HAPPINESS
Aziz belonged to a poor family and lived in a small town. He was intelligent & hardworking from childhood. He got a government job at lower level but continued his studies. It helped him in getting some promotions in next years. He struggled in his life but tried to get his children educated in institutions available in nearby city.
His only son Rashid was dissatisfied of their simple lifestyle and
wanted to be like his friends in city.
Rashid’s parents had lived their life in the same old house in limited sources. He was aware of the
difficult times their parents had been through for the sake of small desires of their children. He was of
the view that they had not lived a happy life like others just because of honesty of their father. He often
argued with his mother in that regard.
Rashid had good marks in Matric but refused to continue studies during FSC. The desire for money
increased and his interest in studies dropped. All efforts of Teachers & fellow students failed. He made
up his mind that further education was wastage of time and would not solve their problems. He was no
more comfortable in company of boys of town as according to him all belonged to low-income group.
He was always in search of the ways of becoming
rich & having a house in city. The only way which
came in his mind was to start business. His parents
tried to make him understand that they did not have
sufficient sum that would be required and how
difficult it was in limited sources but he was not
ready to hear anything.
Photo by Ksenia Chernaya: https://www.pexels.com/photo/young-woman-sitting-in-apartment-on-second-level-with-plants-3951653/
His only objective in life
was to earn money and have a house in city.
He consulted some friends in city and decided to start a wholesale business at small scale of food
products in nearby city. His mother was reluctant but then after some days had to surrender. She sold
her some gold and gave money to invest in business. In the very first days he realized that things were
not so easy as it looked while sitting at home. He worked hard but every day brought new challenges
and problems. The persons & so-called friends who had suggested him to start business were no more
available. His father did not have any such experience to give him any opinion.
In the very next month, it became hard to arrange amount for rent of shop, salary of two servants &
bills of market. He decided to take loan from an investor sitting in market. The amount was utilized in
filling shortfall in inventory while the rest was kept as working capital. He was relieved for some days
but then markup of each month was an additional burden on him. He decided to have services of only
one worker as there was less sales & purchases.
One day he thought he was a fool by giving exact weightage of products to customers. He believed that
other shopkeepers sitting in market were earning profit in that way. He decided to use that tool. He went
in market to get weighing stones of less weight. He found that the stones being used by him were already
of less weight. He decided to weigh further less while selling to the customer.
A new problem aroused in shape of exchange of hot words
with customers. It became almost a daily routine that
shouting voices from his shop spread in market. He
introduced many promotions and tried many ways to
increase sales but did not bring any fruitful result. his
reputation in market dropped day by day. He was fed up
of sitting idle on counter. Traders from other towns used
to walk front of his shop but did not enter in.
The desire of being rich became a dream rather his family struggled hard to survive. His parents had no
more money to inject. Running of house kitchen was becoming difficult. His sisters along parents
prayed a lot & fasted as per advice of nearby masjid maulvi. Time was running fast and the risk of being
a defaulter hang on them.
Rashid consulted many persons and one guided him to an old religious personality in a far of village.
Distance was long as the said village was in another province. He decided to go on his bike to control
travel expenses. He opened the cash draw to get some money but was forced to think for a while. The
amount there was not even sufficient for rent. He was well aware of humiliation one had to face when
markup & rent was not paid on time. He picked amount for fuel only and left shop with wet eyes.
It was a hard & long journey specially to drive in cold chilled weather. He did not have amount to stay
somewhere at night. During the travel Rashid had to confirm track many times. It was first half of
morning that Rashid managed to reach the village where Sufi sahib lived. He saw that an old man in
white clothes was praying with closed eyes.
He sat on a white sheet spread under a bunch of fruit trees outside a small hut. Rashid sat close to him
but old man did not take any notice of him but kept on praying. Rashid was hungry & tired. He ate some
fruits from trees and then lay on sheet while closely watching old man. The old man was very fair with
white beard & white hairs and had something special on face which forced Rashid to focus on him and
think about him. After some minutes Rashid fell asleep & woke up on voice of Zohar Azaan from
nearby mosque. Rashid got up with a jerk. He was astonished to see old man in same position and
posture.
After waiting for some minutes, Rashid gained courage and touched Baba Jee’s leg to get his attention.
Old man opened his eyes. On listening the problem, Baba Jee simply said: Weigh & measure product
properly.: He again closed his eyes and got
involved in his Ibadat. Rashid tried to talk more
but felt that Baba Jee had no more interest in him.
After some moments got up for Zohar prayer.
Rashid was disappointed with short reply.
Although message had been conveyed but was
not up to his expectations. All his
hopes had shattered. He got up and walked
towards his bike with fear & heavy heart. He
looked very exhausted and thought it all as wastage of time & money. All the way back he kept on
thinking how to manage that month’s markup. He reached home next evening and went straight to bed.
Next morning, he told whole story of travel & saying of Baba to his parents. His mother on hearing him
told him to act on advice. Rashid was reluctant as he was not able to find answer to questions in mind.
How the proper weighing will solve his problems? How the sale will improve? How he would be able
to survive with new action? He thought that stocks would finish earlier if more weight of products was
given to customers. Two days later at night he sat in his house with all these thoughts in mind. His
mother came near to him and placed her hand on his head. She said: Do not waste any time and act on
advice been given to you. Forget past & leave future to Allah. My prayers are for you.: With that she
took prayer sheet and went in another room.
Next morning Rashid went in market in search of full weight stones to be used on weighing scale. It
was a difficult process to select the right ones. Many people in market noted it that a person was in
search of stones with right specifications and asked address of his shop. Same evening on keeping
weighing stones at shop, He felt himself relieved and mentally satisfied. He had no more fear of
exchange of hot & bad words with customers.
Within two days he was astonished that he had
money in draw equivalent to interest amount. In
the next few days, he felt a slow & silent increase
& improvement in sales. The environment in shop
was far calmer & more comfortable for customers.
Many traders from other towns started stepping in
his shop. He remained most of time happy. He
invited many buyers to weigh the bags themselves
and did not bother if some extra weight went to
them. This change in attitude was not only noted
but also welcomed by buyers.
His reputation in market started improving. People shared their experience of buying goods from his
shop with others. He already had wide range of products and weighing was also up to standard. He was
very conscious about weighing stones and used to check them daily. One-night Rashid came home
happily and while giving some amount to his mother said: You kindly purchase new clothes for all.
Sale is improving day by day.: His father outrightly rejected the proposal and asked his son to pay off
the loan first. His mother agreed to it and told him “In Islam Interest or markup is strictly prohibited
and is just like a war with Allah.”
Rashid once again got worried that how the business would run without that capital. His mother insisted
so he decided to reduce loan in phases. The investor got annoyed on hearing it and threatened him of
dire consequences. With great effort Rashid was able to convince him but markup rate was increased
on balance amount. Rashid was surprised to note in next weeks that business was not affected on
reduction of capital rather steadily improved. After only two months, Rashid paid off balance loan
amount and it was start of new environment in shop. No one stood at his shop demanding amount.
Daily sales further improved and he had to employ more workers. Rashid was happy and helped his
parents in arranging marriage of his two sisters. One day he decided to have weighing stones made of
gold. He was a wealthy businessman and could afford it. He always considered weighing stones as
turning point in his life. He was the only one in whole town to have golden weighing stones on scale.
He became famous and enjoyed a respectable life.
One night he thought of the old Baba and decided to visit him to inform about
his stable business. On reaching there he found him praying in same manner.
He had gone aged but was still alert. He kept on sitting watching him. On that
day he was not frightened of the lonely environment rather liked his way of
praying. After waiting for more than an hour he talked to Baba and explained
in detail about the change in his business after his advice. The old man
stopped for a while & opened his eyes to say “Throw weighing Gold stones in
canal.”
Rashid was stunned on hearing those words and wanted to say something but then Baba did not pay
attention to him. On the way back, Rashid kept on thinking on new advice of old man and was surprised
as well as worried. The weighing stones were of course very expensive. He was also clear that the gold
was earned only after the first advice.
At night he did not share it with any family member. Next morning, he decided to throw stones in canal
as per advice. He kept those stones in a fabric cloth and went to nearby canal. He closed his eyes and
with a very heavy heart threw them in water. He quickly turned back and almost ran towards shop. In
next days some customers noted the change & asked different questions about golden stones but he just
smiled & kept quiet. In few days he forgot the incidence and got busy in daily routines.
One hot evening a group of traders was coming to town for buying goods. They were regular customers
of Rashid. On reaching canal they decided to take rest and take bath in cold water. The water was not
much deep. While enjoying in cold water Zeeshan, one of Traders felt some heavy fabric in his feet. He
bowed down and brought out the fabric bag. He & his companion were surprised to see weighing stones
made of gold lying there. They recognized that the stones belonged to Rashid as no one in Town used
such expensive stones.
Zeeshan went straight to Rashid’s shop and saw that golden stones were no more on weighing scale. It
was confirmed to him that the stones belonged to Rashid. He thought that stones had been stolen. He
stood at a side and waited for his turn. On coming close to cash counter, he showed stones to Rashid.
On seeing them Rashid was astonished and Looked at Zeeshan with many questions in eyes. On hearing
whole story, he just told senior worker to properly close shop & decided to take fresh advice from Baba
Jee.
On reaching there, Rashid wasted no time and narrated the whole incident in a worried voice. The old
man opened his eyes and said “The money earned in right way never goes away. It will come back to
you in one way or the other.”
On way back and later at night he thought how rapidly his life had changed in last years. He agreed
with himself that all had happened after acting on advice of Baba jee and doing business according to
Islamic laws.
