Allaudin – Birth and Childhood
In Arabia, there was a small village named Nasia, where lived a poor couple. The husband, Mustafa, was a tailor and the wife, Haziba helped him in his work.
They lived in utter poverty and seldom had enough food to eat. More than their poverty, the fact that they were childless, caused a lot of grief to them.
Mustafa and Haziba, both were very religious and god-fearing people They daily offered their prayers to Allah and pleaded him to bless them with a child. Years rolled by, but there was no improvement in their condition.
They sank deeper and deeper into poverty. One day, the couple decided to shift from Nasia. They hoped that their condition would improve if they left that village.
After thinking hard, the couple came to a decision to shift to Mecca, the religious place for Muslims. With immense
belief that their life would take a new turn in the holy city, both of them took their belongings and set out to Mecca.
Mecca was a busy pilgrim centre that was always crowded with pilgrims. Mustafa expected to earn good money from tailoring there.
But, unfortunately, there too, he could not compete with the already established tailors, who took away the major share of work. As there was no improvement in their living conditions, in order to help her husband, Haziba started working as a maidservant. With nowhere to go, the couple pinned their hopes on the Lord Almighty and prayed to him incessantly.
To be blessed with a child, both of them went to many saints and prophets and took their blessings. Want of a child made them do everything that was humanly possible. To their delight, Allah heard their prayers.
He blessed the couple with a male child. Overwhelmed by the birth of their son, they named him Allaudin. The child was very precious to them.
Though they had nothing to eat, they took every care to ensure that Allaudin grew up well. They provided him all the comforts they could.
Due to excessive attention and love, Allaudin became a very naughty boy. As his parents could not afford to educate him, Allaudin was always out of the house, playing with his friends.
He turned out to be a prankster who always created problems to his parents. His parents had no heart to reprimand their child, which only made him naughtier.
An irresponsible lad that he was, it never occurred to him even once to help his father in his work. Though he knew the condition of their family, he was too busy with his own activities. Soon, Allaudin grew up to be a seven-year-old boy.
His parents slowly realized their mistake but they felt that it was too late to mend his ways.
However, Allaudin’s father decided to give it a try and called him to his side, one night.
Seating him on his lap, his father affectionately told him, “My dear son! You are our one and only child. We were blessed with you after many prayers.
It is depressing to see you roaming around the whole city irresponsibly. We have lot of dreams for you. You are not a small kid anymore.
Before I lose my strength, I want to teach you all that I know, so that you will have a secure future.”
Allaudin listened to his father’s words with attention. Affectionately brushing Allaudin’s lock of hair, Mustafa continued to speak, “Dear boy! It is not too late. Stop being a brat and sit with me at least two hours a day to learn tailoring.
We are getting old; we won’t be there with you throughout your life. Please try to lend me a helping hand from tomorrow.”
As Mustafa finished speaking, Allaudin nodded his head and promised to learn tailoring from his father. His parents were very happy that he had listened to them and slept happily that night.
Alas! They realized how wrong they were, when they found Allaudin running in the streets as usual with his friends. Though they tried to instill some sense of responsibility in him several times after, they always faced nothing but dejection. Being the only child, none of his parents had the heart to coerce him too.
Some more years passed by. When Allaudin attained the age of twelve, his father, Mustafa expired due to illness. The sudden death of Mustafa left Allaudin and his mother in a deep shock.
They were shattered and lost their only earning member. In order to earn a living, Haziba again started to work as a servant maid. She worked hard day and night to earn some money to feed her child.
Allaudin was forced to face the reality after the death of his father. He felt ashamed and guilty, when he saw his mother toil hard to earn money. He wept uncontrollably remembering his father.
One day he decided to share the burden of his mother and went in to the market to find some work.
His reputation of being an irresponsible lad deprived him of any work. No one in Mecca had the trust in him to assign even the simplest task.
This depressed him more. As he roamed around the market aimlessly, one of his friends passed a comment on Allaudin’s family which annoyed him. Soon, he got in to a big fight and injured the boy badly.
That night, Haziba had to bear the brunt of his deeds. She was warned by the boy’s parents to keep Allaudin under control.
Terrified with the complaints she received regarding her son’s behaviour, Haziba wept and pleaded him, “Dear Son! There is not a single soul on this earth to take care of us.
We are all alone in this world. Only by being humble and good, can we lead a calm life. Why have you turned out to be so violent and stubborn?’’
Unable to see Allaudin hang his head in shame, Haziba controlled her grief and said, Allaudin! When you were born, a saint visited our house and blessed you.
It was his prophecy, that you would one day become rich and a famous man. I am toiling hard today only with a hope to see you in a high position in future. Whatever the reason may be, please be good to others and promise me that you won’t fight with anyone gain.”
Allaudin sincerely promised his mother not to repeat his mistake. Since then, he stopped being irresponsible.
He helped people who were in need and soon, won the affection of the people in Mecca.