Once upon a time when my father was in his teens, his
father took him to the mosque to pray. My grandfather,
it seems, had a habit of keeping his loose change in
his
shirt pocket. As they prayed side by side, during one
of
the prostrations, the coins fell down onto the carpet.
Apparently deep in concentration, my grandfather did
not
notice it. However a gentleman seated nearby as well
as
my father noticed the incident. The man reacted fast
and
scooped the coins and went off into another corner of
the mosque.
My father took everything in and as soon as my
grandfather finished praying, he started to narrate
what
transpired. My grandfather having heard just about
what
transpired stopped my Dad from telling him who took
the
money.
He then proceeded to tell my Dad the following. If the
Man has resorted to stealing in the mosque, then it
must
be because his circumstances are bad. We must not be
quick to judge such people, he said.
Since they owned a grocery shop, my father was told by
his father to ensure that every month he should make
up
a parcel of all the bare necessities required in a
household and send it to that person without telling
him
who it was being sent to.
Wouldn't this world be a better place to live in if we
had such wisdom permeating within our societies!
