Fajr Prayer

A man woke up early in order to pray the dawn prayers in the mosque. He got dressed, made ablution and was on his way to the mosque. On his way the man fell and his clothes got dirty. He got up, brushed himself off and headed home. At home, he changed his clothes, made his ablution, and was again on his way to the mosque. On his way to the mosque he fell again in the same spot. He again got up, brushed himself off and headed home. At home, he once again changed his clothes, made ablution and was on his way to the mosque. On his way to the mosque he met a man holding a lamp. He asked the man of his identity and the man replied “I saw you fall twice on your way to the mosque, so I brought a lamp so I can light your way.”

He thanked the man holding the lamp profusely and the two where on their way to the masjid. Once at the masjid, the first man encouraged the man with the lamp to come in and pray the dawn prayer with him but he refused. He asked him a couple more times but his answer was the same. The first man asked him why he did not wish to come in and pray. The man replied “I am Satan”.

The man was shocked at this reply. Satan went on to explain: “I saw you on your way to the mosque and it was I who made you fall. When you went home, cleaned yourself and headed back to the mosque, Allah forgave all of your sins. I made you fall a second time and even that did not encourage you to stay home, but rather, you went back on your way to the mosque. Because of that, Allah forgave all the sins of the people of your household. I was afraid that if I made you fall one more time, then Allah might forgive the sins of the people of your entire village, so I made sure that you reached the mosque safely.”

So do not let Satan benefit from his actions. Do not put off a good that you intended to do as you never know how much reward you might receive from the hardships you encounter while trying to achieve that good.

Text via H. Ali

Pic via Flickr: Blind-eye