Asalaamu alaikum G-l,
Alhamdulillah and a Jewish boy asked Shaickh al-Munajjid:
Question:
Hi.
I live in a Jew house, but for a long time I'm learning about
the islam and the quran.
I think the Islam the the right way, and want to learn more
about it and maybe to become a muslim. What to do?
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
You may be a young man for whom Allaah wills good. We admire
you because, although you live in a Jewish family, you have been
reading about Islam and the Qur’aan for some time, and you think
that Islam is the true religion. All of this is a great achievement and an
important step, for which you deserve to be encouraged. Your search
for the truth at your age shows that your reasoning is strong and that
your thinking is correct. So we congratulate you for the way in which
you are thinking, and advise you to read more and to look at good
Islamic sites on the Internet. On this site you will find a lot of
information and answers to questions from people whose
circumstances are similar to yours. Now let us look at the story of a
Jewish youth who lived at the time of the Prophet of Islam,
Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him):
From Anas (may Allâh be pleased with him): a young man from
among the Jews used to serve the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him). The boy became sick, and the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) came to visit him
when he was on his death-bed. He called him to Islam, and the boy
looked at his father, who was standing by his head. His father said,
“Listen to Abu’l-Qaasim.” [Abu’l-Qaasim (Father of al-Qaasim) was
the kunya or “nickname” of the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) – it is an Arab custom to address people as
“Father of” and “Mother of” their oldest son – Translator]. So the boy
became Muslim, then he died. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) came away from him saying, “Praise
be to Allaah Who has saved him from the Hell-Fire.” (Reported by
Imaam Ahmad, 12896; also narrated in Saheeh al-Bukhaari, 1268).
So go ahead and embrace Islam as your predecessor did, so that you
will be saved from Hell and will earn the victory of Paradise as great
as the heavens and the earth.
We also want to present you with the following story which contains
an important lesson and a moving account of a young man who
looked for the truth, and was helped by Allaah to find it:
Haddaab ibn Khaalid told us, Hammaad ibn Salamah told us, Thaabit
told us from ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn Abi Layla from Suhayb that the
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“There was a king among the people who came before you who had a
magician. When the magician grew old, he said to the king, ‘I have
grown old, so send me a boy to whom I can teach magic.’ So the king
sent him a boy, and he taught him magic. On his way, the boy passed
by a monk, so he sat with him and listened to him, and he liked what
he said. When he came to the magician, he passed by the monk and
sat with him, then when he came to the magician, he hit him because
he was late. The boy complained about that to the monk, who said,
‘If you are afraid of the magician, tell him, ‘I was late because of my
family’ and if you are afraid of your family, tell them, ‘I was late
because of the magician.’ Whilst this was going on, he came across
a huge beast that was blocking the people’s way. He said, ‘Today I
will know whether the monk is better or the magician.’ He picked up a
stone and said, ‘O Allâh, if the monk’s way is dearer to you than the
magician’s way, then kill this beast so that the people may go on their
way.’ Then he threw the stone and killed the beast, and the people
went on their way. He came to the monk and told him what had
happened. The monk said to him, ‘O my son, today you are better
than I, you have reached such a level and now you will be tested. If
you are put to the test, do not tell anyone about me.’ The young man
began to heal the blind and the lepers, and to cure people from all
kinds of sickness. One of the king’s courtiers who had become blind
heard about him, so he brought him many gifts and said, ‘Whatever I
have piled up here is for you, if you heal me.’ The boy said, ‘I do not
heal anyone, it is Allaah who heals. If you believe in Allaah and call on
Allaah, He will heal you.’ So he believed in Allaah and and Allaah
healed him. Then he came to the king and sat with him as he had
always done. The king said to him, ‘Who gave you back your sight?’
He said, ‘My Lord.’ The king said, ‘Do you have any lord other than
me?’ He said, ‘My Lord and your Lord is Allaah.’ So the king took
him and kept touring him until he told him about the boy. So the boy
was brought to the king, who said, ‘O my son, I have heard about
your magic, that you heal the blind and the leper, and you do such and
such.’ The boy said, ‘I do not heal anyone, it is Allaah Who heals.’
The took him and tortured him until he told him about the monk. The
monk was brought and was told, ‘Give up your religion,’ and he
refused. So a saw was brought and placed on the top of his head, and
he was cut in two. Then the king’s courtier was brought and was told,
‘Give up your religion,’ and he refused. So a saw was brought and
placed on the top of his head, and he was cut in two. Then the boy
was brought and was told, ‘Give up your religion,’ and he refused.
The king gave him to a group of his companions and said, ‘Take him
to such and such a mountain, and take him up the mountain. When
you reach the top of the mountain, if he gives up his religion (then
leave him alone), otherwise throw him down. So they took him up the
mountain, and the boy said, ‘O Allaah, protect me from them in
whatever manner You wish.’ So the mountain was shaken and they
fell down, and the boy came walking back to the king. The king
asked, ‘What happened to your companions?’ He said, ‘Allaah
protected me from them.’ Then the king gave him to another group of
his companions, and said, ‘Take him and put him on a ship, then take
him to the middle of the sea. If he gives up his religion (then leave him
alone), otherwise throw him overboard. So they took him and he said,
‘O Allaah, protect me from them in whatever manner You wish.’ The
boat was turned upside down and they drowned, and the boy came
walking back to the king. The king asked, ‘What happened to your
companions?’ He said, ‘Allaah protected me from them.’ The boy
said to the king: ‘You will not be able to kill me unless you do what I
tell you.’ The king said, ‘What is that then?’ He said, ‘Gather the
people together in one place and crucify me on a tree-trunk, then take
an arrow from my quiver and put it in your bow. Then say, “In the
name of Allaah, the Lord of the boy” and shoot me. If you do that,
you will kill me.’ So the king gathered the people in one place,
crucified the boy on a tree-trunk, took an arrow from his quiver and
placed it in his bow. Then he said, ‘In the name of Allaah, the Lord of
the boy’ and shot him. The arrow hit his temple (the side of his head),
and he put his hand on the side of his head where he had been hit, and
died. The people said, ‘We believe in the Lord of the boy, we believe
in the Lord of the boy, we believe in the Lord of the boy.’ Someone
came to the king and said, ‘Do you see what you were afraid of? By
Allâh, what you were afraid of has happened to you now.’ So he
ordered that ditches should be dug at the intersections of the streets,
and they were dug and fires were lit in them. Then he said, ‘Whoever
does not give up his religion, throw him into them’ or it was said,
‘Throw yourselves in’. They did this until they came to a woman who
had a baby with her. She felt scared to throw herself in, but the infant
said to her, ‘O mother, have patience, for you are on the right path.’”
(Reported by Muslim in his Saheeh, 5327).
After telling this moving story about a boy coming to know the truth
and believe in it and adhere to it, we would like to say to you if you
think that your family will give you a hard time if you become
Muslim, then you can keep your Islam secret and do your prayers in
secret, until Allaah finds a way for you, for He will find the best way
for you. We welcome you as a reader and questioner, and as a future
brother in Islam, in sha Allaah.
May Allah benefit us with His guidance. Allahumma salli wasallim ala
Nabiyyina Muhammad. Wasalaam.
Modou Mbye
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
