There was a man who was a student of law and had memorized the Qur'an. He was a pious man to whom many people would come for treatment, so he would recite some Islamic incantations from the Qur'an, and Allah would cure by his hands whoever He willed.
One day, a man came to him who looked very rich. He sat in front of the him and said, "O Shaykh, I have severe pains in my left hand. I can neither sleep at night nor rest in the day. I have visited many professional doctors, and they have run several tests on me. They asked me to do exercises, but none of this has helped me. The pain only continues to increase and it has made my life a torment. Dear Shaykh, I am a businessman and an owner of a number of institutions and companies. I fear that I may be afflicted with an evil eye, or someone may have put a spell on me."
The brother recited over him Surat al-Fatihah, Ayat al-Kursi, Surat al-Ikhlas and the last two Surahs of the Qur'an, and yet his condition did not change. He thanked the brother and left only to return to him after a few days complaining of the same pain. The pious man recited over him again, he went and came back. He recited over him again, yet he did not seem to recover at all.
When his pain became really severe, the pious man said to him, 'Perhaps your ailment is a punishment for a sin you committed, perhaps you wronged a weak person or took someone's right. Perhaps you oppressed someone by not giving him his share of his wealth, etc. If you did any of this, then hurry to repent for your crimes and give up the rights of others that you may have usurped. Seek Allah's forgiveness for all your past sins.'
The businessman did not like what the man had said, he replied to him quite arrogantly, 'Never! I have never wronged anyone! I have never transgressed anyone's rights! But I thank you for your advice, anyway!' and left.
Many days passed by and the pious man didn't see the man again. He thought that perhaps that businessman didn't like his advice, but he didn't care since all he had done was to give him a word of advice. He then met him somewhere by mere coincidence. The businessman came up to him and greeted him very joyfully.
The pious man asked, 'What's the latest?'
He said, 'Al-Hamdulillah, my hand is fine, without any medicine or treatment!'
The pious man said, 'How is that?'
He said, 'When I left after visiting you, I began to think about what you said and browsed through my memory to see who I could have wronged, or whose rights I might have taken. I then remembered that a few years ago, when I was building my mansion, there was a piece of land next to my property which I wanted to be appended to mine to beautify my house further.
The land was the property of a widow whose husband had died, leaving behind several orphans. I wanted the woman to sell the property, but she refused. She said, 'What would I do with the value of this plot of land? I would rather leave it for my children until they grow older. I fear that if I sell it, our wealth may scatter and we may have nothing left.' I requested several times that she should sell it, but she always refused.
The pious man said, 'What did you do then?'
He said, 'I used my own way of getting hold of her land.'
The pious man said, 'Your own way?'
He said, 'Yes. I have many connections and know many people. I managed to get myself permission for construction on her land, and this is how I managed to attach the land to mine.'
The pious man said, 'And the orphans?'
He said, 'She heard about what had happened to her land. She used to come around and scream at the builders to try to prevent them from working, but they would simply laugh at her, thinking that she was mad! In reality, I was the one who was mad and not her. She used to cry and raise her hands to the sky. I saw this with my own eyes. Perhaps the prayers she made against me in the darkest hours of the night were even more serious…'
The pious man said, 'I see. Go ahead'
He said, 'I went to look for her until I found her. I visited her and cried and begged her to forgive me. I stayed with her until she accepted my compensation for her land. She then prayed for me and forgave me. By Allah, as soon as she lowered her hands after praying, my hand felt better.
The businessman then looked down, raised his head again and said, 'her prayer affected me the way no medicine could.'"
[Ponder over this]
As you sleep, the oppressed remains alert.
He prays against you, while Allah's eyes never sleep.
Sent from my iPhone
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