A Muslim is a follower of Islam, which literally means one who submits to the will of the supreme, the Almighty Allah. Islam is a monotheistic Abrahamic religion. Muslims believe that the Quran is the verbatim word of God, revealed to the holy prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. Their basic religious practices include pronouncing publicly that Allah is the greatest and the one, praying five times daily, fasting during the month of Ramadan, giving charity to the needy, and a pilgrimage to Mecca, at least once in a lifetime. More than one quarter of the total population of the world is comprised of Muslims.

1.  The Caliph’s Traveling Etiquette

Umar ibn Al-Khattab was the Second Caliph, ruler of the whole of the Islamic world. His armies had taken control of the Jerusalem city and he was expected there any moment. The Caliph was against pomp and show; therefore, he traveled from Damascus to Jerusalem with one camel and one camel rider. He decided to ride for a while and then would ask the servant to ride for an equal time. The Bishop had announced that the great Muslim ruler must be greeted and shown respect, therefore people gathered at the city gate to welcome the Royal procession. Instead of any procession they saw a camel rider, and a companion moving towards them on foot. On arrival they greeted the rider, who protested and told them that he was not the Caliph but was his servant and informed them that he was riding due to the justness of the Caliph. On hearing the story, people greeted the Caliph heartily.

2. An Acid test for the informer

During the Abbasid period, Baghdad was the capital of the caliphate and there lived a great scholar. One day someone met him and was keen to tell the scholar something about his friend. The scholar asked him to pass his triple test before he broke any news about his friend. To his first question, are you sure that what you heard about my friend was true, the informer said no. His second question was, is what you want to tell me good? His answer was again, no. The third question was whether the information would be useful for him. The man said no. The scholar said, ‘In that case, when you are not sure of the truth of the news, and it is bad and not useful, you don’t need to tell me, because you don’t pass my triple test’.

3. Sharing the Happiness

A historian of Al-Mamun’s period, Alwaqadi, had three friends. One of them became too poor to afford new clothes for his children for the biggest Islamic Festival, Eid. He wrote to a friend who sent him a sealed envelope containing one thousand dirhams. In the meanwhile the recipient received a similar request from a third friend, so he sent the sealed envelope on to him. The third lender was a friend of the first as well, and on receiving the same request from him, he sent the sealed envelope to him in turn, who was amazed to see the envelope he had sent to his friend in the first place. The friends then decided to share the money by having one third each with one hundred dirhams for the wife of the first friend. Having come to know of the story, the caliph awarded two thousand dirhams to each of the friends and extra one thousand dirhams to the wife of the first friend.

4.  A Boy’s Rhetoric

An enemy of Islam had three questions, which no scholar in Baghdad could answer satisfactorily. The questions were, what is your Allah doing at the moment? What was there before your God? And to which direction is the face of your God? A ten year old boy, accepting the challenge, asked the man to climb down the hill and to let him go on top of the hill, to answer the question. When the man went down, the boy said, my God is at moment downgrading an enemy of Islam and upgrading a Muslim. To answer the second question, he asked the man to countdown from four and when he was at zero, he asked him what was there before zero, the man said ‘Nothing’. ‘Similarly’, the boy said, ‘there was nothing before God’. To his third question, he replied that just like the candle light, God’s face is in all directions.

5. Abu Hanifa and his Neighbor

Imam Abu-Hanifa, the great Muslim scholar, was used to praying and reciting the holy Quran very early in the morning. His neighbor was a drunkard and he was used to making lot of noise in that time. One morning, Imam Abu Hanifa did not hear the usual noise. He went to his neighbor’s house and came to know that this neighbor had been jailed. The Imam went to the jail to learn about his welfare, and as soon as the authorities came to know that Imam Abu-Hanifa had come to visit the person, they immediately released him. In Islam a neighbor occupies a very important position but the neighbor doesn’t have to be a Muslim.

6. Junaid’s Favourite student

During the Abbasid Caliphate, its capital, Baghdad, was a glorious city known for silk, perfumes, and jewels. It was a place where many great scholars lived. Junaid Baghdadi was the foremost amongst them and one of his disciples was his favorite. The other disciples were jealous of him and one day desired to know the reason behind this liking. The sheik assigned to every one the task of buying a hen from the market and slaughtering it in a place where no one could see. All, except the favorite disciple, came back with the slaughtered hens. He, however, could not find a place where God could not see him. All were convinced of his firm belief in the omnipresence of God almighty.

7. The King and the hungry Children

Umar ibn Al-Khattab, the Second Caliph, was known for piety and good governance. One night, after he had offered his Isha, the night prayer, he went to visit a village, far away from Medina. He found that in a small cottage, a mother was cooking something, while her children around her were crying. He came to know that the family had not eaten anything for two days, and that there was nothing except .boiling water in the pot, which she had kept to console the children. The king went out and brought a load of a flour bag, dates and butter on his back. He ensured that the children enjoyed a sumptuous meal.

8. Setting the Black stone in Kaaba

A fire broke out and damaged some parts of Kaaba, the holiest building for Muslims. Its eastern corner stone, called Hajr-ul-aswad, literally meaning black stone, was temporarily removed in order for renovation. When it came the time to fix it, the clans did not agree upon who would have the honor to place it. The holy prophet then asked for a cloth and the stone was placed on it. He then asked the chief of each clan to catch and lift the cloth. When it was properly aligned, the Holy prophet himself fixed the stone in place. The act was admired by all the clans.

9. Meeting of King Richard and Saladin Ayyubi

After many engagements in crusades King Richard of England and the Sultan of Egypt and Syria, Saladin, mutually agreed upon a meeting somewhere in the presence of their followers. The venue of the meeting was a place in the desert, called the Diamond of the desert. During the meeting King Richard displayed the strength of his sword by cutting a piece of iron without the least effect on his sword. Saladin with his much lighter but much sharper sword, cut cleanly a piece of silk, which King Richard acknowledged was impossible to have been done with his word.

10. Hercules came to know about Islam

A leader of the Quresh tribe, Abu Sufyan, was an arch enemy of the prophet. He was in Constantinople when the Emperor of Eastern Roman Empire, Hercules, received the holy Prophet’s letter. Hercules called for Abu Sufyan and asked him many questions about the Prophet. Abu Sufyan replied that the prophet belonged to a noble family, there had been no king in his family, and he never told a lie and never went against his convents. His followers were poor and they were ever increasing. He asked people to worship God without any partners, to be true, chaste and in union with family. The King said that if all that is told was true, then Islam would surely reach the place where he was standing.

Conclusion

Just as any discipline is better than no discipline at all, any religion is better than no religion. It is said that no scientist can be an atheist, because knowledge sooner or later paves the way to God Almighty. Any religion’s being good alone is not good enough for an individual, unless believed heartily and practiced truthfully. The need for interfaith understanding is being felt in modern times, more than ever before.