the shepherd

This story was told by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf from his own experience in one of his speeches during RIS. When he was studying in Mauritania, there was this one night that he and one of his friend need to go from let say point A to point B. His teacher reminded them that on their way, there will be a place named "isbir" (meaning: be patient). If they face any problem when reaching that place, fasbir (meaning: So be patient). There will be a tent if you walk to the right of the place, and a man will insyaAllah help you. So as Allah decreed, that night it was raining so heavily and their vehicle stuck in mud at the very place named Isbir. ("waAllahi, this is a true story brothers and sisters." he kept on repeating this). So then they did what their shaykh told them. They found a tent where a shepherd lived in it. The shepherd was so happy to see both of them that he slaughtered on of his goats and they ate from it. It was still raining so heavily and the tent keep on flipping. The shepherd somehow hold on the pillar of his tent to keep it from falling apart. After that Shaykh Hamza and his friend fell asleep and  guess what guys? when they woke up for fajr, that man was still holding that pillar. He masyaAllah did that all night so that the tent wont fall on them  as they were sleeping.(Shaykh Hamza Yusuf's voice became different in a way that he actually restraining himself from crying).

He is just a shepherd, brothers and sisters, that live in a tent, far away from this internet or ipod world that we are in now, yet he possess this amazing akhlaq. If we today still fight over small things, unwilling to sacrifice and put ourself first before others, it is really the time that we wake up. Good akhlaq is one of the thing that we need to enter jannah, apart from a sound relationship with Allah.

May Allah forgive and guide us.