A Dead Lamb Anyone?


“Jabir b. Abdullah reported that Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi
wasallam) happened to walk through the bazaar coming from the side of
'Aliya and people were on both sides of him. There he found a dead
lamb with very short ears. He took hold of its ear and said: ‘Who
amongst you would like to have this for a dirham?’ They said: ‘We
would not like to have it even for less than that as it is of no use
to us.’ He said: ‘Do you wish to have it (free of any cost)?’ They
said: ‘By Allah, even if it were alive (we would not have liked to
possess it), for there is defect in it, as its ear is very short; on
top of that it is dead now.’ Thereupon, Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi
wasallam) said: ‘By Allah, this world is more insignificant in the
eyes of Allah than (this dead lamb) is in your eyes.’” [Muslim]

This hadith is a wonderful reminder of the insignificance of this
world; yet how much we fret for it. Our worries for the things of this
world should be more proportionate to their importance. We ask Allah
(subhana wa ta'ala) to give us eternity, never ending life. On top of
that we want it in a place better than we can possibly imagine. In it
we expect to have youth for ever, no noise, nothing unpleasant, no
worries. In this everlasting life, in Paradise, we also expect to get
more beautiful and enjoy more luxuries with each passing day, although
after the first day we cannot imagine that anything could be better.
We expect never to be separated from our loved ones, or feel anything
except positive emotions. In return for this, when Allah (subhana wa
ta'ala) asks us to obey Him for just 70-80 years, maybe a little more
or a little less, we think it too much? He is asking you for a drop,
while you are asking Him for the ocean!

This hadith also illustrates what an exceptional teacher Rasul Allah
(sal Allahu alaihi wasallam) was. We know what impact visual aids
have. The more theoretical the words, the less of an impact they have,
the more the thoughts can be translated into visuals or experiential,
the more lasting its impact. Now we have educationists teaching us to
use the same techniques that were employed by Rasul Allah (sal Allahu
alaihi wasallam) as a teacher.

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