Lessons Learned from the Story of Prophet Ayoub A.S. PART-1

(Najamuddin GHanghro, Karachi (original from Larkana))

"Truly! We found him patient. How excellent a slave! Verily, he was ever oft-returning in repentance to Us" (Saad 38:44).

Prophet Ayoub (Alaihi-salam – May be peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was one of Allah’s very sincere worshippers. We find in his story many lessons that we can reflect upon to assess our relationship with Allah. This story especially should make us question whether all our sincerity and worship for Allah is dependent on His blessings on us.

The following story was documented by Ibn Kathir.

Prophet Ayoub (A) was Allah’s thankful, repentant, patient and steadfast worshipper. Allah the Almighty has praised Him in the Quran thus:

"Truly! We found him patient. How excellent a slave! Verily, he was ever oft-returning in repentance to Us" (Saad 38:44).

Ibn Kathir narrates that once Iblis (satan) heard an angel praising Ayoub (A) to other angels, extolling his noble character, patience and remembrance of Allah and describing him as “the best creature on earth today, and an excellent model for the worshippers of Allah.” The angel also added that Allah had blessed him with long life and plenty of riches, yet he was never haughty or selfish. His family, servants, the needy and the poor, all had a share in his good fortune. He bought slaves to set them free and made those who received his charity feel as if they were doing him a favor.

Overhearing all this, Iblis became annoyed and planned to tempt Ayoub (A) and lead him to disbelief. First, he tried to distract him from his prayers by whispering to him about the good things in life, but as a true believer, Ayoub would not let evil thoughts tempt him. Iblis, then tried to attribute ulterior motives to his constant glorification of Allah, projecting his worship as being motivated from greed to safeguard his wealth. Iblis thus said to Allah, "If You deprive him of his wealth You will find that he will no longer mention Your name and his praying will stop."

 

Najamuddin Ghanghro
About the Author: Najamuddin Ghanghro Read More Articles by Najamuddin Ghanghro: 583 Articles with 698360 views I m now Alhamdulillah retired from Govt. Service after serving about 39 ys. Passing ,Alhamdulillah a tense less life. MAY ALLAH CONTINUE IT.AAMEEN

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