Habib Umar at Baalwie

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Originally uploaded by LilMudPie

Here's a snap I took of Habib Umar last night at Masjid Baalwie.

Habib spoke about character (ahlaq). He spoke about one of Habib Hasan's forefathers back in the Yemen. Story is that once he was blessed with a son. His students heard the news and were going to visit him and congratulate him, being a great cleric that he was. On the way, they bumped into a farmer who asked where they were going, and they told him. The farmer asked them what the big deal was, they should instead congratulate him because his donkey had just given birth to a calf, and that was more important. The students were angered at the comparison between their beloved teacher and a donkey, but kept silent and went on to see the habib. When told of the incident, the habib immediately told his students that to the farmer, a new donkey is more important than his having a newborn son. He gathered his students together and hurried to the farmer's residence with gifts, and congratulated the farmer on his new donkey.

On another occasion, as he walked in the streets in his clean clothes, someone who was sweeping a roof threw ashes and soot off and it fell on him. His students were shocked and angered, but the habib's response was to thank God the ashes were already burnt out, or he could have got burnt.

I have been thinking for some time how to apply this sort of thinking in my life, but as if to prove my spiritual poverty, I just cannot do so. May Allah help and guide me to be able to always see the blessings in trials.