Ask our children:
1. Do we like to have a greedy jealous friend or a sharing caring friend?
2. Would we like it if someone keeps on nagging us and troubles us for something?
3. Who will Allah Ta‘ala love more, a thankful servant or an ungrateful servant?
Now tell them the story:
There was a pious man who owned a butcher shop. Every morning he used to take a big juicy piece of meat and place it in a bowl outside his shop. All the dogs of the neighbourhood used to come and enjoy a piece of the meat.
After some time a wild dog came along. Every morning from a distance it would see the dogs sharing the piece of meat. After a few days, it became jealous and thought of an evil plan. Early the next morning the wild dog set out for the butcher shop. The moment the butcher man placed the piece of meat in the bowl, the wild dog ran, grabbed the meat and ran off with it. The butcher man was all shocked, and could do nothing to stop the dog.
On its way to the woods, the wild dog happened to cross a river. Looking into the water, the dog saw its own shadow reflected in the water beneath. Thinking it was another dog with another big juicy piece of meat in its mouth, the greedy wild dog made up its mind to have that as well. So it made a snap at the shadow in the water, but as it opened its mouth, the piece of meat fell out, dropped into the water and was never to be seen again. Such is the result of greed. It makes us loose even that which we have with us.
Lessons:
1. Whenever we see something that we like, we should not become greedy for it and we should not be jealous over those who have it. If our friend has an expensive toy or game, we should not nag our parents and demand the same. We should not be disrespectful and say “All my friends have Smartphone’s, and only I don’t have one!” We should not compare ourselves with others. If our parents refuse to give us something, then it is out of love and care for us. They wish to protect us from harm reaching us, which our minds are too small to understand.
2. Rather than demanding more all the time, we need to be thankful for all that we already have, and see how Allah Ta‘ala will give us even more, insha-Allah!