Naeem's Blog

We have forgotten how to beg – if we ever even learned.

We have become so content with the blessings of Allah that we have forgotten that we are all beggars in front of our Creator.

When a beggar goes looking for a dollar, he wears the roughest garments, whimpers before the people, squirms in his clothing, and cries in his most earnest voice. If he is sincere in his quest, he doesn't simply stand stoically in the corner, parroting the same line emotionlessly.

And if that is the state of one who is begging for a dollar, what of the person who is begging to reach Allah (swt)?

Have we not become so used to making our supplications that we repeat them unconsciously, rarely considering what we are asking?

A tale of Hajjaj bin Yusuf, the ruthless caliph, highlights the poverty of our prayers.

Once while performing Umrah, he overheard a blind man making dua'a to Allah to return his eyesight. When he noticed the banality with which the old man was supplicating, he interrupted his tawaf and angrily confronted the man, 'By the time I complete my Umrah, if your sight is not restored I will sentence you to death!' With that, he assigned an officer to ensure the man didn't run and went on to complete his Umrah.

Having received such an ominous threat, the man was in total shock and began to weep profusely, begging 'Ya Allah, please Ya Allah, whereas before I was begging to You for my eyesight, I am now begging for my life! Please, please return my sight.' He cried and cried like never before and finally by the time Hajjaj bin Yusuf returned, Allah (swt) had answered his prayers and given him back his eyesight.

The caliph then remarked to the man, 'Had you beseeched your Lord for one thousand years in your casual manner, He would never have answered you. But once your heart and soul entered into your supplication, you were guaranteed a response.'

Let us all become true beggars.



(h/t to American Muslim)