Muslim Youth, Listen to your Mom
Mother Gives
Principle of Truth
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The President of India, Dr. Abdul Kalam told this story in his
address on the eve of 57th Republic Day.
Full Speech
Now, I will narrate to you a story surrounding the life of a great saint
Sheikh Abdul Qadir Al-Gelani which happened about one thousand years ago.
One day child Abdul Qadir heard a cow saying, “what are you doing here in the grazing fields,
it is not for this you have been created”. He ran back to his house feeling utterly terrified and
climbed on to the roof of his house. From there he saw a large group of people returning
from Arafat Mountain, thousands of miles away from his place in the neighbourhood of Mecca
after performing Haj.
Bewildered Abdul Qadir went to his mother and asked her permission to make a journey to
Baghdad in order to pursue a career in knowledge. Mother understood the divine call and
promptly gave the permission for him to go. She gave him 40 gold coins which was his share
he inherited from his father.
She stitched these 40 gold coins inside the lining of his coat and gave him permission to leave.
When she stepped out of the door to bid him a farewell, she said, “Oh, my son! You are going!
I have detached myself from you for the sake of Allah knowing that I shall not see your face again
until the day of last judgement.
But take one advice from me.
"My son, you always feel the truth,
speak the truth and propagate the truth even when your life is at stake”.
Abdul Qadir travelled with a small caravan heading for Baghdad. During the journey,
when the caravan was passing through the tough terrains, a group of robbers on horses
suddenly attacked the caravan and started looting.
None of them however took the slightest notice of Abdul Qadir,
until one of the looters turned to him and said.
“You are here poor boy! Do you have anything with you?
Abdul Qadir replied,
“I have got 40 gold coins which are stitched by my mother in the lining of my coat underneath my armpit.”
The looter smiled and thought that Abdul Qadir was just joking. He left him alone and
moved elsewhere. When their leader came and the looters took this boy to their leader
and said to him,
“A poor boy claims that he is in possession of 40 gold coins. We looted everybody
but we have not touched him because we hardly believed that he has got gold coins with him”.
Then the leader put the same question but Abdul Qadir replied the same.
Then the leader ripped through his coat and discovered that
he indeed got 40 gold coins inside the lining of his coat.
The astonished leader asked Abdul Qadir, what prompted him to make this confession?
Abdul Qadir replied. “My mother made me promise to always be truthful even at the cost of my life.
Here, it was a matter of only 40 Gold coins. I promised her and never betrayed her trust, so I told the truth”.
The looters started weeping and said, you have adhered to the advice of your great mother
but we have been betraying the trust of our parents and the covenant of our Creator for many years.
From now onwards, you would become our leader in our repentance and
they all decided to give up robbery and from that day, became righteous persons.
Here the world saw the birth of a great saint, Shiek Abdul Qadir Al-Gilani
out of a message of truth a mother gave to her child.
So, young men, listen to your mom.
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S.Balachandran.
Email: balachandran@muthamil.com
November 21, 2005.
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