Parables of the Qur’an

Episode Four

Amr Khaled

Owners of the Garden

In the name of Allah[1], The All-Merciful, The Ever-Merciful.  All prayers and peace of Allah be upon Prophet Muhammad (SAWS[2])

First of all, I would like to remind you of our motto this year “I live by the Qur’an”, with all its wisdom.  . Therefore, each day of Ramadan, we are going to live with a story from Qu'an . By that we hope to awaken our spirits and  reform our morals.

Divine Messages

Before we start today's story, we want to talk about the Divine messages. Allah (SWT[3]) sends us messages in different forms.  Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “And Allah wills to relent towards you…” (TMQ[4], 4:27).  This is the objective of sending these messages.  Allah (SWT) wants us to get back to the right track because he knows that we cannot bear his punishment.

There are two types of divine messages; they are eiher general messages sent to all people or individualized messages sent to specific persons.  There are two types of people as well: those who pick up messages quickly and those who are slow to understand them or those who ignore the messages altogether.  Sometimes, individualized messages are very evident, such as an ordeal following a wrongdoing or a delay of a certain provisionsustenance.  At other times, the messages are less obvious and cannot be easily perceived, such as your eye catching a poor person while you are throwing away food, or, for example, hearing the Qur’anic ayah[5] “O you who have believed, be pious to Allah…” (TMQ, 5:35) over and over again wherever you go.

There are a lot of such examples in the life of Malek ibn-Dinar.  He was a very cruel officer who practiced a lot of sinful deeds.  One day, he was walking in the market when he saw a man buying goods and asking the merchant to decrease the price because he had three daughters and the Prophet (SAWS) said that whoever has three daughters and brings them up properly will go to jannah (Paradise).  This made Malek ibn-Dinar wished to have a daughter so he got married and became the father of a beautiful daughter whom he named “Fatimah”.  However, he did not become thankful to Allah; in fact, he became even worse.  He  began to drink and became more and more disobedient to Allah.  Allah (SWT) punished him for this and Fatimah died; yet, Malek still became worse and worse.  The next message from Allah was in the form of a dream.  He dreamt of himself on the Day of Judgment and the hellfire was running after him.  Suddenly, while he was running, he saw a huge mountain.  On this mountain stood the Muslim children who died young.  The children were calling upon his daughter Fatimah to save her father.  Then, Fatimah came and sat in his lap and the fire stopped.  Fatimah then said to him, "O father, “Is it not due time for the hearts of (the ones) who have believed to submit to the Remembrance of Allah…” (TMQ: 57:16).  Upon this, Malek woke up crying, "It is, O Allah! It is!" He went to pray fajr (dawn) prayer, and he found the imam (leader in prayer) reciting this very ayah.

Thhus, Allah (SWT) sends us many messages; if they are ignored, they turn into penalty.  To know the difference between a message and a punishment, notice what happens to you afterwards, if you become a better person, then it is a message.

The story of the owners of the garden

Today’s story carries two messages.  The first message is that you must never live only for yourself forgetting about all the poor and orphan children around you. The second message is that you must never betray your father after his death and never stop a good deed he used to do.

This story is mentioned in the Noble Qur’an in surat[6] al-Qalam, ayahs 17 through 33.  This surah was revealed in Makka where a lot of wealthy, as well as poor, people lived.  It carried a message for those who were weathly in Makkah, and it is still a message to all rich people in the Islamic world today.  It is the story of three brothers who inherited a garden from their father.  They were from Yemen, and the location of their garden is still known up till today.  It existed about 18 kilometers away from San’aa and several documents have been found describing that garden.

The father had not inherited the garden.  He acquired it with his own effort.  When this man became rich, he loved sadaqa (a charitable deed) and gave away a lot of money to the poor.  He used to plant the garden and give a lot of the crops to the poor. He lived for them.  However, when he died, his sons decided never to give the poor anything from the garden again, not even a single fruit. The father went through the five stages of sadaqa.

The first stage

After he had become wealthy, he gave zakat[7] (mandatory alms-giving) and sadaqa to the poor.  This is the first stage and it is the duty of every Muslim.  He who does not give zakat would be disobedient.  Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “…and (so do) the ones who hoard gold and silver and do not expend them in the way of Allah. Then give them the tidings of a painful torment. The Day they will be heated in the fire of Hell, (and) so therewith their foreheads and their sides and their backs will be branded; (and it will be said), ‘This is what you have hoarded for yourselves; so taste what you were hoarding.’” (TMQ, 9:34-35).  If only zakat were given properly in the Islamic world today, no poor person would have remained.  Listen to this ayah that can be translated as, “And definitely let not the ones who are miserly with what Allah has brought them of His Grace reckon that it is charitable for them. No indeed, it is an evil (thing) for them. They will have wrapped (about their necks) whatever they were miserly with, on the Day of the Resurrection…” (TMQ, 3:180).  The ayahs considering those who prevent zakat money are the ayahs where Allah’s anger manifests most.

The second stage

The man in our story passed this stage as well.  He realized that money grows with giving, for the more he gave, the more he prospered.  This is true, as Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “…and whatever thing you expend, He will then replace it…” (TMQ, 34:39).  He also says what can be translated as, “Who is he who will lend Allah a fair loan, so He will double it for him manifold?” (TMQ, 2:245).  When this ayah was revealed, Abu-Bakr (RA[8]) cried and said, "Allah (SWT) knows how miserly we are, so He is asking us for a loan rather than sadaqa!"

Lady Aisha (RA) once said that Abdul-Rahman ibn-Awf will enter jannah crawling due to his wealth.  He said, "By Allah! I will enter it running, for I never spent a hundred in the morning without it returning to me a thousand in the evening.  The owner of the garden knew this and believed in it.  It is said that sadaqa is a proof of your trust and belief in Allah.  You must give while totally convinced that Allah (SWT) will reward you and return what you gave, multiplied.

One day, while a man was in the wilderness he heard a voice from the cloud (commanding it thus), "Irrigate the garden of so and so". After that the clouds floated aside and rained on a garden. The man followed the water until he found someone plowing that garden. He asked the man, "Servant of Allah, what is your name?" He replied, "So and so". It was that very name which he had heard from the clouds. Then the man asked him, "Servant of Allah, why do you ask me my name? He said, "I heard a voice from the clouds from which the downpour has come, saying, 'Water the garden of so and so'. What do you do (for the favour) shown to you by Allah in this matter?" He said, 'I check yield I obtain from it, and I give one-third of it as charity, my children and I eat one-third of it, and one-third I return to the garden as an investment".

The third stage

Now he got to experience the enjoyment he would find in the smile of a child or the supplication of a widow.  He found that the beauty of giving charity is greater than that of profiting money.  When we live for others, our lives grow to cover the ages of those we have made happy.  The good-hearted man by that level had reached an enjoyment that surpassed tangible delight.  He started noticing the messages reaching him from Allah. He started sensing Allah's forgiveness for his sins. The Prophet (SAWS) told us that charity extinguishes Allah's wrath as water extinguishes fire.

Generous souls are closer to Allah, closer to the people, and closer to Paradise.  We here remind ourselves how Paradise's gates are already opened in Ramadan. The generous man started making records with names of the poor.  Poor people were known to knock on his door for assistance.  We should not refuse people knocking on our doors.  Times may change and we may ask for help only to find refusal.

I do not narrate these virtues of charity to rich businessmen only.  I ask businessmen much more than random giving. I primarily narrate these virtues to every young man and woman.  Give charity, even if from your small allowance. Sisters who are housewives are also meant by this advice.  I ask you all to give for charity. 

The Prophet (SAWS) told us that the equal of a date from lawful earnings will be augmented in value by Allah, until its giver would come on the Day of Judgment and find its value as that of the Mountain of Uhud.  So let us go out tonight and give in contribution.

A friend of mine had a son who became sick, and doctors had seen no hope for cure. My friend says he was very agonized by that, until he found an old lady a few weeks later picking food from a trashcan because of dire need.  My friend took the old lady to his butcher, grocer and tailor, and handed them a monthly fee for her children every month.  Not long passed until his child was regaining his health back.  A few days of amazement later, his eye caught the saying of the Prophet (SAWS) that we should treat our sick family members with charity. The message was complete.

The fourth stage

At this level the generous man assumed that he sensed how this money was not his, but rather Allah's money that he was assigned to manage and that he was given the ability to earn money to be a channel through which the money will reach the poor. 

The fifth stage

The pious man is transferred to the highest level now. He is living for benefaction. That did not require him to stop thinking about this life, rather he chose a career that provided opportunities for the poor, and he dedicated all his life for the goal of helping them. He became like  Othman ibn-Affan (RA) who equipped the Muslim army in the Battle of Tabuk, so the Prophet (SAWS) told him, "Nothing shall harm Othman after what he did today".

He did what Bill Gates is doing now when he converted an ample part of his business and success to philanthropy, using his money-making skills in helping those in need.. Bill Gates is currently doing what many Arab and Muslim businessmen are not doing.

The man's three sons disapproved their father's excessive spending.  They started mistreating the poor people that came to their door.  They forgot that their father's riches came through the delight of spending it. 

The middle son was the closest of them to their father in terms of spending.  However, his two brothers' impact on him pulled him astray to their routes of stinginess. Thus whoever thinks that he is strong enough to win over a corrupted company of friends should think otherwise. 

We want to tell fathers that they need to keep their children close to them. Fathers who leave their children and delegate their upbringing to their wives should now engage actively in their children's education and cultivation. We also need to tell our brothers to be close to their parents.  Your father's life-time is an experience, no matter how much you see it time-worn. 

The generous man by now reached his highest level of spending.  He decided to put all his money in a piece of land, and gave a lot of jobs for people to work in it.  Then he used to take its harvest and spend it to those who need it on a festive day. Allah named this land a Garden (paradise) in the Qur'an.  It was the land that will lead him to Paradise.  It was the land through which he fed the needy and gave them the liberty of worship.  We need to feed the poor instead of preaching to them while they are only busy and distracted by the responsibility of their children's sustenance.

Finally, the generous man died, and his children's eyes were only on the garden he left.  They decided to give nothing of its harvest to the poor.

In the Qur'an Allah revealed their story in what can be translated as, " Surely We have tried them (the rich disbelievers) as We tried the companions (i.e., owners) of the garden, as they swore that indeed they would definitely wrest away (i.e., gather all) (its fruits) in the (early) morning, and made no exception (for the Will of Allah)," (TMQ, 68: 17, 18).  They swore and pledged to carry out their misguided greed.  They intended it with cutting determination.   

Those children were not only misers, but they had also betrayed their father's legacy.  When a man asked the Prophet (SAWS) how to be dutiful to his father after his death, the Prophet (SAWS) answered that he should execute his contracts after him. 

Abdullah ibn-Omar gave his mule as a gift to a man walking in the scorching sun.  When he was asked about that, he replied that this man's father was a friend of his own father, Omar, and by that he had been dutiful to his own father, may Allah be pleased with both of them.

These children betrayed their father's heritage.  Thus came their punishment as Allah (SWT) said what can be translated as, "Then a (destructive) visitation from your Lord visited it (Literally: went around and over the garden) while they were sleeping.  So (in the morning) it became as if it were a garden wrested away," (TMQ, 68: 19, 20).

The punishment came while they were sleeping because they pledged their crime in secrecy.  Let us beware of the sins of the night, which we commit freely with no eyes watching.  

Not only was their harvest in ashes, but the soil of their land was ruined as well, so that it no longer allowed for agriculture.  It was turned into sareem (rocks that cannot fathom plantation).  Sareem is a message that forbids us from eating the rights of the needy.  Our lands, our factories, and our sources of earning will be turned into this if we insist on being greedy with our wealth.

The punishment came to them and they were un-aware. Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, "Then in the (early) morning they called out to one another, (Saying), 'Go forth early upon your tillage, in case you would wrest away (the fruit)!' So they went off, speaking together in hushed voices, (Saying), 'Definitely no indigent person shall enter it today against you.' And they went forth early, determined on interdiction" (TMQ, 68: 21-26).  Their father used to give the poor with honor and dignity, but they had to walk around in secrecy and submission, speaking in hushed voices.

Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, "Then, as soon as they saw it (the ruined garden), they said, 'Surely we are indeed erring (people). No indeed, (but) we are dispossessed'" (TMQ, 68: 26, 27).  They thought they lost their route to another land.  When it settled to them that it was their land destroyed, they discovered that they were the ones wrested and deprived.

Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, "Said the most moderate of them, 'Did I not say to you: Had you only extolled (Him)!'" (TMQ, 68: 28).  The second son was the first to come back because he was the closest to his father.  This should provide hope to parents of misguided youngsters.  No matter how much they have strayed, the knowledge you taught them will guide them again, by Allah's will.

 The two other brothers then started realizing the message. Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, "They said, All Extolment be to our Lord! Surely we were unjust.”   Then some of them came forward to others, blaming each other. They said, 'O woe to us! Surely we were inordinate It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a more charitable (i.e., better) one than it; surely to our Lord are we desirous (of His Grace)'" (TMQ, 68: 29-32).

They started blaming each other that they took too long to perceive the messages of Allah.  Then the Qur'an here gives hope to every sinner, through the hope of the three children.  They hoped that Allah would give them a more charitable garden than the one destroyed, and Allah did bless them with a better one from their hard work.

Abdullah ibn-Rawahah asked the Prophet (SAWS) for advice and the Prophet (SAWS) ordered him not to lose hope.  The moment you sin, follow it with obedience to Allah.  How great is the mercy of Allah.  No matter what the sins you have committed are, follow it with repentance and good deeds, and Allah will forgive you with his mercy and grace.  Let us make this night a night of repentance. No matter how much we have changed our parents' legacies, we can always repent and start again.

Can we now see Allah's mercy in this message?  This punishment made them repent and change, so isn’t this actually a message of mercy? 

Allah (SWT) says following the story what can be translated as, "Thus was the torment; and the torment of the Hereafter is indeed greater, if they did know" (TMQ, 68: 33). This torment was a punishment of this world to lead the misguided.  So if you suffer from such torments pray and ask Allah's forgiveness and repent and change your ways.   Consider it a message of mercy pulling you closer to your Lord.

Today's story is very important.  We need to tell it to our children as a bed-time story and to our youth starting their lives.  Let us write this story and spread it for the next generations.  Businessmen should protect their wealth by charity.  We should encourage young people to give charity, even if in the equity of a date.  In that way, our charity will be a cover for us from the Hell-fire on the Day of Judgment.

[1] The word Allah is the Arabic term for God. Although the use of the word "Allah" is most often associated with Islam, it is not used exclusively by Muslims; Arab Christians and Arabic-speaking Jews also use it to refer to the One God. The Arabic word expresses the unique characteristics of the One God more precisely than the English term. Whereas the word "Allah" has no plural form in Arabic, the English form does. Allah is the God worshipped by all Prophets, from Adam to Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad.

[2] Salla Allah alayhe Wa Salam [All Prayers and Peace of Allah be upon him]

[3] SWT = Suhanahu wa Ta'ala  [Glorified and Exalted Be He].

[4] TMQ=Translation of the Meaning of the Qur'an.  This translation is for the realized meaning, so far, of the stated (Surah:Ayah) of the Qur'an.  Reading the translated meaning of the Qur'an can never replace reading it in Arabic, the language in which it was revealed.

[5] A verse in the Qur'an.

[6] A chapter; the Qur’an is comprised of 114 surahs

[7] A proportion of the wealth (2.5%) of every Muslim to be paid annually for the benefit of the needy in the Muslim community

[8] Radya Allah anhu/anha [May Allah be pleased with him/her].

Translated by: The English Convoy – Dar al-Tarjama