‘Abdullah bin Mubaarak (rahimahullah) was a very great ‘Aalim and a very pious man. He lived long ago, just after the time of the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum).
‘Abdullah bin Mubaarak (rahimahullah) would make lots and lots of hajj. When he would go for hajj, he would take many other people with him. Many of these people were poor and did not have money for hajj, so he used to take them and pay for them.
Once, when he was going for hajj, there was a person with him who had a bird. However, the bird died during the journey. Since this bird was not slaughtered, it was haraam to eat, so they threw it away and left it at a dump.
Thereafter, before they left that place, ‘Abdullah bin Mubaarak (rahimahullah) saw a young girl come to the dump, pick up the dead bird and take it away to her home. When ‘Abdullah bin Mubaarak (rahimahullah) saw this, he became very worried, because he did not want the girl to eat haraam. He told his servant to go to the girl’s home and knock on the door.
When the servant knocked and the girl opened the door, ‘Abdullah (rahimahullah) asked her why she had taken the dead bird to eat, whereas it is haraam. She replied, “I live here with my sister. We don’t have any money or any food. In fact, the only clothes that we have is the piece of cloth that I am wearing. Our father was a rich man, but when he passed away, people stole his money and did not give anything to us. Since that time, we are so poor, that sometimes we even have to eat haraam food just to stay alive.”
‘Abdullah bin Mubaarak (rahimahullah) asked her, “Are there no men in your family who can look after you?” The girl replied, “No, we have no one.”
‘Abdullah (rahimahullah) immediately felt very sorry for the two girls and wanted to help them. When he had left his home for hajj, he had taken one thousand gold coins with him. Now, he called the person who kept all his money for him and said, “Keep twenty gold coins which will be enough for us to go back home, and give the rest of the gold coins to these two girls.”
Later on, when someone asked him why he had cancelled his nafl hajj, he said, “I had a chance to get even more thawaab and reward than nafl hajj.”
Lessons:
1. A Muslim must worry about every person and try to help all people. We must not only worry about our friends and family. ‘Abdullah bin Mubaarak (rahimahullah) did not know the girls, but he still helped them.
2. If we want to make Allah Ta‘ala happy and get thawaab, then we must always do that action which is most important. ‘Abdullah bin Mubaarak (rahimahullah) had finished his fardh hajj, and this hajj was nafl. He knew that if he cancelled his nafl hajj and gave the money to these girls, then because they were starving and had nothing, and there was nobody to look after them, then Allah Ta‘ala will become very happy with him and will give him even more thawaab and reward than if he went for hajj.
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