Ana Muslim

Allah’s Messenger (salla-Allaahu-’alayhi-wa-sallam) said :

Children are the cause of grief, cowardice, ignorance and miserliness.

[ Reported by al-Tabaraani in al-Kabeer, 24/241; Saheeh al-Jaami’, 1990 ]

When he said that children are the cause of grief, he meant that when a child gets sick, the parent feels grief; if the child asks for something that the father cannot provide, this grieves the father; and if the child grows up and rebels against his father, this is a cause of ongoing grief and distress.

When he said that children are the cause of cowardliness, he meant that when a man wants to fight in jihaad for the sake of Allaah, the Shaytaan comes to him and says, “You will be killed and will die, and your children will become orphans, lost and alone”, so he stays home and does not go out for jihaad.

When he said that children are the cause of ignorance, he meant that they distract a father from seeking knowledge and trying to acquire learning by attending gatherings and reading books.

When he said that they are the cause of miserliness, he meant that if a man wants to spend for the sake of Allaah, the Shaytaan reminds him of his children, so he thinks, “My children deserve the money, I will leave it for them when I die”, so he is miserly in the sense that he refrains from spending it for the sake of Allaah.

[ Weakness of Faith By Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid ]

A little boy about 6 years old was standing before a shoe store on the roadway, barefooted, peering through the window, and shivering with cold.

A lady approached the boy and said,

My little fellow, why are you looking so earnestly in that window ?

The boy replied

I was asking Allah to give me a pair of shoes.

The lady took him by the hand into the store and purchased him a pair of socks, shoes and some food to eat. She also gave him few things of daily use. She patted him on the head and said,

No doubt, my little fellow, you feel more comfortable now ?

As she turned to go, the astonished lad caught her by the hand, and looking up in her face, with tears in his eyes, answered the question with these words,

Are you Allah’s friend ?

This story relates to a hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah (radhi-Allaahu-’anhu).

Allaah’s Messenger (salla-Allaahu-’alayhi-wa-sallam) said :

Verily, Allaah, the Exalted and Glorious, would say on the Day of Resurrection :

O son of Adam, I was sick but you did not visit Me.

He would say :

O my Lord; how could I visit Thee whereas Thou art the Lord of the worlds ?

Thereupon Allaah, the Exalted and Glorious would say :

Didn’t you know that such and such servant of Mine was sick but you did not visit him and were you not aware of this that if you had visited him, you would have found Me by him ?

Then Allaah, the Exalted and Glorious would say :

O son of Adam, I asked food from you but you did not feed Me.

He would say :

My Lord, how could I feed Thee whereas Thou art the Lord of the worlds ?

Thereupon Allaah, the Exalted and Glorious would say :

Didn’t you know that such and such servant of Mine asked food from you but you did not feed him, and were you not aware that if you had fed him you would have found him by My side ?

Then Allaah, the Exalted and Glorious would say :

O son of Adam, I asked drink from you but you did not provide Me.

He would say :

My Lord, how could I provide Thee whereas Thou art the Lord of the worlds ?

Thereupon Allaah, the Exalted and Glorious would say :

Such and such of servant of Mine asked you for a drink but you did not provide him, and had you provided him drink you would have found him near Me.

[ Sahih Muslim, No. 6232 ]