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

He raised his gaze to the sky, and as he did that, al-Miqdad became terrified and thought,“Now he is going to pray against me!” But he was to be surprised at what he heard. He heard the Prophet  pray, “O Allah! Quench the thirst of whoever quenches mine, Forgiving others and feed whoever feeds me.” When al-Miqdad heard this, he thought to himself, “Take benefit of the Prophet’ prayer!” He got up, took a knife and approached the goats to pick one, slaughter it, and feed it to the Prophet . He began to feel the goats to see which of them was the meatiest and most fitting to be slaughtered. Meanwhile, his hands fell on the udders of one of the goats, and it was full of milk. He looked at the other goat and it too was full of milk! He then noticed that they all had milk. He milked them all in a large utensil until it became full to the brim. He then took it to the Prophet  and said, “Drink, O Messenger of Allah!” When the Messenger of Allah  saw the amount of milk, he said, “Did you not drink your portions, O Miqdad?” He replied, “Just drink, O Messenger of Allah…” He said, “What happened?” Al-Miqdad replied, “Drink first, and then I will tell you what happened…” The Prophet  drank some and then handed over the utensil to al-Miqdad. Al-Miqdad said, “Drink, O Messenger of Allah…” He drank and gave it to al-Miqdad, but he said again, “Drink, O Messenger of Allah!” Al-Miqdad then completed the story and said, “When I realised that the Prophet’s thirst had been quenched, and that I was therefore worthy of being blessed by his prayer: ‘O Allah! Quench the thirst of whoever quenches mine, and feed whoever feeds me’, I laughed so much that I fell on the floor!” Forgiving others Upon seeing this, the Prophet  said, “What did you do wrong?” He said, “O Messenger of Allah, you returned late today, and I was still hungry. I thought to myself that perhaps the Messenger of Allah had something to eat whilst visiting some Ansar…” He related to him the full story, including the fact that the goats were milked twice in one evening very unusually. Even the Prophet  became amazed as to how can the goats’ udders became full so quickly, for it is impossible for a goat to be milked twice in an evening! The Prophet  said, “This was only due to Allah’s mercy. If you were to have informed me of this before I finished the milk, perhaps you could have awoken your two friends to share in this, too.” Al-Miqdad said, “I swear by the one who has sent you with the truth, so long as you are a recipient of Allah’s mercy and I have a share in that, I don’t care whoever receives Allah’s mercy after us!” Point of view… Life is all about give and take, so give more than you take. Forgiving others (73) Generosity The Prophet  once asked a people, “Who is your leader?” They said, “Our leader is so and on, although we consider him to be stingy!” He said, “What disease is worse than stinginess? Rather, your leader is so-and-so with the white complexion and curly hair!” This was part of a conversation that took place between a tribe and the Messenger of Allah . When they embraced Islam, the Prophet  asked them who their leader was so he could choose him or someone else as their leader after they had embraced Islam. Yes, what disease is as bad as stinginess? How ugly the trait of stinginess is, and how averse to it people are! How wretched the stingy are! One of them would never think of organising a dinner party in his house for his friends, in order to draw closer to them. He would hardly give gifts. He would not look after his appearance and would never pay attention to how he smells, in order to save money. As for the generous one, then he generously spends on his friends. He is always close to those he loves. If they want to meet up, they know to meet in his house. If one of them is lacking in anything, he is the first one to offer help, thereby capturing their hearts by his generosity. He enslaves their hearts with his kindness. It is important to remember when you show generosity to anyone that your intention be good. Your intention should be to improve brotherhood amongst the Muslims and earn their love, as well as of course getting closer to Allah by showing them kindness. One should not be generous for fame, leadership, or to hear praises. The Prophet  said, “The Fire of Hell will first be ablaze by three people,” and of the three he mentioned a person who used to spend generously so that it was said that he was generous.