Hazrat Umme Sulaim — Page 9
9 Care for Orphans Another interesting incident is when the Holy Prophet saw saw a girl raised by ra, he affectionately said to her, ‘Look at how big you have gotten!’. Then he joked, ‘Don’t grow bigger than this. ’ The girl went to ra crying. ra asked, ‘My dear child, what is wrong?’ She said, ‘The Holy Prophet saw has told me that I shouldn’t get big- ger than this. Now I will never grow up. ’ ra immediately got up, wrapped a shawl around herself, and went straight to the Holy Prophet saw. The Holy Prophet saw asked her, ‘What happened?’ She replied, ‘O Messenger ra of Allah! Did you curse my orphan girl?’ The Holy Prophet saw said, ‘Why do you say that?’ ra narrated, ‘O Messenger saw of Allah! She thinks that you cursed her by saying, ‘Don’t grow any big- ger’. ’ The Holy Prophet saw laughed and said, ‘O Umme Sulaim ra! Don’t you know the covenant I have made with Almighty Allah? I have told Him that I am a human, and like ordinary humans, I get happy and I get angry. But, if I say something to someone in my Ummah that he is not worthy of, then on the Day of Judgement, God may make that same thing a source of purity and nearness to God for that person’. 16 This incident also tells us that ra looked after and cared lovingly for orphans within her home. She paid special attention to their tender emotions and tried her best to make them feel better.