Al-Risala (English), March 1986

Surrendering to God, and wishing others well

1986 3 March 14 Surrendering to God, and wishing others well s(70) Jarir came to embrace Islam. The Prophet asked him to extend his hand for the oath of allegiance. “Allegiance on what?” Jarir asked. “That you will surrender to God, and wish every Muslim well.” He then swore allegiance to the prophet. He was a very clever man. When swearing allegiance, he said to the Prophet that he would do what he could. Afterwards, this clause was included in everybody’s oath.

The More Hurry, the Less Speed

1986 3 March 14 The More Hurry, the Less Speed (242) An Indian Airlines Airbus, flight IC 406, from Bombay to Delhi, left Bombay half an hour behind schedule. Soon after the takeoff, one of the passengers sent a note to the pilot, Captain Bhatnagar, asking him the reason for the delay in departure. The latter asked him to come to the cockpit so that he could explain the position to him.

The passenger not only refused to be convinced, but hit captain Bhatnagar from behind saying:

“I have seen many pilots like you!”

Upset over the incident Captain Bhatnagar decided to return to Bombay 25 minutes after the take-off. This naturally led to strong protests from the other passengers. Later, the Indian Airlines arranged for another crew to take the flight to Delhi. The net result? The flight reached Delhi over three hours late.

This is an example of how important it is to adopt a patient attitude in life. The above mentioned passenger refused to put up with a delay of half an hour, and, as a result, he had to wait for three hours. Had he remained patient about the half-hour delay, he would have certainly saved himself from the trouble of waiting for three hours.

Further, according to the report, a high-level inquiry has been ordered into the incident by the Airlines.

No matter what the result of the inquiry, it is certain that the passenger will have to sacrifice more the thing he had wanted to save – time.