And the example of the believers is just like the example of the Bee!
This hadith crosses my mind whenever I listen to somebody who likes to complain a lot. To complain about everything, about their hardship or especially about all bad staff on people or a place. During my school days in Faculty of Architecture at IIUM, I was the only international student of my batch and all few others were my juniors. Most of the time when a new international student would join us some lecturers will ask them to see me. This was just simply, to share my experience and how I overcome successfully all the shortcomings and difficulties as a “foreigner”, how not to give up, and all is going to be fine by the end of the day. The best advice I had for them were the words of one of my favorite lecturer back than in Albania. One day while discussing with him about my studies in Malaysia and other people perceptions about this country, he advised me by saying: “Some people are just as BEE, and some as FLY. If you are a Bee, you will concentrate to notice only the good side of the new environment and new culture (which will be totally different from your previous life here). Because this is what a Bee does. She will go to the most beautiful flowers and will take the best of them, the Nectar. From the other hand, a fly will go only to dirty places even though there is so much beauty around it.” And He was RIGHT.
Didn’t Allah mention The Bee in the Quran as the best example? Didn’t our beloved Prophet say: “The believer is like the Bee?” Why is it so? He further explains: “Feeds upon goodness, relieves a burden of goodness (honey), lands upon a branch softly so as not to break it and when falling into water does not pollute it.”
Isn’t it that we believers should be like that too? A believer feeds himself with halal, dress halal, walks in what is good, protect him in approaching haram, (what is prohibited) his ibadah is with sincerity. The bee relieves a burden of goodness, just as believer is a source of good for himself and others. His actions are good, his thinking and speaking is beautiful, doesn’t speak about others or matters which doesn’t concern him. In contrary he is positive, in a continuous process in improving himself, helping and assisting others so all can benefit from his goodness.
Just like the bee who doesn’t harm the flower or pollute the water, standing softly on it, the believer does not hurt himself and others around him. The mankind needs to benefit from us. If we sit among ourselves and share the ideas how to be useful and not harmful, how to solve our and people around problems than we will be helpful to each other.
Another virtuous characteristic of the bee is that they love to work in group. In preparing the honey cells they work together and take a good care for their successors. I was so amazed when I knew that there is even a bee responsible for ventilation flapping their wings and there are bees who are cleaners only, etch. They value the effort as community.
Shouldn't we believers be the same? We work as a body and a single team. We feel affection, mercy, love for one another. If one does well we support and help, if one does wrong we feel as we have done it too. As Prophet Muhamad (s.w.s) said: “The example of believers in their affection, mercy and compassion for each other is that of a body. When any limbs ache, the whole body react with sleepless and fever.” We will try to correct our friends our spouses, our family members, our Muslim Ummah. Not by pointing fingers, not with the intention of making the wrongdoer feels bad, but in aiding to solve the problem. Because our main purpose is to please Allah and to get rewards from the Almighty. Isn’t it that a Muslim enjoy the good and prohibit the bad? As Allah said: “Let them arise out of you a group of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining the right and forbidding Al Munkar. And it is they who are successful(from wrong) ( Al Imran,104)
If we will focus deeply in understanding the virtues of the bee, we will realize it gives universal messages to all of us. If we work on our Faith(Iman) in our Niyah(intentions) to submit ourselves to Almighty, our thinking, speaking, actions, feelings, protecting from bad and evil, being good and never ruthless , immoral, corrupted than we can heal the mankind. AS Bee with her honey (either she feeds to sweet or bitter flower) her honey it is entirely sweet. We must digest everything into a honey for all those around us. We pray Allah to have mercy upon us, and make us to be from those who are called in the Day of Judgment: “Peace be upon you! You have become pure; so enter it to abide eternally therein” (they will enter). Zummer 73.
May Allah forgive us all and make us a source of light and good!
Amin
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