The People of اللَّه And Their Independence PART 2

By Moulana Ridwaan Kajee 

A Thought-Provoking Incident, Mentioned in the Mathnawi, Regarding the Owl and the Falcon

A falcon is a predatory bird used for hunting. It is the habit of kings to keep one perched on their shoulder, thus it is known as the bird of the king. Maulana Rumi (Rahmatullah Alaihe) has written that once a royal falcon flew out of the palace, but on his return flight lost its way and landed up in a desolate area occupied by owls. The owls had never seen a falcon and were thus disgusted with his appearance. Since, they were only used to seeing themselves, therefore, all “other” no matter how wonderful, would appear disgusting. 

Their example can be likened to the town of Nikto.

Nikto was the name of an area, in which the habit of having the nose cut was prevalent. It had a population of five thousand and every one of them had their nose cut. 

One day, a man whose nose was not cut, arrived in the area. Upon seeing him, the people muttered in disgust, “What an ugly face! Take a look at yourself in the mirror! Your nose resembles the hump of a camel!”

The Wise Answer of Hakim ul Ummah Thanwi to an Objection Posed

Another hilarious incident that occurred in India has just come to mind. At that time, Pakistan had not yet been formed. 

A man objected in front of Hazrat Thanwi, “Why does Hajj only occur in Makkah Mukarramah? Why is Hajj not allowed in Bombay?” 

Hazrat Thanwi (Rahmatullah Alaihe), in response, posed the following question, “Why is your nose in front and not at the back?” The man replied, “Because it would have looked weird at the back.” 

Hazrat replied, “It would look weird if only one man’s nose was at the back. If all had their noses at the back, none would consider it strange.” 

The man was left dumbfounded and understood that the only possible answer would be, that since Allah is King, He does as He pleases. 

He can thus have His house built wherever He prefers, and none have the right to object.