayya, why are you sad?” Summayya decided to be frank, and she answered, “Well, it’s you Fatima, Why do you think I am wrong in being pleased for all the good things I do? I am glad that I am pious and I do good deeds, I pray on time, and I am always reciting Quran with the best Tajwid!, on top of all that, I am a great student in school too!”
Fatima was quiet for some time and then said, “Look Sumayya, you might think I am wrong, but I would like you to realize that in Islam there is a concept called UJB- and that is when one is proud of all the good deeds they do..”
“well,” said Summaya, “ why shouldn’t I be proud of my own good deeds? What’s wrong with that? After all, I have done it all by myself, I have been a good Muslim and what’s more, I take these things seriously”
Fatima didn’t know how to explain it to her friend, as she liked Sumayya and wanted to guide her. She knew a true friend is a guide, but she was scared it would affect their friendship.
She thought for a while then said, “Well Summayya, let me tell you something..Allah(swt) gives us the Tawfiq to do all the good deeds that we do. He gives everyone the Tawfiq, others are too stubborn to follow, so they follow their desires. The fact that you have taken the priority and followed what Allah wanted you to, is indeed a very great thing. But…You should remember to thank Allah and always have humility as the person who has humility continues to be more and more excellent in virtue. Shaitan
wants to misguide the pure followers, so he makes them do Riya- self-glorification; one tends to forget that it is only by Allah’s power that we do good deeds, and that without Allah’s grace and power, we would not be able to lift a finger!”
Summayya looked at her friend angrily and said, “I just don’t understand you! I don’t like this lecturing! All I know is that I am a good person and I do good deeds and if I am happy and proud of myself, I am not hurting anybody! No, not even myself! These days you have really changed”
Fatima felt pretty low and walked home alone because Summayya had rushed home by herself. Summayya came home and her Mother realized she was not her usual cheerful self. “what’s wrong dear?” asked her Mother. Summayya did not want to tell her what happened so she made an excuse and went up to her room. She was really disgusted with Fatima. A week passed by and the 2 friends were hardly on talking terms. It was a Saturday morning and Summayya was excited, she was going to do the last session of the Quran Hifz Competition. When she woke up she was feeling a bit lazy and her body seemed to be aching too, but she was too excited to give it a second thought. She rushed through her breakfast and hardly ate her Porridge. As she reached the Madressa compound, she suddenly felt extremely weak and fatigued, she would have fallen down if she would not have controlled herself on time.
“what’s wrong Summayya? “ said Fatima, “you almost fell down! Is something wrong with you?”
“nothing at all” said Summayya coldly. “I am perfectly all right and I am just going in to recite the last Surah for Hifz..”
“good luck..May Allah(swt) help you succeed”
“There is no doubt I will succeed, you see I have prepared myself for this. So I don’t need your prayers…” said the naughty little girl.
She entered the classroom and greeted her teacher. The teacher told her to sit down for a while. Summayya suddenly felt worse than before, her body started aching more and it seemed like her whole head was burning. The teacher came and asked her to start. Summayya was going to recite Sure Rahman, it was her favourite and she also knew it pretty well. Suddenly she could not remember more than a few verses, it seemed as if her head was completely blank and she felt the cold sweat on her forehead.
The teacher was amazed too. She knew Summayya pretty well. Summayya had always come well prepared and never forgot her verses, after all, she was their very best Recitor. “what’s wrong beta? Have you forgotten?” asked the teacher. Summayya felt tears run down her cheeks, she felt terrible. Her head started aching and she felt as if she was going to faint. Without another word, she rushed out of the Madressa class and went running outside. As she reached the gate she fainted. Fatima saw her on
time and rushed to help her.
The nurse was called for and she was treated at once. The fact was she had a high fever and that is why she had felt so terrible before. As soon as Summayya was sitting and drinking some orange juice, Fatima came over and said, “I am glad you are feeling better, now I must go home”
Summayya looked at her and said, “Fatima I want to apologize to you. I have realized all you said was very true. You are right, shaitan misguides us. I now realize that good deeds can be done very easily but it all depends on the sincerity of the action. Imagine I know that famous saying of the Holy Prophet(saw) Al Amaalu Bin Niyyat- but I guess I never reflected upon it!”
Fatima smiled at once and hugged her. “I am so glad that you have changed your thoughts, I know you will become a great person one day”
“Well,” said Summayya, “ I may fail this time in Quran Hifz. You see it was the fever that made me forget my surah completely. But I am extremely glad that it has made me understand the truth, and that is, that Allah(swt) gives us the power to do everything, and we can’t do anything by ourselves, infact we are totally weak without his help, I am happy that I have a friend like you as you have helped me become a better person!”
“ The fact is you are a good person yourself, that is why you admit it so easily. Now that’s what is called humility, and Inshallah you will reach great heights”
Children, do you sometimes go through the same problem Summayya went through? Well, remember it’s never too late to change!
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