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HUMILITY
OF THE ISLAMIC SCHOLARS
Shah
‘Abbas, the king of Iran, always enjoyed being in the company of the
learned people. Once he went on an outing with a group of Scholars which
also consisted of two great Mujtahideen of that time namely Shaykh Bahai
and Mir Damaad.
The horse
of Shaykh Bahai was trotting with pomp and elegance while the horse on
which Mir Damaad was riding moved slowly and with dignity. On seeing
this, Shah ‘Abbas decided to test the Scholars separately. He first came
to Mir Damaad and said, “Just look at Shaykh Bahai, how boastfully he
is riding!” Mir Damaad replied, “It is not the Shaykh but the
animal that is cognizant of the precious burden it is carrying and is
therefore trotting proudly”.
Few
minutes later, the Shah came to Shaykh Bahai and said, “O Shaykh! It
is joy to be in your company when you are riding. How nice is your
style! On the other hand it is painful to have the company of Mir Damaad.
Look how slowly and sluggishly he rides!”
Thereupon
Shaykh Bahai said, “O Shah! It is certainly not the fault of Mir
Damaad. It is the animal which he is riding that moves slowly. After
all, it does find the great dignified load of noble Sharia’h on its back
and thus feels obliged to tread with dignity”.
When Shah
‘Abbas heard this, he immediately dismounted from his horse and
prostrated to Allah (SWT) in thanksgiving, saying: “O Allah! Thanks
to You that there are such great learned people amongst us who respect
each other”. (Lessons from Life)
Knowledge
is like a fruit. The more the fruits grow on a tree, the more its
branches bow down. Similarly, the more knowledge one acquires, the more
humble he becomes.
In praise
of Scholars of Islam, Allah (SWT) says:
“…those of His servants only who are possessed of knowledge fear Allah”.
(35:28)
The Holy
Prophet (saww) has said, “The Scholars of
my Nation are like the prophets of the children of
Israel”.
(Bihar
al-Anwaar)
Mulla
Mujaheedali Sheriff
mulla@almahdi.org.uk |