Need a Blessing?* [[---- Part 5 ----]]

 *Need a Blessing?*

[[---- Part 5 ----]]
------------------

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

There was an old man called Habib.  The sweet, red dates from Old Man Habib’s orchard were the greatest. They were not like other dates; they were impossibly plump, with a honeyed richness that could sweeten a whole month’s bitterness. His people believed the angels themselves watered his trees.

Habib was a man of unwavering devotion. His charity was as quiet and constant as the dawn. Habib would say "My orchard is for all the community, not a possession.”

But his son, Tariq, saw it differently. He saw not a gift, but a wasted opportunity. “We could be rich, Father!” he’d argue, watching the merchant caravans pass by. “We sell these dates for pennies while others grow fat on inferior fruit. This is not piety, it is foolishness!”

Habib would simply shake his head. “Allah’s balance is perfect, my son. Do not tip the scales with greed.”

When Habib passed away, the entire village mourned. Tariq, now in possession of the orchard, did not mourn for long. He saw only potential. The first thing he did was triple the price. Then, he began to mix the sacred dates with stones and sand to increase the weight. He stopped giving to the poor.

At first, nothing changed. The trees still bore fruit. Tariq grew wealthy, his house filling with fine things. He saw this as a sign of his cleverness, a reward for his ambition.

But then, a subtle sickness touched the orchard. The leaves, once a brilliant green, grew dull. The next season’s fruit was smaller, its sweetness now tinged with a strange, metallic bitterness. Tariq, in his arrogance, blamed the weather and bought expensive fertilizers.

The following year, the branches were bare. Not a single date appeared. The vibrant green of the leaves faded to a sickly yellow, and then to a brittle, lifeless brown.

One evening, Tariq was found standing in the ruins of his inheritance. The wealth was gone, spent as quickly as it was made. The fine things in his house had lost their luster. He wasn't the proud merchant anymore, just a broken man in a field of death.

He said “I thought the blessing was in the dates,” He fixed his gaze on the barren trees. “I was wrong. The blessing was in my father’s obedience. I didn’t just harvest the fruit wrongly; I severed the root.” “The drought wasn’t in the sky,” he said. “It was in me.”

The greatest punishment was not the loss of the dates, but the profound understanding of what he had truly lost—the divine favor that had made the very sun shine differently on that small orchard. His sin had not just angered Allah; it had politely, and irrevocably, asked the blessing to leave.

Muslim Faithful,

Among our Islamic morals is to advise others both in speech and action on what is correct. Thus if one of us does something or carries out a task, it is obligatory for him to do it with sincerity and without deceiving people. If someone asks for advice, a believer should advise him truly without deceiving him or her even if it's a fact-finding about marriage or any issue.

My People,

Islam explicitly forbids deceptive practices and condemns lying in all forms, as telling of lies and all deceptive behaviours causes the removal of Allah's blessings from our lives. The Quran condemns lying and deceitful behavior, stating, “Do not mix truth with falsehood or conceal the truth while you know [it]” 📚(Quran 2:42).

To be continued.