Sorry Saleem

Ask our children:

1. If we make a mistake or do something wrong, then what should we do?
2. If our parents, or our teachers, or our elders correct us, then what should we do?
3. Does Allah Ta‘ala like those who are humble or proud?

Now tell them the story:

There was once a boy named Saleem who was strong and intelligent. He always went to madrasah and always read his salaah with his father in the musjid. However, Saleem had one weakness in him – he would never accept his mistake when he did something wrong and would never say sorry.

Even if his mother caught him while he was doing something naughty, he would say that he didn’t do it and would refuse to say sorry. Sometimes, he would argue and try and show that he wasn’t doing anything wrong – even though he was wrong and he was being naughty.

One day, before they sat to eat supper, Saleem’s father looked at him and said, “Saleem! You are digging your nose again! Don’t dig your nose – use a tissue or clean your nose in the bathroom!” Saleem immediately said, “No! I wasn’t digging my nose!” His father became angry with him and said, “I saw you digging your nose, with my own eyes, so how can you lie and say that you were not doing it?”

Saleem’s mother said to him, “Saleem! When your father corrects you, you must not argue! You must say sorry and be humble!” Saleem did not like anyone to tell him anything, so he turned his face away and said, ‘Humph!” His parents did not like this bad behavior, and bad attitude, and so they made him stand in the corner as punishment.

The next morning, when Saleem was in school, and they were writing a test, the teacher looked at him and saw… that he was peeping into another student’s answer paper to see the answers! The teacher called out, “Saleem! You are cheating!” Saleem immediately said, “No! I wasn’t cheating! I wasn’t looking at his answer paper – I was looking at his watch to see the time!”

The teacher was upset and said, “When there is a big clock, on the wall, in the front of the classroom, which everyone can look at to see the time, then it means that you were not looking at the time! Besides, I saw you looking three times!” Now, Saleem was caught and could not say anything, and because he was cheating, his test paper was taken away. The teacher gave him a 0 and he failed!

That afternoon, when Saleem was in madrasah his Moulana called him to read his sabaq. Saleem had not learnt his sabaq properly the night before, so as he read, he began to make lots and lots of mistakes. Moulana realized that Saleem had been lazy and had not learnt his sabaq, so he said to him, “Saleem! Go and stand in the corner for 15 minutes and learn your sabaq! After you have learnt properly, I will listen to you again!”

However, Saleem began to argue with Moulana and did not want to stand. He said, “But Moulana! I only made a few mistakes! And the first mistake was not a real mistake because I tried to correct myself!” Moulana looked at Saleem and said, “Saleem! You are intelligent, but you have one BIG weakness in you. If I don’t correct you and show you your weakness, then through your whole life, you will always have this weakness in you and you will always have problems with people. Your weakness is that you do not want to admit that you are wrong, and you do not want to say that you are sorry. The reason is that you have pride in you, instead of humility.”

Moulana then called the class and told them the following story:

When Allah Ta‘ala created Nabi Aadam (‘alaihis salaam) and Hazrat Hawwaa (‘alaihas salaam) and placed them in Jannah, then Allah Ta‘ala told them that they could eat and enjoy from all the trees in Jannah – except for one tree. Allah Ta‘ala told them that they were not allowed to eat from this tree.

However, Iblees came to them and lied to them, and tricked them into eating from this tree. Nabi Aadam (‘alaihis salaam) did not commit a sin, as he is a Nabi of Allah Ta‘ala, and the Ambiyaa do not commit sins. However, because Iblees lied to him and tricked him, he made a mistake. Iblees told him, “If you want to become closer and more beloved to Allah Ta‘ala, then you should eat from this tree.”

Thereafter, when Allah Ta‘ala asked Nabi Aadam (‘alaihis salaam) why he ate from the tree, then because of his humility, Nabi Aadam (‘alaihis salaam) did not start to argue. He immediately said that he was sorry and begged Allah Ta‘ala to forgive him. Nabi Aadam (‘alaihis salaam)made dua to Allah Ta‘ala saying:

رَبَّنَا ظَلَمۡنَاۤ اَنۡفُسَنَا وَاِنۡ لَّمۡ تَغۡفِرۡ لَنَا وَتَرۡحَمۡنَا لَنَکُوۡنَنَّ مِنَ الۡخٰسِرِیۡنَ ﴿۲۳﴾

This made Allah Ta‘ala very happy, because Allah Ta‘ala likes those who are humble and accept when they make a mistake.

As for Iblees, then he was very proud and arrogant. When Allah Ta‘ala created Nabi Aadam (‘alaihis salaam), He told the angels and Iblees to make sajdah to him. This was not a sajdah of worship, because we only worship Allah Ta‘ala. This was a sajdah of honour, which was allowed at that time but is not allowed in our deen.

When Allah Ta‘ala gave this command, then all the angels immediately made sajdah, but Iblees refused and disobeyed Allah Ta‘ala. Then, when Allah Ta‘ala asked him why he didn’t listen and obey, he began to argue and said that what he did was right. He refused to accept that he was wrong and made a mistake. Allah Ta‘ala did not like this pride and arrogance, and because of this pride and arrogance, Iblees was cursed until the Day of Qiyaamah.

After telling the students this incident, Moulana said to the students, “We must always follow the example of Nabi Aadam (‘alaihis salaam), who was humble, and we must not follow the example of Iblees who was proud. If we make a mistake or do something wrong, we must be humble, accept that we are wrong and say that we are sorry. If we argue, refuse to accept that we are wrong, and do not want to say sorry, then it means that we have pride and arrogance and we are like Iblees. We must never behave like Iblees because he is the enemy of Allah Ta‘ala.”

Saleem now understood and realized that he did have this weakness – just as his Moulana and his parents always told him. He felt very bad and decided that from that day, if he made a mistake or did something wrong, he would not argue. He would accept that he was wrong, and he would say that he was sorry.

Lessons:

1. If we make a mistake or do something wrong, we must accept that we are wrong and we must say that we are sorry. We must not argue and insist that we are right.
2. If our parents, teachers or elders correct us, we must be humble. We must listen, accept our mistake and say that we are sorry. We must not have a bad attitude by pulling up our faces or making sounds to show that we don’t like what they are saying.

Allah Ta‘ala likes those who are humble, and He does not like those who are proud. A humble person accepts his mistakes and says that he is sorry.