Several years ago an Imaam moved to London . He often took the bus from his home to the local shopping centre.
One day after boarding the bus he sat down and discovered that the driver had accidentally given him twenty pence too much change. As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, you better give the twenty pence back. It would be wrong to keep it. Then he thought, oh forget it, it's only twenty pence. Who would worry about this little amount?
Anyway, the bus company already gets too much fare; they will never miss it. Accept it as a gift from Almighty Allah and keep quiet.
When his stop came, the Imaam paused momentarily at the door, and then he handed the twenty pence back to the driver and said "Here, you gave me too much change".
The driver with a smile replied "Aren't you the new Imaam in this area? I have been thinking lately about going to worship at your masjid. I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change."
When the Imaam stepped off the bus, his knees became weak and soft. He had to grab the nearest light pole and held for support, and looked up to the heavens and cried "Oh Allah, I almost sold Islam for twenty pence!"
Remember, we may never see the impact our actions have on people.
Sometimes we are the only knowledge of Quran that someone will read, or the only Islam a non-Muslim will see. What we need to provide, Insha Allah, is an example for others to see.
Be careful and be honest everyday, because you never know who is watching your actions and judging you as a Muslim.
1 comment:
My daughter M`s feelings: She keeps sharing how once she was a few pennies short and she bought an icecream from street icecream vendor and asked him to wait. When she went back to give him the money he was already gone. and she stopped buying icecream from street vendors after that.. She still feels like she owes him that money..
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