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

Instead, he took the piece of coal and went to his neighbours’ houses, leaving marks on their doors! It was as if he wanted the people to be as base as him by being drunk like him, instead of wanting to raise himself to their level! There is an idiom which says, “A fornicating woman wishes that all women fornicated like her.” Sometimes you may find that a wife habitually lies to her husband. She has been cultured to be a habitual liar from a very young age. When she comes across someone who criticises her for that and advises her to speak the truth, she will try to drag her to her side of the fence. She would insist, “This is all you can do with men! You cannot live with them except by lying to them.” Some women listening to this may begin to give up their principles and change while others may remain firm on their principles. Temptations The same can be said about a manager who treats his employees nicely because he believes that this attitude benefits the work, makes everyone feel at ease with each other, and increases productivity. Yet, another manager may come along who is always angry with his employees, so perhaps he would envy the first manager and therefore attempt to convince him to deal with them differently. He may say to him, “Don’t do that… Do this… Don’t smile…” A grocer, for example, may not sell cigarettes, but then his friend comes to him and advises him to sell cigarettes to increase his profits and puts doubts in his mind to convince him of his opinion. Be brave and stick to your principles. Say in a loud voice, “Never! No matter what the temptations!” In the past, some disbelievers tried to make the Messenger of Allah  give up some of his principles, and hence, Allah said, “They wish that you compromise, so they too can compromise.” Meaning, that the disbelievers who worship idols have no principles to adhere to, and hence, they see no difficulty in giving anything up. So be wary of them ever tempting you to lose grip of your principles. Methodology Allah says, “Do not obey those who reject the truth. They wish that you compromise, so they too can compromise.” Temptations (72) Forgiving others Life is full of pains that we suffer due to others. One makes an embarrassing joke, another throws an insult, and so on. Many people intrude into others’ private matters, others argue in public gatherings, others have different viewpoints and opinions, and so on. Some of us exaggerate matters in the mind and are unwilling to forgive and forget. Some of us are too proud to accept people’s excuses and forgive them. Some people punish themselves by not forgiving others. Their hearts are often filled with envy that keeps their thoughts busy and constantly torments them. How fair is envy! It begins with the one who harbours it and ends up killing him. Therefore, do not torment yourself. There are certain things in the world that you simply cannot punish anyone over. Have a big heart, forget the past and continue to live your life as normal. When the Prophet  entered Makkah as a conqueror and the people felt secure, he came to the Ka’bah and made Tawaf on his camel. When he finished the Tawaf, he called ‘Uthman bin Talhah and took from him the keys to the Ka’bah. The Ka’bah was then opened up to him and he entered. When he entered, he saw the images of angels and other beings from Quraysh’s imagination, based on their ignorance. When he saw the image of Ibrahim with arrows, as if he was raffling with them,he said,“May Allah curse them! They depicted our Shaykh raffling with arrows to divide the food! What has Ibrahim got to do with these arrows?’” (Refer to Quran 5:3) “Ibrahim was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was a monotheist Muslim, and was not from the polytheists.” He thus ordered that all such images be effaced. He then found a pigeon made of wood, broke it with his hands and threw it away. He then stood at the door of the Ka’bah while the people had gathered around in the mosque from the Muslims and the disbelievers to watch him. He prayed two units of prayer and made his way to Zamzam. He looked into the well and asked for some water to be fetched, which he drank from and made wudu with, as the people hastily began to seek blessings from the remaining water. The pagans were left amazed. They said, “We have never seen or heard of a king being treated with this much respect.” He then approached Maqam Ibrahim and moved it away from the Ka’bah as it was previously attached to it.