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

Al-Mughirah bin Shu’bah stood up, took an axe and turned to the Companions who were with him and said, “By Allah, I will make you laugh over Thaqif!” Al-Mughira bin Shu’bah then approached the idol, struck it with the axe, fell on the ground and began to shake his leg. Upon seeing this, the people of Thaqif screamed with joy, “May Allah distance al-Mughirah from His mercy! Ar-Rabbah has killed him!” They then turned to the rest of the Companions and said, “Whoever of you wants to break the idol, let him step forward!” Thereupon, al-Mughirah stood up laughing and said, “Woe to you, O people of Thaqif! I was only joking! This idol is only made of stone! Turn to Allah in repentance and worship Him alone!” He then turned to the idol to destroy it whilst the people were still there, looking on. He finally destroyed the idol, stone by stone, until it was levelled it to the ground. Steadiness on principles Revelation… “Whoever seeks people’s pleasure at the displeasure of Allah, Allah becomes displeased with him, as do the people. And whoever seeks the pleasure of Allah for the displeasure of people, Allah becomes pleased with him, as do the people” Steadiness on principles (71) Temptations I read about a young Muslim in Britain who came across an advertisement by a company looking for escorts. He went to the interview to find a group of young men comprised of Muslims and non-Muslims. The interviewees were entering into the interview room one after the other, and every time a person would come out, those waiting outside would ask, “What did they ask you? What did you say?” One of the important questions they asked the interviewees was, “How much alcohol do you drink a day?” When the young man’s turn came, he entered and began to answer their questions. During the session, they asked the same question. The young man thought to himself that perhaps he should lie and say that he drinks alcohol like the rest of the young men, just so that they would not think that he was a strict Muslim. He also contemplated speaking the truth and saying, “I am a Muslim and Allah has forbidden me from drinking alcohol. Therefore, I do not drink.” After some quick thinking, he decided to speak the truth. Thus, he said, “I do not drink.” They said, “Why? Are you ill?” He said, “No, but rather because I am a Muslim and alcohol is forbidden for me.” They said, “Meaning, you don’t drink? Even on the weekends?” He said, “Yes. I do not drink at all.” They looked at each other in surprise. When the results were published, his name was top of the list! He began to work with them and several months passed. One day, he spoke to one of the interviewers and asked him, “Why did you ask questions about alcohol consumption?” He said, “Because the job is to do with escorting, and every time we have employed a young man, we would be surprised to discover that he drank and got drunk. When we realised that you do not drink, we knew that we got the person we were looking for, and hence we employed you!” How wonderful it is to stick to your principles, despite temptations! The problem is that we live in a society where it is difficult to find those who stick to their principles – people who live and die for them, those who rigidly adhere to them in the face of temptations. If you follow the right method and adhere to the straight path, then those who believe in different principles will never leave you alone. Whenever you refuse a bribe, the friends who are attempting to bribe you are angered. Whenever you refuse to indulge in illicit sexual relations, those who do indulge in them will become upset with you. Temptations It is related that ‘Umar bin al-Khattab – may Allah be pleased with him – was once on a night patrol. He passed by a house in the darkest part of the night and heard the people therein laughing and fooling around as if they were drunk. He did not wish to knock at their door at night and feared he might have wrongly assumed that they were drunk. He therefore wished to ascertain the matter. He therefore took a piece of coal, made a mark on the door, and left. The owner of the house heard something at the door, so he went out and noticed the mark. He looked up to see the back of ‘Umar and understood what had happened. What he should have done was to wipe out the mark and that would have been the end of the matter. But he didn’t do that.