5. Would you like to meet him outside the institution? (cont.)

Meanwhile, ‘Umar’s wife called out from inside the tent and said, “O Amir al-Mu’minin! Glad tidings of a baby boy!” When the man heard the words, “Amir al-Mu’minin” he became shocked and said, “Are you the Caliph, ‘Umar bin al-Khattab?” “Yes, I am”, replied ‘Umar. The man was bemused and began to distance himself from ‘Umar. ‘Umar said, “Stay in your place.” To worship in secret He then got hold of the plate, placed it next to the tent and called out to his wife, Umm Kulthum saying, “Take some food for her.” The woman then ate some food and left the rest outside the tent. ‘Umar then took the plate and placed it in front of the man and said, “Have something to eat, for you haven’t slept since last night.” ‘Umar then called his wife out of the tent and said to the man, “Do come to us tomorrow and we will give you whatever you wish.” May Allah have mercy on ‘Umar for his humbleness and secret acts of worship which he did for the sole objective of earning Allah’s love. ‘Ali bin al-Husayn – may Allah have mercy upon him and his father – would carry a sack of bread on his back at night and give it in charity. He would say, “Giving charity in secret extinguishes Allah’s wrath.” When he died, black marks were found on his back, and it was said, “This is the back of a person who carries loads, but as far as we are aware, he never worked as someone who did that.” When the food supply stopped reaching a hundred homes in Madinah - and these were the homes of widows and orphans who would receive their food supply at night while not knowing who delivered it to them – people realised that it was ‘Ali bin al-Husayn who would bring these food supplies and spend on these people. One of the Salaf fasted for twenty years, fasting a day and not fasting the next, whilst his family had absolutely no knowledge of it. He would have a shop that he would go to at sunrise taking To worship in secret with him his breakfast and lunch. If it was the day he was fasting, he would give his food in charity. If it was the day he was not fasting, he would eat the food. After sunset, he would return to his family and have dinner with them. Yes! They would endeavour to make their acts of worship solely for Allah. They are the ones who are truly pious and about whom Allah says, “Indeed! For the duteous is achievement - Gardens enclosed and vineyards, and full-breasted maidens of companions; And a full cup. There hear they never vain discourse, nor lying − Requital from thy Lord − a gift in payment.” Seek the love of the Creator, and He will place in the hearts of the creation the love for you. Enlightenment… The objective is not to make people love you superficially, but they should really love you in their hearts. To worship in secret (66) Take them out of the ditch Has it ever happened to you that a person humiliated you publicly by insulting or ridiculing you about anything, even if it be about something as minor as your clothes, your words or your manners, such that your face changed colour as your discomfort became visible? But then, suddenly, another person came to your defence and you felt greatly indebted to him for helping you? Perhaps it was as if he had grabbed hold of your clothes to rescue you just as someone else tried to push you into a ditch. Practise this skill with others and you will see it having wondrous effects. You visit a person and notice his son coming with a plate of food, and while in the process of doing so, he hurries and nearly drops it. His father becomes angry at him and screams, “Why the hurry? How many times must I tell you not to hurry?” You notice that the son’s face turns red with embarrassment. You say, “No. Don’t say that. He’s the man! MashaAllah, look at him, he is carrying all of this by himself.