DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
know the way
HTML https://knowtheway.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: HISTORY OF PEOPLE
*****************************************************
#Post#: 15--------------------------------------------------
Story Of Owais Al Qarni
By: captbayo123 Date: July 27, 2017, 1:41 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
THE STORY OF OWAIS AL QARNI
One day, Omar ibn Khattab, Abu Bakr, Ali and other
companions were sitting with the Prophet ﷺ at the
mosque when the Prophet ﷺ said to them, “Tomorrow,
a man will enter from this door to pray among you and
he will be from the people of Paradise.”
Abu Huraira relates that the next day he hurried to Fajr
prayer at the Mosque and lined up in the first row in
hopes that he would be the man that the Prophet
ﷺ was referring to the day before. There were many
other Companions standing alongside him who also
had the same idea. The Prophet ﷺ conducted Fajr
prayer and sat down. The Companions were eager to
know who this man of Paradise was, but it didn’t seem
the Prophet ﷺ was going to mention it. So they sat and
waited for a while and some of them had to go, but
others still waited. These included Abu Huraira, Abu
Bakr, Ali, and Umar.
Just then walked in a man, who was so poor his
clothes were dirty and torn. The Prophet
ﷺ immediately stood up and smiled from ear to ear
and welcomed the man. The man asked the Prophet
ﷺ to pray for him. The Prophet ﷺ raised his hands
in
duaa and said, “Oh Allah please grant this man a
position in the highest levels of Paradise, Al Ferdous,
with me.” So then when the man left, Abu Huraira
asked the Prophet ﷺ,”Was that him?!” “Yes,” replied
the Prophet ﷺ .
“But oh Messenger of Allah, he is nothing more than a
poor slave, how can that be him?” asked Abu Huraira.
“Oh Abu Huraira,” said the Prophet ﷺ . “What can I do
for him if his fate in this world is to be poor? His
position on the Day of Judgment is that of a king. Abu
Huraira, the ones that have the most value to Allah are
those that are pure, starving, whose faces are dusty,
who are not known on this Earth, but known in the
skies. If they want to get married, no one would marry
them. And if they get sick, the do not pass on the
sickness to anyone (they are alone), and if they attend
something their presence is not felt, and if they leave,
no one notices, and when they die, no one attends their
funeral. These people however, are not forgotten by
Allah and they are held with so much value.”
“Oh Messenger of Allah, show me one of them,” said
Abu Huraira.
“I will tell you about Owais Al Qarni,” replied the
Prophet ﷺ . The Companions looked at each other,
each trying to recall if they know a man named Owais.
They didn’t know that he was talking about a man that
they will meet years after the Prophet ﷺ has passed
away.
“He is a man of medium height, head held high despite
being poor with very dark skin. I can see him putting his
right arm on his left arm and weeping as he reads
Quran. He is wearing a cloak of poor wool,” said the
Prophet ﷺ , smiling as if he can see him as Angel
Gabriel is describing him. “On his left shoulder, there is
a white mark the size of a dirham that is the effect of
an illness. He is unknown among the people but known
in the skies. His biggest sign is the mother he deeply
cares for. When he makes duaa, it is granted. He will
come among the people on the Day of Judgment and
as they are entering Paradise, he will be stopped. When
he asks why, Allah will tell him he can bring whomever
he wants into Paradise with him, as much as 200,000
people (the amount of two large tribes).”
“Ali and Umar, if you are ever to find this man, ask him
to make duaa for you and ask Allah for your
forgiveness,” said the Prophet ﷺ.
. . . . . . . . .
Elsewhere in Yemen, a young boy is herding his sheep,
the sun beating down on his shoulders where a white
mark stands alone on his dark skin. He is frustrated
from being poor and having to struggle and take care of
his mother. His father died when he was a young child,
leaving him the man of the house. When the boy was
seventeen, his mother lost her vision, and his
responsibilities toward her increased as he now had to
help her move around.
One night, he was carrying a candle and helping his
mother move around the house when the candlelight
went out and they were left in darkness. He could not
see a thing. Then his mother, who was used to finding
her way in the darkness, started leading him . This turn
of events affected him deeply and he started to ponder
on the weight of light and darkness.
The next day, the seventeen-year-old Owais bumped
into a Muslim man who was coming to Yemen to
spread Islam. He stopped the man and asked him to
tell him something from the Quran that his Prophet
ﷺ has said. So the man recites a verse from Surat Al
Nur:
{…And he for whom Allah has not appointed light, for
him there is no light} (Quran 24:40)
This really hit home for Owais as he remembered what
had happened the night before with his mother. “Tell me
more about what your Prophet ﷺ says,” said Owais.
So the man, noticing that Owais was poor, chose this
Hadith. “What am I to this world and what is this world
to me? The example of me and this world is that of a
man who walks in the heat of the desert and sits under
the shade of a tree for an hour, then walks away and
leaves it.”
Owais upon hearing this Hadith, immediately said his
shahadah and became a Muslim at the age of 17. Then
came the question, will he migrate to see the Prophet
ﷺ ? As much as Owais wanted to, he couldn’t and
wouldn’t leave his mother. Some people suggested that
he let some neighbors take care of her while he was
gone but he said that he was the one who should take
care of her and turned down the opportunity to see the
Prophet ﷺ . This sacrifice for his mother and the way
Owais had devoted himself to his mother his whole life
was the reason that he was mentioned by the Prophet
ﷺ . Also because of his deep faith and his lack of
attachment to the material things in this world.
So when Ali bin Abu Talib left Yemen with a group of
new Muslims to go back to Madinah, it was without the
boy he bumped into on his way there. He had no idea
that it the Owais that the Prophet ﷺ had mentioned
and the boy didn’t know it was Ali bin Abu Talib.
3 years later, the Prophet ﷺ passed away and years
after that Abu Bakr also passed away. When Umar ibn
AlKhattab became Khalifa, he would go around all the
people during Hajj and call out, “OWAIS, OWAIS, Is
there anyone here named Owais?” He would go to the
group that came from Yemen and ask them if a man
named Owais is among them. But no one had heard of
this man. Umar realized it was just as the Prophet
ﷺ described to him, that he was a man who was
unknown among the people.
Year after year, Umar would go around at Hajj and call
out and ask for Owais. One year during Hajj, he stood at
Mount Arafat and asked all the people making Hajj to
stand up. Then he told everyone to sit down except
those from Yemen. From that group, he told them all to
sit down except those from Murad and from that group,
he told them all to sit down except those from Qarn.
One man was left standing. “Are you a Qarni?” asked
Umar ibn Al Khattab. The man replied in the affirmative.
“Do you know Owais?” “Yes, he is my nephew. But what
would you want with him. He is but a poor, forgotten
man,” replied the Yemeni man.
Umar started to weep. “This man is not just a poor,
forgotten man. He is a man who will choose 200,000
people to come with him into heaven. Is he with you?”
“No, he is not,” replied the man.
“Is his mother living,” asked Umar.
“Yes,” replied the man.
“I know he will not ever leave her, as this is what the
Prophet ﷺ said,” replied Umar.
Umar searched for Owais for ten years. A year before
the death of Umar, Owais’s mother passed away. That
year, Umar stood up at Mount Arafat again and said to
the people of Yemen, “Is Owais al Qarni among you?” A
Yemeni man said, “He is that sheppard standing over
there.” Umar became so excited and went to look for
Ali. “Ali! Ali! We found him!” he called out.
Umar and Ali approached Owais and asked him, “Are
you Owais al Qarni?”
“Yes,” replied a surprised Owais. “Show me your
shoulder,” replied Umar. Owais showed them his
shoulder and they were able to see the mark that the
Prophetmentioned. “Is your mother with you?”
asked Umar. Owais replied that his mother had passed
away. “Ah, it is just as the Prophet ﷺ said it would be
then,” said Umar.
Owais actually did not know these men so he asked
them who they were. “I am Umar ibn AlKhattab, the
Khalifa, and this is Ali ibn Abu Talib, the man who came
to Yemen to spread Islam,” said Umar.
“Yes! I remember him! But, how do you know me?”
asked Owais.
So Umar told Owais the whole story about how the
Prophet ﷺ had talked about him years ago and how
Angel Gabriel had described him. They said how his
signs were the mark on his shoulder, his care for his
mother, and his lack of attachment to this world. He
said how Prophet ﷺ told them that he would take
200,000 people with him into Paradise. They told him
how they had been looking for him for years.
Umar and Ali then asked Owais to make duaa for them
and ask forgiveness for him. “You are now my friend in
this life and the next,” Umar said to Owais. However,
Owais was not interested in the life of fame and ease
that would come with being Umar’s friend, especially
when people find out what the Prophet ﷺ had said
about him. He kindly refused, and asked to be left as he
is.
Owais said he was going to go to Kufa. “Would you like
me to write to the leader of Kufa to await your arrival
and look after you?” asked Umar.
“No thank you. I would like to go unknown as I came,”
replied Owais.
“Ok then at least let me give you some money to help
you out,” said Umar in an effort to do at least
something for Owais. “No thank you, my wool coat has
still not worn out and neither have my shoes. I have
four dirhams that I have still not used. When I run out, I
will figure out how to get more. I am content this way,”
replied Owais.
“Please stay with me,” said Umar. “Thank you Umar. But
what I have is good for me and what you have is good
for you and the Muslims,” said Owais.
Owais left Mecca. He participated in the battle at
Azerbaijan and died during the battle. His death came
about 2 years after the death of Umar ibn AlKhattab.
Owais was about 35 years old.
………………………………………….
*This is one of my favorite stories. There are two things
to learn here. One is the importance of taking care of
your mother and that the reward for it is more than you
can imagine. Once a companion asked the Prophet
ﷺ whom he should befriend. The Prophet ﷺ replied,
“Your mother.” The Companion then asked, “Who after
her?” “Your mother,” replied the Prophet ﷺ . Then
Companion then asked, “Then who should I befriend?”
“Your mother,” replied the Prophet ﷺ . “Then whom
after that?” asked the Companion. “Your father,” replied
the Prophet ﷺ . So much importance is placed on the
mother-not just taking care of her and feeding her and
clothing her. Befriend her. Your parents should be your
friends. Bir Al Waleedain, your obligation to your
parents, is not just a material obligation like putting a
roof over their heads and making a phone call every
week. Its being their friend and having them be a part of
your life, especially in their old age. People say that
Islam oppresses women, but how can anyone say that
when they see a person like Owais, who will take
200,000 with him to heaven, just for sacrificing his
friendship with the Prophet ﷺ to take care of his
mother and for devoting his whole life to her. If you
were in the same position, what would you choose?
Which leads me to the second lesson. Sacrifice. When
you sacrifice something for Allah or leave something for
the sake of Allah, Allah will reward you with something
unbelievably greater than it. Owais didn’t get to be a
Companion of the Prophet ﷺ because he chose to care
for his mother, so Owais was given the honor of being
his Companion in Paradise! This also goes for you in
even the smallest things.
*Imagine how Owais must have felt to hear what the
Prophet ﷺ had said about him!
*This story is also a reminder that our wealth, clothes
and status are not an indication to how we are viewed
by Allah. The story in the beginning of the man in the
mosque was the Prophet’s ﷺ way of showing that to
the Companions.
*Owais is going to take 200,000 people with him to
Paradise! Even a martyr only gets 70,000
*****************************************************