Determination Of Fate

Intelligent children

Determination of fate

Abu Tayyib Madani (Shahzayb)

Dear children! About 1,500 years ago, a mother was travelling with her child when bandits kidnapped her child and offered to sell him in the popular Arab market of ‘Okaz. Fate favoured him and from here, he reached Sayyidatuna Khadijah رَضِیَ اللهُ عَنْهَا as a slave and from there, he came to the Messenger of Allah صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم. The grief-stricken father of the son, while searching the streets, one day reached the Messenger of Allah صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم and in the hope of compassion, began to cry out: ‘Have mercy on us, accept this money and return our child to us.’

The Compassionate and Merciful Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم said: ‘Ask him, if he is willing to go with you, then he can do so without any payment, and if he does not want to go, then I cannot give him to you.’ Now it was up to the child to decide. Does he want to go with his father or does he want to stay with the Merciful Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم?

So, while declaring the decision of his fate, he said: ‘Who can I favour more than him (i.e. the Messenger of Allah صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم)? He is more beloved to me than anyone else.’

Hearing the answer against his expectation, the father said: ‘Son! You are giving up freedom and choosing slavery!’ Pointing to the Holy Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم, the child said: ‘I will never leave the side of this great individual.’ Upon hearing his affectionate reply, the Messenger of Allah صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم not only set him free, but also said: ‘Zayd is my son from today.’ (Tabaqat Ibn-e-Sa’d, vol. 3, pp. 29-31; Meezan-ul-‘Itidal, vol. 2, pp. 495-496)

Wise children! This child, who was the first slave to accept faith was Sayyiduna Zayd Bin Haarisah رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ, the companion of the Holy Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم. The Messenger of Allah صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم loved him very much. For this reason, the world knows him by the title of حِبُّ رسول اللہ , meaning ‘the Beloved of the Messenger of Allah صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم’.