No one said anything. Then the Prophet spoke. He said to the man: "I personally do not have anything to help you, but I will send you to a home, where all your needs will be fulfilled. The people of that house love Allah and his Prophet, and Allah and His Prophet love the inhabitants of that house. That is the house of Ahlul-Bayt of Naboowah where the family of my daughter lives." He beckoned to Bilal so that he may take the stranger to the house of Fatima Zahra, which was adjacent to the mosque. Bilal did that. The man came to the door and said: "My salam to you O Ahl Bayt an-Nabooway, O you the inhabitants of the house where Jibreel descends and where other angels come and go. I am hungry, please feed me, I have no clothes please provide some clothes for me, and I am lost away from home and destitute, please help me get home."

Fatima Zahra heard the voice. She looked around. The only thing she could see in the house was a goatskin on which his two little children, Hasan and Husayn used to sleep. She picked up the goatskin and came to door. She extended that goatskin to the stranger from behind the door and said: "Please take this and fulfill your needs." The stranger looked at the goatskin and replied: "what can I do with this goatskin? It will not be sufficient for anything." Fatima Zahra thought and then she realized that she was wearing a necklace which was wedding gift her from the daughter of Hamza bin Abdul-Muttalib. She took the necklace off and gave it to the stranger.

The stranger came back to the mosque and showed to the Prophet what he had been given by Fatima Zahra. The Prophet looked at the necklace and his eyes filled up with tears.

The Prophet turned to the stranger and said: "Fatima Zahra has fulfilled your needs, now you pray for her." The man raised his hands to the heavens and said: "Ya Allah give Fatima Zahra all that which no eyes have ever seen and no ears have ever heard."

Ammar Yasir was also among the companions. He said to the stranger: "Are you selling the necklace?" The man replied: "Yes."

Thus Ammar bought the necklace for three hundred dirhams. That was sufficient money for the stranger to buy food, clothing and a horse; and soon he was on his way.

Ammar Yasir came home. He wrapped the necklace in a Yamani chadar and daubed it with fragrance. He had a slave boy named Sahm. He gave the necklace thus wrapped to the boy and asked him to take it to the Prophet. He also said to Sahm that he (the slave boy) too was being given away to the Prophet as a gift. The Prophet said to Sahm: "Take this necklace to Fatima Zahra and after, that you are a free man."

As Sahm returned the necklace to Fatima Zahra and returned from her house, he laughed. People who had been watching the whole thing, asked Sahm for the reason of his laughing.

Sahm replied: "What a glorious necklace - it came out of the house, fed a hungry man, clothed a naked man, and provided for a lost wayfarer. It then freed a slave from his bond and then returned to its rightful owner/mistress.

MORAL OF THE STORY:

The Prophet taught us, the Muslims at large, to be grateful to anyone who provides any kind of help. The best expression of that gratitude is doing a Dua for your benefactor. Fatima Zahra did not need any Dua from a stranger, but that was the teaching of the Prophet and his methodology.

That legacy continued in the Prophet's own family and each and every member of that family provided the best example of social and personal morality.

In the 61 year of Hijra, after the tragedy of Karbala, the surviving women and children were taken prisoners and they were being paraded in the streets of Koofa. On both sides, people were watching the passing caravan from their balconies. On one camel back Husayn's sister Zaynab and his orphan daughter Sukayna who was four years old, were riding. As the camel arrived close to a house, there was a woman standing there. Sukayna was thirsty and asked the woman if she could give her a drink. The woman came back quickly with a cup full of water and said: "You appear to be an orphan; Allah accepts an orphan's prayer very quickly. I have longing, I would like you to pray for my wish after you had your drink."

Zaynab, immediately stopped the four year old and said: "YOU pray for the lady first and then drink the water."

Who would think about morals in such difficult circumstances - no one but the Ahlul-Bayt.

This was the character and ideal of the Ahlul-Bayt. It is for this reason that the devotees of Ahlul-Bayt revere them and look up to them for all their guidance in religious as well as worldly matters.

By: Syed-Mohsin Naquvi

One Sunday Salma's husband said, "May I ride with you today when you go to do the grocery shopping?"

Salma was obviously surprised, but she didn't question his request and said, "Sure why not, then we can spend some time together as you are always busy."

So Salma and her husband left and spent the whole day together. When they got home and put away the groceries, Salma thanked her husband for being so kind as to come with her.

He answered, "Salma, the real reason that I went with you is because you always tell people to do just one act of kindness, like eating an apple a day, keeps the Devil away, so I asked to ride with you to see just how kindly you act with people every day."

Salma asked with astonishment: "Why?". He replied, "Because I wanted to see how do you practice kindness, and I wanted to see if you practiced what you preach. And trust me, I will never doubt anything you say again."

He continued and said to Salma:

(1) "When we got in the van, you let the car across from us go first while watching that no car was coming from behind and you signaled him to go.

(2) "When we reached the stop, you signaled for people to cross the street saying that this way you protect them at least when you are at the stop sign because most drivers don't care about people, they just want to be on their way.

(3) "On the freeway you signaled the trailer trucks when you were letting them take the lane and slowed down to give them space to change lanes, saying that they had a delivery to make on time and that you had all the time in the world.

(4) "When we arrived in the store parking lot as you went to take a spot, someone else just swiped in front of you and we had to go all the way to the back. You never got angry. You said, "Well, maybe he has sore legs and needs to be closer," and you laughed.

(5) "As we arrived at the entrance door, you opened the door and let an elderly couple in saying, "Beauty before age."

"Well when I counted up 25 acts of kindness I stopped counting because your one act of kindness just rolls into many more. I couldn't believe it; you are so kind that I am sure that in the Good Book it will outweigh whatever you do wrong. From now on I will also do one act of kindness a day, and I will never doubt anything you say you do ever again".

Salma laughed and said, "Kindness is like a box of chocolates, when I open the box, I can never eat just one. I finish the box! And this is true, that is why I don't buy a whole box; it doesn't last the day. But I am so used to being kind that I don't even notice I am doing it. It is just loving my fellow human beings. It is just following Bibi Fatima (as) who said: "(Help) the neighbor first, before your own self."

Subhanallah, Salma was indeed a true follower of Bibi Fatima (as) who was so kind that:

(1) Bibi Fatima gave her new marriage dress to a poor person and wore her old dress instead, in the wedding. The next day when the Prophet (saww) asked why she was wearing an old dress, she replied that she gave the new dress to a poor person. Can we get such example of kindness anywhere?

The Prophet (saww) asked: "Why didn't you give your old dress instead?".

She replied: Because the Holy Quran says: "You will not achieve piety until you give out what you love the most." (3:92)

(2) Bibi Fatima and her whole family remained hungry for three days but offered the evening meals after three long days' fasting to the beggar, the orphan and the prisoner.

Holy Quran, praising this kind act, says: "And they feed, for the love of Allah, the indigent, the orphan, and the captive." (76:8)

(3) Bibi Fatima was so kind to her servant Fizza, that Fizza worked one day and the other day Fatima (as) would work so that Fizza could rest. Such example of kindness can only be found in the family of the Prophet (saw).

Alas, such a kind and benevolent lady was so much terrorized after the death of her father that she had to say addressing her father, the Holy Prophet, standing before his grave: "Oh! Father dear! After you, fell on me such miseries that had they fallen on bright days, the bright days would have turned into darkest nights."