Classroom
Crossing the River
Haider Ali Madani
Mr. Bilāl taught the lesson well using the whiteboard, and now, only the reading was left. He looked at the children and asked, “Who will read today?” A lot of children raised their hands, but the teacher looked at a child in the second row and said, “Kamrān, start reading. I have not heard you read for a long time.” Mr. Bilāl looked at his book waiting for Kamrān to read, but he did not read. The teacher looked up and saw Kamrān and Ali Raza, the student next to him, talking.
“What’s the matter Kamrān? Do you not want to read or is Ali Raza stopping you?” Mr. Bilāl asked with a smile on his face.
“Sir, Ali Raza isn’t giving me the book,” Kamrān protested.
“This is my book. Kamrān doesn’t bring his own book to class,” Ali Raza responded.
“I’ve lost my book, Mr. Bilāl,” said Kamrān,
“That’s enough! Ali, share your book with Kamrān. Did you know the beloved Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم said, ‘Allah continues to help a person for as long as he helps his brother.’”[1]
When Kamrān finished reading the lesson, there was some time left before the period ended. MuꜤāwiyah, the class monitor, said, “Mr. Bilāl, please tell us a story.”
“Children, tell me which Islamic month we are in,” Mr. Bilāl asked whilst looking at the time on his wrist watch. Only a couple of children raised their hands, and the teacher pointed at one of them to answer. The student replied, “Sir, the current Islamic month is RabīꜤ al-Thānī.”
“Well done! Just as we remember a pious predecessor every month, this month we remember Shaykh ꜤAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه.”
“Is this the Shaykh ꜤAbd al-Qādir رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه who bravely spoke the truth when confronted by thieves?” MuꜤāwiyah asked.
“Yes, that’s correct! We also call him the king of Baghdad and Ghiyārwī wālā Pīr. Shaykh ꜤAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه had countless good virtues, like love for Allah Almighty and His beloved Messenger صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم, passion for worship, knowledge, and generosity. The Shaykh said he could not save money. He mentioned, ‘If I received 1,000 dinars in the morning, I would have nothing left in the evening.’[2] This means he would have used the money to fulfil the needs of the poor.”
“What are dinars?” Kamrān asked.
Mr Bilāl replied, “It is a form of currency. Today we have paper currency, but people in the past used gold and silver coins to buy and sell. Silver coins were called dirhams and gold coins were called dinars. Let me tell you a parable about his generosity. There is a river in Iraq called the Tigris. Even during the era of the Shaykh, people used boats to travel across rivers. One day, the Shaykh saw someone upset and after asking how he was, the man replied, ‘I want to cross the Tigris River, but I do not have any money to pay the boatman.’ At that point, a devotee of the Shaykh gave the Shaykh 30 dinars as a gift. Shaykh ꜤAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه gave the money to the man and said, ‘Give this to the sailor and tell him not to refuse transporting the poor across the river.’”[3]
Upon hearing the silence of the children, Mr. Bilāl said, “It looks like you do not understand. The fare for crossing the river was one or two dinars, but Shaykh ꜤAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه gave him 30 dinars.” The children understood the generosity of the Shaykh and slogans of سبحان اللہ filled the classroom. The teacher looked at the clock and said, “We are not like the pious predecessors, but we can help people as much as we can.”
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