After this, the Muslim man awake shouting and asking about the poor widow. People told him that she had gone to the Zoroastrian. Bare footed, he ran to the Zoroastrian’s house and knocked at his door.
Dear kids! This incident took place almost five hundred years ago. There used to live an affluent Muslim in the city of Samarkand. One day a widow came to him along with her two orphan daughters. She requested him saying, “I am a Muslim and belong to the family of Prophet (ﷺ). I have two young girls along with me and we are helpless. Provide us with shelter and the girls are very hungry so also give some food for them”. The Muslim man said, “Provide a witness to prove that you belong to the family of Prophet (ﷺ)”. The poor woman replied with grief that she was a stranger in the city and nobody knew her. The Muslim man turned away from the poor woman saying, “Many people come over here and claim that they belong to the family of Prophet (ﷺ) so they should be helped”.
Hiding her grief in her heart, the poor woman silently left his house. She asked someone if there was any wealthy person living in the city. He told her that a Zoroastrian lived there who was very generous and suggested her to go for him for help. The poor lady was so helpless that she went to him, told him the whole account and requested him for shelter. The Zoroastrian immediately took the woman and her daughters to his home, gave them food and a room to live in.
In the night, the Prophet (ﷺ) came in the Muslim man’s dream. He saw that the Prophet (ﷺ) was raising a flag upon a beautiful palace. The Muslim man asked, “O Prophet (ﷺ)! Whom does this beautiful palace belong to?” The Prophet (ﷺ) replied, “It belongs to a Muslim”. The Muslim man said, “O Allah’s Prophet (ﷺ)! I am also a Muslim”. The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Provide a proof of your being a Muslim”, saying this the Prophet (ﷺ) became angry and said, “My daughter came to you along with her two orphan girls and requested you for shelter, you demanded her to provide witnesses and then reproved her asking her to go away from your eyes”. After this, the Muslim man awake shouting and asking about the poor widow. People told him that she had gone to the Zoroastrian. Bare footed, he ran to the Zoroastrian’s house and knocked at his door. The Zoroastrian came out and asked, “Why you come at this time of night have, is everything ok?” The Muslim man said, “Where is that widow and her daughter, I have come to take them along. Send that woman and her daughter with me”. The Zoroastrian said, “Where were you before? I cannot agree to this now”.
The Muslim man said, “Ask me for whatever property you want. I’m giving you ten thousand Dinars right now and will pay you as much as you ask for but handover this woman and her daughters to me”.
Hearing this, the Zoroastrian cried and said, “I made a blind deal, now I will not return her to you”. The Muslim man said, “I am a Muslim and that poor lady and her daughters are also Muslim than why don’t you return them to me?” The Zoroastrian cried and said, “The moment that lady came to my house, I started reciting Kalima and became Muslim. My family has also recited Kalima. Alhamdulillah now we are not Zoroastrians but Muslims. Islam entered my house with the arrival of that widow. How can I listen to you now? How can I turn out the family of my Prophet (ﷺ) from my house? And yes! Listen carefully that I have seen the same dream. Your Prophet (ﷺ) was denying you and my Prophet (ﷺ) was accepting me”.
Dear kids! See how a non-Muslim was blessed with the wealth of belief (ایمان) and also a beautiful palace in heaven (Jannah) because of helping a poor widow. We should also provide every possible help to the poor and needy of our society without letting others know so that we get the best of the reward for our good deed. (Saleemullah Soomro, Kundyaro)
The Small Squirrel
It was the end of winters, the sun was getting warmer. The small squirrel peeped out of her house, “O wow!” she became happy seeing a beautiful bud on a rose plant. “The spring is here!” she said happily. She had spent four long months of winter locked in her house. Upon getting bored she used to ask her mother, “Mom when will we be able to go outside”? Her mother used to reply, “Right now it’s the month of December and it’s very cold outside. After December, it will be January and then February. The weather will start changing by then and in the month of March you will surely be jumping on the trees”. The small squirrel was counting days. She loved climbing up and down the trees and running on the grass. Moreover, she was missing her friends, the colorful butterflies, and the melodiously singing sparrows. She had become sad without them. Today when she saw the rose bud, she ran to her mother saying, “Mother, Mother look! Flowers are blooming on the branches, can we go out now?” Mother peeped out carefully and saw that the grass was turning green, young buds were sprouting on the trees, a small red rose was smiling in the flower bed and many others were ready to bloom. Mother smiled and said, “Yes, now you can go outside”. The small squirrel quickly jumped off to go out. Ahh! She took a deep breath in the open air. She was completely brimful with the feeling of freedom. She was running from one tree to another. If found something to eat, she held it in her small hands and cut with her teeth. She kept running for quite some time but then she got bored. ‘I am not enjoying”. She said to herself. “I thought I was getting bored because of being bound at home, and I will enjoy a lot upon going out in spring then what’s happening now?” while she was thinking this, there came a melodious sound, “As Salam Alaikum! Miss Squirrel, happy spring”. The squirrel looked up. She found robin sparrow looking at her from a tree. The small squirrel became happy and climbed up the tree. Robin sparrow was her very close friend. While they were greeting each other myna, dove, pigeon and nightingale also came there. Now the small squirrel became very happy. And this happiness increased when
