DAILYREFLECTION
When none of them got up, he left them and went to Um Salama and told her of the people's attitudes towards him. Um Salama said, 'O the Prophet (ﷺ) of Allah! Do you want your order to be carried out? Go out and don't say a word to anybody till you have slaughtered your sacrifice and call your barber to shave your head.'
The shoes are still by the door, or the mugs are still on the office desk. Each time we ask, our voice gets a little firmer, and each time nothing moves, so we take a breath to ask again.
At Hudaybiyyah, the Prophet ﷺ had asked his Companions three times, and they were too grieved to rise. He ﷺ went to his wife, Umm Salamah, told her how the day had gone, and took her advice: go out without a word and do it first.
Allah had told him ﷺ to consult the people around him, and here he brought a hard moment to someone close to him and listened. And when words had run their course, his example moved the whole camp at once.
Children tend to copy what they watch us do so closely that they repeat even the steps that weren't needed. We also tend to hold back from asking advice in case it makes us look unsure. The person we ask usually ends up thinking more of us for it, especially when the problem is a hard one.
So picture the dad who quietly rinses his own plate, or the student who finally asks her older sister what she would do. Both are walking the same path he ﷺ walked that day, and the hearts around them are in Allah's hands.
First step: this Friday, let's take the one thing we've asked someone to do more than once and do the first part ourselves without a word. Then let's ask one person whose advice we rarely seek, and listen to the whole answer.
Reflect on this: Whose advice would change our next decision if we actually asked for it?