Ibn Abbas (ra) The Boy With Great Aspirations
‘Abd Allah Ibn Abbas(ra) was a young boy. He said:
After the blessed Prophet ﷺ passed away, I said to one of my Ansar friends, “The blessed Prophet ﷺ is no longer with us, but there are many Sahaba. Let us go and learn knowledge of the Din from them.”
He (the friend) replied; “Who will come to you when so many eminent Sahaba are with us?” but I was not discouraged. I began seeking knowledge and went to every Sahaba who had heard anything from the Prophet ﷺ until I had gained a wealth of knowledge from the Sahaba of Madina. Whenever I heard that someone had heard something from the Prophet ﷺ I would go to his house. If he was taking his afternoon nap, I would lay down by the threshold and roll up my shawl into a pillow. Sometimes the wind would blow sand into my face but I would wait until he came out. I continued seeking knowledge in this manner until a time came when huge gatherings would sit around me. Then my Ansari friend realised his folly and he said, “this boy proved smarter than us!” [Stories of the Sahaba, Madania Publications]
It’s important to encourage aspirations, especially for our kids. It doesn’t matter about the end result, that’s in Allah’s remit. But it’s all about the intentions we have and journey we take. When we make intention and strive to fulfil an ambition, it is better to try than just sit on the sidelines where we’d be less likely to achieve anything. There are times when we could reach our full potential but the fear of hard work, fear of failure, being persuaded away by others or the whispers of shaytan may hold us back.
Whether it’s to;
put aside time to read Quran daily, increase sunnah prayers, learn Arabic, pursue a certain career path, or adopt a healthier lifestyle. Whatever our hopes for our spiritual needs and worldly responsibilities when we make intention, take steps, strive hard, have humility, adopt patience, rely upon Allah and be mindful to please Him (obey Him) throughout - He will guide us along the journey and hopefully, Inshallah make it easier for us to achieve what we set out to do. 🌙
𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 of 𝗦.𝗡.𝗝𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗹𝗶 ✍🏼 (𝑨𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓 of 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗯𝗻 𝗞𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗿 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀, Islamic chapter books for kids📚)
