Being punctilious in paying people their dues
Al-Risala (English), September 1991, p. 6
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan is named as the default author of the periodical; a piece that carries another writer’s byline is credited to that writer.
Being punctilious in paying people their dues
1991 9 September 6 Being punctilious in paying people their dues (20) Abdullah ibn Umar records the Prophet as saying: “Pay a labourer his wages before his sweat has dried.”
(Ibn Majah)
The Helplessness of Man
1991 9 September 6 The Helplessness of Man (273) On 12 August 1985, a Boeing 747 aeroplane carrying passengers from Tokyo to Osaka crashed into the mountains, killing 519 people. There were few survivors.
According to the newspaper reports, among those killed was 26 year-old Mrs. Mariko Shirai. Among the various things salvaged from the wreckage of the aircraft were a few pages of a time planner belonging to Mrs. Shirai. The following words were found scribbled on the time planner:
Help me, horror, horror, horror.
The Quran tells us that man has been created weak and infirm (4 : 28). But, under normal, favourable circumstances, man forgets that he had been so created, and even goes so far as to commit and perpetuate oppression. It is only when he finds himself in critical situations that the truth dawns on him and he realizes just how helpless he is. He then has the same sense of helplessness which was evident in the scribbling of the Japanese woman.
Such critical moments are created for man with the specific intention of making him aware of his limitations so that he gives.
Such critical moments are created for man with the specific intention of making him aware of his limitations so that he gives up being arrogant and develops a more amenable disposition. Human nature being as it is, he will become humble only so long as he is faced with adversity. The moment he surmounts his difficulties, he will resume his tyrannical ways.
Only those who can learn a lesson even from the most trivial of incidents, from day-to-day happenings, will be able to reform themselves and make of this experience a life-long affair.
