A worker is the Friend of God
Children´s Own Page
الکا سب حبیب اللہ
By Muhammad Yakub Khan(Chief Editor “The Light”, 16 February, 1933)
Dear Children,
Do you want to become great? You must! That is what Islam wants you to be. In fact, Islam is nothing but a factory to manufacture great men. Don´t be misled by the silly sayings that a Muslim must be a little in this life. That is against Islam. Islam is another name for greatness. If you want great ideas and great ideals, go to the Book of Islam. If you want a great and glorious history, turn to the history of Islam. If you want a great culture, it is the culture of Islam. You must therefore aspire to rise to the highest rung.
But the question is, how to become great. “Why, go to such and such a Pir. He will give you a charm or speak to God on your behalf and in the twinkling of eyes, you will become rich and great and blessed with all the good things of life”. This is what someone may suggest. There could be no greater illusion. There is no short cut to greatness. There is no hocus pocus method to win the laurels. Even God refuses to do it for you. You must do it yourself. Where then lies key to greatness?
The key to greatness lies in the words at the top. ”A worker is the friend of God”. Oh! What sweet words, full of truth, full of wisdom! I do wish every young man were to write these words of the Great Prophet in the big bold letters of gold
and put them up on the wall of his study to serve him as a motto in daily life.
This was the motto of the life of the Prophet. He was the spiritual head of a whole nation but did he, like the Pirs of the day, keep sitting idly, reclining against a cushion, counting beads and living upon the fleece of his followers? Nothing of the kind. Every day of his life he lived up to this great motto that God loves and blesses him who is a worker. With his own hands would he do all things. When the mosque at Medina was being built, you could see the Prophet carrying the material like a common laborer. When on a journey, his friends wanted to cook the food, the Prophet refused to enjoy a readymade meal. He must work for it to deserve it, he said and while others attended to other details, the Prophet went about to collect fuel for the purpose. Modern Maulanas and Pirs consider it derogatory to the dignity of their flowing beards and robes to do anything with their own hands. To the Prophet, however, nothing was too low to do. He milked his own goats, patched his own garments, stitched his own shoes and even swept his own house. Remember there is no dignity greater than the dignity of work, no joy greater than the joy of work. Work indeed is the highest worship and sweet indeed as the day that ends in perspiration.
Work! – This was the motto also of those who came in contact with that Greatest of Workers. When Abu Bakr was elected the King of Islam, the very following day, he was seen winding his way to the market, with a huge bundle of cloth on his royal back. ” What is this, O Caliph?” someone asked.
“Why,” replied the Caliph. “I must work to earn my bread.”
When the Prophet and his companions fled from Mecca, they arrived at Medina penniless. The Prophet, in order to provide for the Mahajirin arranged brotherhood between them and the Ansar – i.e. the emigrants were divided among the Medina Muslims and each one joined to one of the latter in brotherhood. This however was no lip brotherhood. The Ansar,
besides sheltering the Mahajirin under their roofs, offered to put half of the produce of their farms at the disposal of their emigrant brothers. “No!” replied the latter. “Just show us the way to the market.” And within a short time, by the unfailing charm of honest labour, they earned heaps of money, some owning thousands of camels of their own.
