Story Name: “Light of the Path”

A small village on the outskirts of the city of Medina—Al-Haya. In that village lived a young man, his name was Saleh. Growing up in the arms of his mother, Saleh was lonely from birth. His father Ali was a woodcutter, who went to the mountains every day to cut wood. One day, Ali was killed in an attack by a wild fox in the forest. Saleh was only six years old at that time. That small hut was wet day and night with his mother's tears. But poverty, sorrow, and deprivation could not extinguish the light of faith in Saleh's heart. On the contrary, from a young age, he was a prayerful, truthful, and unusually patient.

Saleh's mother Amina was a poor yet God-fearing woman. One night, she asked Saleh, "Father, what do you want to be when you grow up?" Saleh bowed his head and said, "Mother, I want to be a person who walks in the path of Allah. I want the words of Allah to enter the hearts of people through the words of my mouth." Amina cried. The tears that fell from her eyes that night were like prayers.

Years later, Saleh grew up. Allah had given him a keen intellect, deep understanding and a generous heart. One day the imam of the village mosque called him and said, “Listening to your voice reciting the Quran, I think you will go far one day. Do you want to study?” Saleh said, “I know that studying can be a companion on my path. But I want this knowledge not to teach me arrogance, but to take me closer to Allah.”

The Imam Sahib arranged for Saleh to be sent to the famous madrasa in Medina. Every day of his life at the madrasa was a new act of worship for Saleh. The day began with the Fajr prayer, followed by the study of the Quran’s interpretation, hadith, jurisprudence and Arabic grammar. Sometimes he would quietly climb to the roof of the madrasa and look up at the sky. He would think that there was a grand plan behind this starry sky. It was as if the verses of the Quran opened doors in his mind. “Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth” — this verse was so deeply engraved in his heart that he would often sit on the top of a mountain and contemplate creation.

One day, a foreign guest came to the madrasa, named Sheikh Hamid. He was a famous scholar of Damascus. Saleh recited the Quran in front of him. Sheikh Hamid’s eyes became wet. He said, “You know, if you spend this voice and heart in the path of Allah, people will not be able to forget your name.” He wanted to take Saleh with him to Damascus to give him further education. But Saleh asked for some time. He knew that his mother was alone—it would not be easy to leave him.

But Amina herself told him, “Father, I have dedicated you to the path of Allah. Go, but do not forget, this path is not easy. There will be trials, temptations, and the wiles of Satan. But if you are sincere, Allah will illuminate your path.”

Life in Damascus was busy, full of learning, but it was difficult to protect the faith in a different culture. Saleh always kept a kind of guard within himself—tahqbuk, muraqaba, and the fear of Allah. Sometimes he was troubled when he saw that some people were drowning in the illusions of the world despite the clothes of religion. He wanted to keep a clean air within himself, so that his heart would not be polluted by the smoke of others.

After five years, Saleh returned to Al-Hayya. Now he was a scholar, a commentator, and a visionary man. But he did not want fame. With the permission of the old Imam of the mosque, he would sit with the youth of the village every day after Maghrib—teaching them faith, piety, fear of Allah, humanity, and the practical teachings of the Quran. Gradually, the atmosphere of the village changed. People turned away from injustice, shopkeepers gave up cheating, farmers started paying zakat on their land.

One day, an unknown young man came and sat in a corner of the mosque. His face was tired, his eyes were questioning. Saleh went and sat next to him. He asked, “Are you looking for something?” The young man said, “Yes, I am looking for my lost peace.” Saleh smiled and said, “Then you have come to the right place. There is no lack of peace in the house of Allah, all that is needed is a sincere heart.”

Then Saleh recited a verse to him: "Those who have believed and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance of Allah. Indeed, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest."

The young man repented that night with tears in his eyes. Saleh understood that people cannot be changed by knowledge alone—what is needed is love, compassion, and patience.

Saleh gradually became known by a new name—the merchant of light. Everyone from the village children to the elderly knew that the day darkness descended on their hearts, they would go to Saleh's door. He never judged, never uttered a word of complaint. He stood with only the light of the Quran, like a torch burning in front of a caravan lost in the desert.

In his last years, Saleh could only say one thing, “What I received was not mine; Allah gave it to me, I only gave it away.”

One night he passed away in his sleep. Silence surrounded him. When the morning call to prayer was made, in the early morning, the villagers saw a white bird sitting next to the mosque. No one knows where it came from. Saleh’s grave was dug next to the mosque where he used to sit with his students.

Even today, children in that village listen at night—there was a man who used to light a light in the darkness. Who used to say, “Light does not come by itself, it has to be held in the heart. And that heart has to be sincere, honest, and dependent on Allah.”