Ep. 09: Abdullah b. Mubarak | Our Models – The Heroes We Want to Be

There was once a wealthy man who had gardens and orchards. In his garden, there were pomegranates. One day, as he entered his garden, he asked a worker to bring him ripe, sweet pomegranates. The worker found some and the owner tested it to be bitter. He said, “This is not sweet. Get me another one.” This one was also bitter. He sent him back a third time and it was still bitter. He asked the worker, “How long have you been working here?” He stated how many years he had worked. The owner said, “Do you still not know the difference between a sweet pomegranate and bitter one?” He replied, “I have not tasted your pomegranates. I would not know which are sweet and which are bitter.” The owner said, “How is this possible? You have worked here for so many years and you have not tasted a pomegranate?” The worker said, “No, because I come here to work, not to taste things. I have never been told by you, the owner, that I am allowed to eat these pomegranates, so I would never dare to.” The owner was touched by the honesty and discipline of this worker so much so that he decided to marry his daughter to him. The man was of Turkish origin and the woman was of Persian origin. They got married, and after some time, they had a child whom they named Abdullah. Abdullah ibn Mubarak became one of the greatest men of his time in terms of knowledge, piety and generosity, and of course, he became an icon for people after him. Abdullah was one of the great Muhadditheen of his time. In fact, he was the teacher of, directly or indirectly, of all of the hadith compilers around the world. Allah (SWT) had given him the acceptance of people that wherever he went, people had love for him.

Once, in the city of Iraq, the king of that time, Harun, was in one of his palaces. There was a tremendous noise outside similar to a stampede and thousands of people were rushing in one direction, so much so that many of them, while running, their shoes were torn and their laces were ripped. They kept running without care, and the servants of Harun looked over and said, “What is this noise?” Someone told her, “This is Abdullah ibn Mubarak. He just came in town. Everyone is rushing to greet him.” She said, “That is what I call a real king. People are running to meet him. My master, Harun, who is the real king, cannot get people to come to him until his men go out and gather them.” He was a man, like his father, of extreme discipline and a nearly faultless person. Once, when he was traveling in Sham, he had borrowed a pen from someone. He came back to his hometown in Khorasan. When he came back, when he unpacked, he realized that he had brought the pen that he had borrowed from someone. He said, “I must return this pen.” Right away, he packed his bags and went all the way back to Sham – a nearly month long journey – to return that pen. People said, “Are you crazy?” He replied, “This does not belong to me. How will I answer to this on the Day of Judgement, when all of the trusts are brought and people will be asked whether they fulfilled those trusts or not?”

On one of his journeys, there was a student of his who used to take hadith from him. When he went, he asked around, as he was not there. He was told that the student was thrown in jail. He asked, “What happened?” He was told that he had a debt that he could not pay of 10,000 dirhams that he had taken and declared bankruptcy. The judge had put him in jail until he had the arrangements to put his loan back. Abdullah very quickly went to the person who had to sort the matter out and said, “I am giving you this money on behalf of this student. Document this, but my name must not be taken, and I forbid you from taking my name as long as you are alive.” He made the payment and the young man was released. Abdullah went to another town to do some business, came back and met the young man as usual. Abdullah asked, “Where were you?” The youngster replied, “I was jailed.” Abdullah asked, “How did you get out?” The man said, “Some anonymous person came to pay the loan for me.” Abdullah was content that his secret remained a secret. That young man did not find out until Abdullah passed away. Abdullah was a man of extreme generosity and every year he would go to Hajj. When he would go for Hajj, he would tell everyone to pool together all the money that they had for the journey so that he may buy clothing, food and living for them. When they had reached Madinah, he bought that which their families wanted them to buy, and when in Makkah, he did the same. The whole way back, he would treat and feed them, and when they arrived back, he would have a big banquet. In that banquet, he would return the money. They would say, “What is this?” He would say, “Allah (SWT) put barakah in your money and it all came back.” He managed the expenses of the whole caravan who he went with.

We have made some very incredible people in the past because of their sacrifices, akhlaq and taqwa. May Allah (SWT) enable us to follow in their footsteps and grant us the same knowledge that he has given incredible people like Abdullah ibn Mubarak.