Sahal bin ‘Abdillah Tustari (rahimahullah) had a neighbour living above him who was a fire worshipper. Once, a hole developed in his toilet floor through which the filth and mess would leak into one of the rooms in the home of Sahal (rahimahullah).
Noticing this, Sahal (rahimahullah) would place a container beneath the leak to catch the filth that dripped down daily. Sahal (rahimahullah) would then take the full container and empty it at night where nobody could observe or see what he was doing.
This continued for a long time, until the day arrived when Sahal (rahimahullah) neared his final moments. Realizing that he would soon leave this world, he called for his neighbour. When the fire worshipper arrived, Sahal (rahimahullah) said to him, “Enter that room and look inside.” On entering, the fire worshipper noticed the hole with the filth falling through into the container below. He asked Sahal (rahimahullah), “What is this?”
Sahal (rahimahullah) replied, “This has been happening for a while. Waste falls from your toilet into this room. I allow it to accumulate in the container during the day, and thereafter dispose of it at night. If it was not for the fact that I am about to leave this world, and I fear that those after me will not be as tolerant nor show you good character, I would not have shown you this nor informed you about it. Now that you are aware of the problem with your toilet, you may fix it as you see fit.”
The fire worshipper was absolutely amazed and exclaimed, “O Shaikh! You have been treating me with kindness and showing me this level of good character for such a long time despite the fact that I am a disbeliever! Stretch forth your hand – I testify that there is none worthy of worship besides Allah Ta‘ala, and Muhammad (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) is the Rasul of Allah Ta‘ala.” Shortly after the fire worshipper accepted Islam, Sahal (rahimahullah) passed away.
(Al-Kabaa-ir – Zahabi pg. 208)
Lessons:
1. Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) greatly stressed and emphasized the importance of fulfilling the neighbour’srights and warned that the imaan of a person who causes any harm or inconvenience to his neighbour is incomplete. On account of showing good characterto neighbours being such an emphasized and integral part of Deen, Sahal (rahimahullah) was even prepared to tolerate the inconvenience of his neighbour’s toilet dripping filth into his home.
2. Disposing of the waste in secret indicates to the humilityof Sahal (rahimahullah), as he did not want people to learn of his tolerance and praise him.
3. When a Muslim adopts the true character of Islam, his interaction and behaviour will shine with the radiance of Islam and will thus be an invitation to Deen. It was this very same character that ‘melted’ the heart of the fire worshipper and let him see the beauty of Islam.
4. Sahal (rahimahullah) was so concerned that no dispute should arise with his neighbour after his demise, that shortly before passing away, he called him to show the leaking toilet. He was being so cautious, that let alone in his lifetime, he did not even wish for a dispute to arise with his neighbour after he passed away. We too should try our best to arrange our affairs in such a manner that after our demise, there will be no opportunity for people to become embroiled in arguments or fights.