Ask our children:
1. Who must we turn to when faced with any problem?
2. What must we do when our problem is solved?
3. Is it permissible to deceive someone?
Now tell them the story:
‘Abdullah was a very pious man who owned a farm that was full of beautiful fruit trees. Every now and then it would rain and this is how his trees would get their water. It once so happened that the rains stopped. Abdullah naturally became very worried. He immediately turned to Allah Ta‘ala and begged Allah Ta‘ala for help. There was a deep well on the farm but ‘Abdullah was too old and weak to draw out water for his trees.
One quiet evening there was a knock at ‘Abdullah’s door. When he opened the door, he saw a strange looking man who quickly told ‘Abdullah that a group of robbers wanted to break into his home at 12 o’clock that very evening. ‘Abdullah thanked the stranger and immediately started to put a plan into action. He took an empty sack and filled it with little stones. Thereafter, he and his wife remained occupied in du‘aa and salaah. The moment the robbers quickly crept in, ‘Abdullah raised his voice and told his wife, “I am going to drop this sack which has all our gold coins into the depths of the well.” Saying this, he ran out of the house, dropped the sack into the well and quickly ran back home.
Seeing this, the robbers were overjoyed, as their task was now made so much easier. They waited for the lights to go out and for ‘Abdullah and his wife to fall asleep. They then started to draw out the water from the well. They wanted to empty the well of all its water so that they could go down into the well and bring up the sack of gold coins. Bucket after bucket, they worked tirelessly the entire night, until suddenly; they heard the azaan for fajr salaah and saw the lights in the houses switch on. The robbers were so scared that they panicked and ran away, forgetting to even take their jackets!
After having performed fajr salaah, ‘Abdullah decided to go and have a look at his well. To his surprise, he saw that the water which the robbers had drawn had flowed and watered all his fruit trees. This filled his heart with joy and he thanked Allah Ta‘ala. But at the same time, he was grieved for having deceived the robbers. Being a pious person, it was not possible for him to take work from someone without having paid them. It was ‘Abdullah’s good fortune that the jacket and coats left behind had the names of the robbers and the area where they lived.
‘Abdullah immediately went over to the robbers’ homes. He returned their jackets and coats, he begged them to forgive him for having deceived them and he paid each one of them for having watered his fruit trees. The robbers were lost for words. This was the first time something like this had happened in their lives. They all cried, repented, entered the fold of Islam and led the rest of their lives as pious servants of Allah Ta‘ala.
Lessons:
1. When faced with problems, we should immediately turn to Allah Ta‘ala in du‘aa and salaah.
2. When our problems are solved we should always thank Allah Ta‘ala.
3. If we have deceived anyone, we should not delay in asking the person to forgive us.
4. Allah Ta‘ala will protect His pious servants in unique ways.
5. The honesty and sincerity of a person becomes a means of people’s lives changing.