Malik bin Dinar narrated the
following story about himself, saying, "I was a man who indulged in fun and
enjoyment and suffered from an overwhelmingly addiction to wine. I bought a
slave girl with whom I was very happy. She later gave birth to a beautiful
girl who I loved dearly. I saw her progress from crawling to walking.
Whenever I sat down for a drink, she would come and take the cup from my
hands and spill the wine on the ground. At the tender age of two years she
died and left me grieving. It was the night of the fifteenth of Sha'ban and
I fell asleep drunk. I saw in my dream that it was the Day of Resurrection
and I came out of my grave with a huge sea serpent after me. I began to run
but it chased me. The faster I ran, the faster it came. I passed by an old
man dressed in clean garments who was very weak. I called out to him "O
Sheikh, please save me from this monster!" He replied, "O my son, I am a
very old man and this monster is too powerful for me,. I cannot prevail from
it. Perhaps if you carry on someone else may be able to help you.''
I continued to run, with serpent still following me. I passed by a pit of
blazing fire and was about to fall into it, but someone said, ''You are not
its inhabitant,'' On hearing this I turned and ran towards the mountain, I
found that there were many gates to it and each gate had guards. A voice
called out, ''Let this wretched man in before his enemy captures him.'' The
gates opened and I saw a group of children there faces shone like the moo,
and among them was my little girl! She came towards me like a beam of light
and with her right hand hit the serpent, which then fled. She sat by me and
said, ''O my father, has not the time arrived for the heart of those who
believe to submit to Allah's reminder (Dhikr) and the truth (Quran) which
has been revealed?'' I replied, ;;O my child, do you know the Qur'an?'' She
answered, ''I learnt it from you.'' I the asked, ''O my daughter, What are
you doing here?'' She said we are Muslim children who have died and we will
live here until the Day of Resurrection and wait for our parents.'' At this
I said , '' O my daughter, who was that monster chasing and trying to kill
me?'' She said, ''O my father, that was your bad deeds, which you
accumulated and could have destroyed you.'' I then asked, ''And who was that
weak old man?'' She said, ''He was you good deeds, which you weakened to
such an extant that they had no power to defend you. Therefore, O my father,
repent and turn towards Allah, and be not among those who will perish,''
Suddenly I woke up. I repented for my sins and turned to Allah.
The lesson we learn from this tory is that when young children die in
infancy and their parents show patience and control of their emotions, it
becomes a means of their salvation in the Hereafter. Allah Most High has
taught us, when He tries us with an afflicton, to say: All praise is due to
Allah. Truly, we are Allah's and truly unto Him is the return. |