Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume II — Page 65
65 funny, but the lesson contained within is very profound. It is said that there was a Maulawi , who went to a village and started preaching. No one came to listen to his sermons. Occasionally, five to seven people would turn up. A thought occurred to the village entertaine r, that he shou ld ask the Maulawi wha t benefits his advice and sermons offered. He went to the Maulawi and asked, “What is the advantage of Sal ā t and fasting?” He meant that a person works hard in this world. He endures all this toil and being human, he wishes to be compensated for it. If this is so, then he should get some reward for offering Sal ā t as well. T o stall the entertainer, the Maulawi replied , “By saying p rayer one receives a N u r [ light ]. ” This respons e satisfied the entertainer and he thought, “Ok ay , at least I will receive something. ” H e went home and told his wife, “I will pray and in return I will receive N u r. ” So, he offered Zuhr and then ‘ Asr prayers , and then offered Maghrib and ‘ Isha prayers. After every prayer, he would look at his body to see what this N u r would look like. It was wintertime. When he woke up for Fajr P rayer, he felt cold. He remembered that the Maulawi had told him that if water is not available or if someone is ill , they could also do Tayam m um. He felt cold and decided to do Tayam m um. Coincidentally, he had a tawwa [a flat, iron baking plate]. It was dark a n d so he did Tayammum from the tawwa. As soon as he brushed his hands over his face, h is face turned black [from the soot]. Once he was done with five p rayers, he thought that by now, he should certainly have received N u r. He asked his wife , “Look, does my face have Nu r yet or no?” His wife did not know what N u r meant. She said, “I do not see any change but yes, there is an increase in blackness. ” The entertainer said , “I f N u r is blackness , then it has appeared in great strength. L ook, even my hands have turned black!” This is just a joke of course, but it gives us an idea that human nature demands a reward for hard work. Any work without a reward is considered absurd. So, if someone demands a reward for offering prayers , then he is right to do so. God Almighty points to this very aspect in the verse: ! ِا َّن ا ﻟ َّﺼ ٰﻠ ﻮ َۃ َﺗ ۡﻨ ٰﻬ ﻲ َﻋ ِﻦ ا ۡﻟ َﻔ ۡﺤ َﺸ ﺂ ِء َو ا ۡﻟ ُﻤ ۡﻨ َﻜ ِﺮ Surely, prayer restrains one from indecency and manifest evil. (Holy Qur’an, Ch. 29: V. 46) Similarly, it is said in the Holy Qur’an about fasting: َﻟ َﻌ َّﻠ ُﻜ ۡﻢ َﺗ َّﺘ ُﻘ ۡﻮ َن B “… so that you may become righteous. ”