Among the prominent rulers of Afghanistan during
the 1800s was a man named Dost Muhammad Khan who passed away in 1863.
At one point
during his rule, he appointed one of his sons as his successor. After some
time, when an enemy force attacked his kingdom, he dispatched this very son to
defend the kingdom and recover the territory that was lost to the invading
forces. On the instruction of his father, the son set out with an army.
Later on,
Dost Muhammad Khan received the news that his son had been defeated and had
fled from the battlefield. Extremely pained, grieved and disappointed, he
entered his home and addressed the boy’s mother saying, “Our son has turned out
to be weak and cowardly! He has suffered defeat and is fleeing the battlefield,
whereas this is the time for him to show his courage and bravery! Furthermore,
I have appointed him as my successor. The people will now tell me that I have
appointed a weakling and a coward as my successor. This has caused me immense
grief and disappointment.”
When the
boy’s mother heard this, she confidently remarked, “The news that you received
is incorrect. It is not possible for my son to have been defeated.” Dost
Muhammad Khan was astonished and said, “I received this information through
official, authentic channels. How can you sit here, in this home, and tell me
that this reliable information is incorrect?”
After a
period of time had passed, Dost Muhammad Khan received the information that his
son had actually won the battle and was now returning home victorious! Dost
Muhammad Khan was overjoyed and rushed home to inform the boy’s mother. After
telling her the news, he asked her, “Tell me, how were you able to say with
such conviction and certainty, while seated within your home, that the
information was incorrect?”
The mother
replied, “I would not have normally revealed this to anyone. However, because
you have instructed me to tell you the reason, I will do so. When I conceived
and I was carrying the prince, I decided that let alone haraam food – I would
not even allow a single morsel of doubtful food to pass my lips. I understood
that haraam food weakens the heart, causing a believer to lose his courage,
strength and bravery. I thus ensured that I ate only halaal food so that he
would be blessed with bravery and strength. After taking this decision, I
complied with it completely, ensuring that I only ate halaal. After the boy was
born, I decided to adhere to two things. The first is that I would never suckle
the child when I was in the state of impurity (needing ghusal). In fact, over
and above being in a state of purity, I would also make wudhu. Furthermore,
whenever I was able to, I would recite Surah Yaseen while suckling him. The
second is that I continued to ensure that I consumed only halaal food so that
the suckling child would not be affected by the ill effects of haraam food
through the milk he drank. When he marched to combat the enemy, then on account
of my adhering to these actions, I had complete conviction that he would return
victorious. That is how I knew that the information which you received was incorrect.”
(Islaahi Bayaanaat - Mufti
‘Abdur Raoof Sukkharwi vol. 2, pg. 109-111)
Lessons:
1. When a
person eats food, then the nutrients such as proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins,
minerals, etc., assist his body positively. Similarly, any contaminants that
may exist in the food such as pesticides, chemicals, etc., affect his body
negatively. In exactly the same manner, when the food is halaal, it assists his
imaam in a positive manner, and when the food is haraam or contaminated with
haraam, it affects his imaan in a negative manner. As a result, the food that
we eat has great influence over our motivation to carry out good deeds and
refrain from haraam. Hence, when the prince was a ‘product’ of piety and
purity, his imaan gave him the courage to stand and fight against the invaders.
2. As
parents, what we put into our children, both literally (food and drink) and
figuratively (values and morals), is what we will get out from our children.
The need of the hour is thus for us to feed their bodies and souls with only
that which is pure, and avoid exposing them to things that are evil and impure.
May Allah (swt) make us from amongst the pious, Aameen!
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