Download PDF: [S] Friendship should be like this (Islamic story)

The famous historian, Imam Waaqidi narrates, “We were three very close friends. Myself, another friend, who was a Hashmi, and another, who was Nabati or a Nubian. Once during the days of Eid, I suddenly became extremely poor and the family were insisting on new clothes and other gifts for Eid. Out of desperation, I sent a letter to my Hashmi friend requesting some financial help. He immediately sent me a pouch which contained one thousand Dinaars. However, the moment I received this pouch, I also received a letter from my Nubian friend who also found himself in financially dire strait and wanted urgent help. I then immediately sent this pouch of one thousand Dinaars to this person. However, a short while later, I could see that my Hashmi friend was bringing the same pouch of a thousand Dinaars to me. He then asked me as to how come the same pouch which he had sent to me had found itself with our Nubian friend.

 

“I then explained to him, ‘What can I say? The moment I received the pouch from you, I received the letter from our Nubian friend saying that he was in great need of financial help and I did not find it fit to keep this money to myself when another person needed help, hence, the pouch which you gave me, I had it sent to this person.’

 

“When my Hashmi friend heard my statement, he declared, ‘What can I say to you my dear friend? When I received your letter for help, this was the last amount of money I had with me. However, I realized that I should help you and sent this pouch to you. With the result I had no money with me. I then sent a request to our Nubian friend for help and he sent the same pouch of a thousand Dinaars which I had initially sent to you! In this manner, this pouch came from me to you and from you to the Nubian and from him back to me! Therefore, let us take one hundred Dinaars from this so that you may purchase clothing and gifts for your family and let us divide the balance of the money. In this way, each of us will get three hundred Dinaars each.’

 

They then proceeded to do exactly this. Imam Waaqidi explains that somehow this message reached the Khalifah in Baghdad. He then called Imam Waaqidi to his court and handed him seven thousand Dinaars. He also mentioned that one thousand should be spent on his family and two thousand should be kept with each of them. (Thama raatul Awraaq, 1/232)