The Trustworthy

It had rained heavily and continuously for a long period, and the water poured down towards the Holy Ka'aba in Masjid-ul-Haram, the big mosque in Mecca, The Ka'aba was in the lower section of Mecca. It had become old and collapsed.

So the rebuilding was started. The work progressed well enough until al-Hajar-ul-Aswad, the Black Stone, was to be put back in its place.

Each quarter of the Ka'aba was being built by one leading family of Quraish - the big and prominent tribe of Mecca. Each family of Quraish felt the honor of placing the Black Stone belonging to it.

The disagreement became deeper, and led to a lot of argument, shouting and abuse. The members of each big family were thinking that a war was going to break out, None of them was willing to change his position. They regarded it as a great insult if they didn't have that special honor of putting the Black Stone back in its place.

One member stood up and said, "I have a suggestion, let us wait till tomorrow and see who enters the Masjid-ul-Haram first in the morning; then let him decide". All agreed, since that sounded like a good suggestion.

They anxiously waited next morning to see who was the first to come and enter Ka'aba. Suddenly they heard footsteps heading towards them. It was Muhammad (s), the son of Abdullah. Everyone, of course, knew, loved, admired and respected Muhammad (s). So with a loud voice, everyone said, "Here comes Al-Amin" and the voice echoed through the place over and over again.

He was surprised to hear of that title with which they called him. He was told about what the people of Quraish were fighting for. It was all silent for a while. Everyone thought his family was going to be favored. Their hearts were beating hard and they were getting anxious and impatient.

Muhammad (s) put his robe on the floor, took the sacred Black Stone and put it in the centre of the robe and said. "The chief of each family will take one corner of the robe and lift it together". With that, each understood a marvelous example of justice in sharing the honor. It showed how Muhammad's intelligence far exceeded those around him. It also showed his great capacity to solve difficult problems with such ease.

When the robe with the Black Stone was lifted to a reasonable height. Muhammad (s) took the Black Stone and put it in its proper place by his own hands. None felt insulted and each had his share of the privilege and honor.

This is how Muhammad (s) the Prophet of Islam succeeded in uniting the ever-fighting and ignorant Arabs with his honesty, justice and noble character.