The Excuse-Maker

The Excuse-Maker

“Sir, my younger son has had a high fever for many days. After medical tests, it was diagnosed as typhoid. Now I need to show him to a senior doctor, and the treatment for typhoid is very expensive. Sir, I need three thousand rupees.”

Karam Deen pleaded before Seth Abrar and appealed for help.

“May Allah grant your son good health,” Seth Abrar said kindly and handed him three thousand-rupee notes. Karam Deen slipped the money into his pocket, offered prayers, and left the room.

Mrs. Abrar arrived just then and had seen Karam Deen taking the money. After he left, she said angrily, “I keep telling you to keep him in his place and not spoil him so much. Every other day he invents some excuse to squeeze money out of you. Some time ago, he took five thousand rupees saying his elder son was injured and had stitches on his head. Before that, he took a large amount claiming his wife had kidney stones and needed surgery. And you sit here acting like Hatim Tai, filling the begging bowl of whoever comes. Money seems to grow on trees for you!”

Mrs. Abrar continued her harsh criticism.

“Dear, helping the needy does not reduce wealth; rather, it increases it, and Allah is pleased as well. Now calm down, it is time for lunch,” Seth Abrar said as he walked toward the washbasin to wash his hands.

Karam Deen was a thirty-year-old hardworking but talkative young man. Seth Abrar had employed him only six months earlier. Karam Deen had told him that he had two small children and lived in a rented house with his elderly father, who was often ill. Seth Abrar had quietly verified this information. Some of it was true, while some of it was exaggerated.

In the evening, when Seth Abrar returned from his factory, he found his wife waiting impatiently. After greetings, as soon as he asked about her well-being, she burst out angrily, “Didn’t I tell you? I knew this was all drama. He keeps taking money by making one excuse after another.”

“What exactly happened?” Seth Abrar interrupted calmly.

“Ask what didn’t happen,” she snapped.

“Alright, then tell me what didn’t happen,” he replied patiently.

“When Karam Deen left after taking money from you, I sent our old employee to follow him and find out whether his child was truly ill or whether he had taken the money by making excuses. When Abdul Qayyum returned and told me what he discovered, I was shocked. He said that Karam Deen isn’t even married yet.”

Having finished her statement, Mrs. Abrar looked at Seth Abrar triumphantly, as if she had achieved a great victory. But the very next moment, she was startled, because instead of surprise, she saw a gentle smile on Seth Abrar’s face.

“Perhaps you don’t believe what I’m saying,” she said irritably.

Seth Abrar smiled for a few moments and then said, “Dear, what you found out today, I already knew the very day I hired Karam Deen.”

“W-what?” Mrs. Abrar exclaimed. “Even then…?”

Before she could finish, Seth Abrar interrupted, “Even though I knew he was lying, I still helped him. That is because I also know that he is genuinely in need. Instead of stating his real need, he invents excuses so his request seems stronger and I do not refuse him.

“In fact, I am indebted to his father. This is an old matter. He was once my classmate. Once, I asked him for a loan, but he had no cash. He gave me a prize bond instead. By chance, that bond won, and I received a large sum of money. I informed him and was ready to give him the amount, but he said that I alone deserved it. I started my business with that money.

“I can never repay his debt. Karam Deen also knows this. These days, his father is seriously ill, and it is for his treatment that Karam Deen asks for money. Everything you see today is because of Karam Deen’s father. His way of asking is wrong, and I am waiting for the right moment to correct him.”

Seth Abrar spoke calmly while Mrs. Abrar listened in astonishment.

The lesson from this story is that we should never accuse anyone without knowing the full truth. Instead, we should understand circumstances and events before forming a good or bad opinion about someone.