Topics
When
a guest arrives, first of all you should take the stock of his well-being after
the exchange of greeting, as Quran depicts this procedure in the following
words:
"Have you heard the story of the revered
guests of Ibrahim. When they care to him and greeted him, He also greeted him
in return and told: You are strange persons. Then he darted to his wife and
brought a healthy calf".
The
people from noble stratum feel very happy to host some one. They do not
consider the guest a trouble maker, but an invoker of boons and bounties. The
arrival of a guest adds to your house the pride and dignity.
It
is the ordained duty of a host to honor his guest. If your guest is derogated
by someone, you should take it as a challenge for your self-respect and honor.
When
the villagers assaulted the guests of Ibrahim (A.S.) with mall-intention, he
stood in their Way like a rock and told very categorically:
"They are my guests : Don't affront me and
fear Allah: Don't humiliate me ".
When
Imam Shafiee (R.A.) lodged as guest in the house of Imam Malik (R.A.), He
received him with full sincerity and warmth, and managed for him a bed room to
sleep. His sleep was interrupted at the dawn by knock of the door, followed by
a gentle voice: May Allah shower His mercy upon you: it is the prayer time.
Imam
Shafiee got up in a trice. When he opened the door, he found before him Imam
Malik with a bowl of water. Imam Shafiee felt shy. Imam Malik told him in a
very luscious tone: Brother: Don't bother: To serve a guest is a very happy
duty of one and all:
Our
Prophet (P.B.U.H.) was of a high concern to his guests and was keeping himself
personally in their service, and when He was shared by a guest on the table, He
repeatedly encouraged him to take some more. When the guest became satisfied
and apologized to take more, he did not insist.
Serve
to your guests the best dishes and place on the table the crockery,
outnumbering the guests, because it may save you from wind-movements if some
more guests join your table. The additional crockery shall infuse in the hearts
of the new-entrants a pleasant feeling of honor and respect. To sacrifice for
the guest is counted among commendable traits.
Once
a person came to the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) and complained a severe hunger. He sent
to one of his wives to fetch some thing, but the answer was nothing but
nothing, then he sent to another wife and the answer was same. He turned to his
followers and inquired them if there was someone to host the hungry guest. An
Ansari Follower accepted the offer and led the person to his house. When his
wife informed him that the food was sufficient only for the children, he
advised her to lull them to sleep, and to extinguish the lamp under some
pretext, having served the food to the guest, and to accompany him so that he
may think that we are sharing the food with him. When that Ansari Follower came
to the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) in the morning and told him overnight story He
commented Allah has appreciated a lot your good behavior with your guest.
KHWAJA SHAMS-UD-DEEN AZEEMI
IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MERCIFUL, THE BENEVOLENT
Dedicated to those scientists, who are inching towards the cognizance of the facts, spotlighted by Allah Almighty, in the wake of their intelligent observation for the top vertex of scientific achievement, which is not other than the "Disastrous end of the Universe". And this is probably during 15th century of Lunar calendar.
