Asking from God in Utter Helplessness

converted your bad deeds into good deeds.” In this way, they came back with their sins forgiven.” (Shu‘ab al-Iman, al-Bayhaqi, Hadith No. 3444) I was reminded of this hadith and while thinking about this hadith I was moved that God was giving great rewards to people today, but these rewards were for those who had done some good deed and I had no such good deed to my credit. Then I was reminded of another incident regarding Sir Sayyad Ahmad Khan (1898), founder of the Aligarh Muslim University. He once visited a Muslim Nawab for a donation for his then planned Muhammadan College (now Aligarh Muslim University). The Nawab Sahab was against some of Sir Sayyad’s ideas and he refused to meet him. But Sir Sayyad was not deterred. He knew that in the evening the Nawab Sahab had an outing in his horse-drawn carriage. At that time, the beggars would line the road in front of the bungalow. Nawab Sahab used to give something or the other to everyone. Sir Sayyad reached there in the evening and, sitting with the beggars, he turned his cap upside down like the bowl which beggars keep before them. The Nawab Sahab came out as usual in his horse-drawn carriage. Then he saw Sir Sayyad sitting in the line of beggars. At this the Nawab Sahab was quite shocked. He said, “Sayyad, how is it that you are here?” Sir Sayyad replied: “Nawab Sahab, if you cannot give me a donation, you can give me alms.” The Nawab Sahab was moved at this. He got down from his carriage and took Sir Sayyad to his home. He gave him a large donation for the College.