THE STORY OF NABI ESA (A.S.) RUNNING AWAY FROM A FOOL

By Hazrat Shah Hakim Muhammad Akhtar Saheb
Once Nabi Esa (A.S.) was running towards the mountain. One of his followers shouted at him in a loud
voice: "0 Rasul of Allah! whither are you going in this manner? What is the cause of your fear? I do not
see any enemy following you".
Nabi Esa (A.S.) replied:
"I am fleeing from a fool. You go and do your own work.
I desire to grant myself safety from the company of a fool. Do not
interrupt my fleeing".
The follower said:
"O Messenger of Allah, Are you not that Messiah
Through whom the blind and the deaf were healed of their ailments?"
Hazrat Esa (A.S.) replied:
"The illness of foolishness is the wrath of Allah.
To be. blind is not a punishment, but a trial from His side.
A trial is such a sickness which brings Allah's Mercy.
While foolishness is such an ailment which brings wounds of His wrath.
Flee from fools and like Nabi Esa (A.S.) prefer to run away.
The friendship of fools has caused much bloodshed
Both the blood of Deen and Dunya has flowed.
Just as air evaporates water slowly and gradually
So the fool takes away the light of your intelligence slowly and gradually.
Nabi Esa's (A.S.) running away was not out of fear,
For through the Grace of Allah,
He was sinless and protected, but he fled in order to teach his Ummat a lesson.
Even if the whole world becomes covered with intense cold, What sorrow will there be for the sun
which shines brightly?"
(Even if the whole world becomes filled with stupid fools,
What harm could that do to Allah's Rasool?)
LESSON
This story teaches us to remain far removed from the company of the foolish ones. A fool in the
technical language of the Quran is that person who jeers and scoffs at Allah and His Rasool ~ and their
injunctions. As Allah points out in the Quran: "Verily they are the fools, but they know not (that they are
fools)". - (Para 1, Ruku 2)
Because of the unperceived foolishness these people consider themselves to be the rational ones of this
age, the knowledgeable ones and the thinkers and philosophers of the era. But the international
definition of a rational being is to keep your mind on the end result of your action. In this they fail badly,
as they have no thoughts for what is to happen after death.
For this reason, Allah describes them as follows:
"They only know the pomp and splendour of this worldly life. And regarding the hereafter, they are
unmindful and neglectful".
So this world is the sum total of their knowledge and one
should avoid their company. One should only meet with them if there is a need for it, just as it
sometimes becomes necessary to visit a dirty toilet. In such a case the person closes his nose and sits in
it out of necessity. However, he does not allow his heart to be attracted to the toilet. Just like that a
person should not allow his heart to become attached to the dunya and the people of the 'Dunya'.
"Live in this world like a ship on water,
Water causes the ship to sail,
As long as the water is outside the ship. But as soon as the water enters the ship, It is the cause of its
destruction".
In similar way one should keep the dunya underneath the hereafter. The main objective is to attain the
hereafter. Consider the world a&' a helping hand towards the hereafter. But if the dunya becomes in
your mind superior to the hereafter and overwhelms it, then you should know that instead of being a
help towards the hereafter, it is the beginning of one's destruction. And if one does not check this, he
will soon see the day of complete destruction.
May Allah protect us from the company of foolish ones and from the love of this world overwhelming
us.
"O Allah, do not make this world our greatest objective. Make it not the sum total of our knowledge.
Make it not the end of our desires. Place not rulers over us, who show no Mercy to us.
O Allah, make Your Love more beloved to me than my self, my family and cold water", Ameen.
In the above first duah, there is a special connection between the first few things we ask and the last
one. We ask Allah not to make this world our greatest object of our lives, and not to make it the sum
total of our knowledge or the end of our desires. If
any of these things do happen, then the reaction is this, that unmerciful ones will be granted to rule
over us harshly. Hence we ask Allah not to let that happen to us.