This
incident is narrated by the prominent preacher,
sheikh Nabeel Al ‘Awaďi, in his (recorded)
lecture called "Stories for Reality – ÞÕÕ ãä
ÇáæÇÞÚ".
He says, "I was once conducting a lecture in the
US. Suddenly in the middle of the lecture,
someone stood and interrupted my speech, saying,
'Sheikh, dictate the testimony to this man',
while he was pointing to an American man next to
him.
I exclaimed, 'Allah is Greatest!'
The American drew closer to me, and then I asked
him, 'What made you like Islam and encouraged
you to embrace it?'
He said, 'I own immense wealth, and have
companies and money, but not in a single day did
I experience happiness. At my company, I had a
Muslim employee from India working there. His
salary was not much yet every time I saw him he
would be smiling. I am a millionaire, yet not in
a single day did I smile. I thought within
myself that I own wealth and a company, yet the
poor employee smiles and I do not. Therefore, I
faced him one day and told him, ‘I want to sit
down with you’, and I started to ask him about
his everlasting smile.
He replied, ‘That is because I am a Muslim, who
bear witnesses that there is no deity but Allah
and that Muhammad is His messenger.’
I asked, ‘Does that mean that a Muslim is happy
throughout all the days of his life?’
He said, ‘Yes.’
I asked, ‘Why is that so?’
He replied, ‘Because we know a hadeeth from the
prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him, in which He says, 'The situation of a
believer is amazing, for all his matters are
good for him; if a disaster befalls him then he
is patient, and such is best for him, and if a
bounty is granted to him then he is grateful (to
Allah), and such is best for him'. Therefore,
all of a person's matters are either disasters
or bounties, with disasters we are patient for
the sake of Allah, and with bounties we are
grateful to Allah, and as a result our whole
life consists of multiplied happiness.’
I told him, ‘I want to embrace this religion.’
He said, ‘Bear witness that there is no deity
but Allah and that Muhammad is His messenger.’.'
The sheikh then says, "I said to this American
man before the audience, 'Recite the testimony',
while I dictated it to him.
He said before the audience, 'I bear witness
that there is no deity but Allah and that
Muhammad is His messenger', and he suddenly
burst into tears in front of everyone, because
of which people came to calm him down.
I said to them, 'No, let him cry.'
Once he stopped crying, I (gently) asked him,
'Why were you crying?'
He replied, 'I swear by God, I have never felt
the happiness which I just felt now in years.'."
Sheikh Al ‘Awaďi comments on the incident,
saying, "Happiness cannot be obtained from
soaps, movies, lusts or songs. All those cause
distress. Happiness is obtained from reading the
Holy Qur'an, fasting, charity and alms giving.
Allah, Most High, says:"
{Is he whose breast Allah has opened to Islam,
so that he is in light from His Lord (as he who
is a non-Muslim)? So woe to those whose hearts
are hardened against remembrance of Allah...}
39:22
Source: Papers of Faith – ÃæÑÇÞ ÅíãÇäíÉ
This article has been translated with slight
modifications to the original text. Quotations
are not accurate. Translations of Qur'anic
verses were quoted from the King Fahd Complex
translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan. The
hadeeths have been freehandly translated.
Original text from
http://www.aljannahway.com/www/rafiawindow.php?action=printnews&id=10773
