بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
The time to change is NOW
In Al-Dhahabi's Siyar A'lam al-Nubala (The Lives of Noble Figures), Al-Fadl b. Mûsâ reports the story of a highwayman by the name of Al-Fuḍayl ibn ‘Iyāḍ. Leading a group of bandits, he robbed caravans and waylaid innocent travelers and was therefore notorious in those routes. One night he was en route to meet the girl that he loved, and passing through someones garden, he was about to jump over a wall when he heard someone reciting the Qur'an. He heard the following part of Al-Hadid, 57:16:
أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَن تَخْشَعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ لِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَمَا نَزَلَ مِنَ الْحَقِّ
Al-Hadid (Iron) - Is it not time that the hearts of all who have attained to faith should feel humble at the remembrance of God and of all the truth that has been bestowed [on them] from on high,
Hearing this, he was overcome with grief. He exclaimed, “Indeed my Lord, it is time.” And ran away from that place. He walked and walked while sobbing incessantly and uttering prayers of repentance until he found himself in some ruins far from habitation and sought refuge there. Upon seeing some travelers had camped there, he hid himself from them. He couldn't help overhearing their conversation. Someone said, “We should move on.” Others said, “Wait until morning, Al-Fudayl operates in this area, he will rob us.” In his condition, he was really devastated as he thought to himself, “I spend the night in sin and there are some Muslims here spend a restless night in fear of me."
Without delaying any further, he repented from his errant ways and tried to visit each of his known victims to repay them what he had stolen from them, and when he ran out of available goods, he visited them to beg their forgiveness. He became a recluse in Makkah, and ended up becoming a very pious scholar, and is now well known as one of the great imams of Muslims. His transformation to piety was complete. As can be seen by the following story:
One night the Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid summoned one of his favorite courtiers (Fazl Barmakid). “Take me to a man this night who might reveal myself to me,” he bade him. “My heart has grown weary of pomp and pride.” Fazl brought Harun to several scholars, but they did not meet Harun's expectations. Then Fazl realized what Harun was looking for, so he took him to Fudayl’s door.
“Who is it?” Fudayl asked.
“The Commander of the Faithful,” Fazl replied.
“What business has he with me, and what have I to do with him?” said Fudayl from behind the door.
Harun decided to enter anyways, upon which Fudayl extinguished the only lamp in the house, making it pitch dark. Harun felt his way through till his outstretched hand, met with Fudayl's hands and Harun said "You cannot escape from me, at last I have found you"
Fudayl replied “How smooth and soft these hands are, if only they could escape from Hell-fire!” Harun was overcome with grief upon hearing it.
“Advise me” he begged. Fudayl spoke.
“Your ancestor, the Prophet’s uncle, once asked of the Prophet, ‘Make me commander over some people.’ The Prophet replied, "Command shall be a cause of regret on the Day of Resurrection. It is better if you are able to take command over yourself, even for a moment."
“More,” pleaded Harun.
“When Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz was appointed caliph, he was terrified, and said "I have been afflicted with this trial,"
Fudayl continued “The lands of Islam are your home, and their inhabitants your family, visit your parents, honor your brethren, and be good to your children. I fear,” he added, “that your handsome face will be severely tried by the fire of Hell. Be conscious of Allah, and obey His command. And be watchful; for on the Day of Resurrection, He will question you concerning every single Muslim, and He will exact justice from you. Even if an old woman goes to bed hungry, she will grab your hem on that Day and will give evidence against you.”
"The throne that you are assigned used to be the seat of a Prophet like Sulayman, and he found God's pleasure while on it, and it also used to be the seat of the Firaun, and you know what happened to him. So the choice is yours."
Harun wept bitterly, so that he was about to swoon,
“Enough! You will slay the Commander of the Faithful,” chided Fazl the vizier.
“Be silent, Haman,” said Fudayl. “It is you and your ilk who are destroying him, and then you tell me that I have killed him?”
At these words Harun wept even more profusely.“He calls you Haman,” he said, turning to Fazl, “because he equates me with Firaun.” Then, addressing Fudayl, he asked,
“Have you any outstanding debts?”
“Yes, a debt of obedience to God. If He takes me to task over this, then woe to me!” said Fudayl.
“I am speaking of debts owed to men, Fudayl,” said Harun.
“Praise and gratitude be to God,” said Fudayl, “who has blessed me abundantly, so that I need nothing from any of His servants.”
Then Harun placed a purse of a thousand dinars before him.
“This is lawful wealth, of my mother’s inheritance,” he said.
“Commander of the Faithful,” said Fudayl, “the counsels I have given you, it seems, have yielded no results. Even now you continue with wrongdoing and injustice.”
“What wrongdoing?” said Harun.
“I call you to salvation, and you cast me into temptation. This is wrongdoing indeed,” said Fudayl. “I advised you to give back what you possess to its proper owner. You for your part give it to another to whom it should not be given. It is futile for me to talk further. If you really want to help me, then promise me that you will never darken my doorstep again, for I wish to spend the rest of my life seeking forgiveness for my sins, and not waste it talking to people like you.”
“Ah, what a man he is!” exclaimed Harun, leaving his house. “He is in truth a king of men and the world is very contemptible in his eyes.”
Fudayl was known for his sense of urgency. Once he was asked to give a sermon, in which, addressing both the young and the old: "O group of young men! I have come across many crops that were defective even before they matured! O group of old men! And are crops harvested except after they become ripe? And what are you waiting for? And what excuse do you have to present? What will you say, when the All- Knowing will say:
أَوَلَمْ نُعَمِّرْكُم مَّا يَتَذَكَّرُ فِيهِ مَن تَذَكَّرَ وَجَاءكُمُ النَّذِيرُ فَذُوقُوا فَمَا لِلظَّالِمِينَ مِن نَّصِيرٍ
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