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The Sad Stump
We often hear that we must love the Prophet Muhammad(pbuh), but how do we teach this to our children? How do we teach them about this amazing man that they need to follow and honor?
I think it starts with telling them stories about his beautiful seerah, and then they will naturally develop that love. Hearing stories about his beautiful character fills the eyes with tears and the hearts with love, may Allah send peace and blessings on him.
One such beautiful rhyming story for children about the Messenger (pbuh) is “The Sad Stump” by Razana Noor . It speaks of the tree stump that the Prophet (pbuh) used to lean on while giving his Friday khutbahs. One day, some of the sahaba made him an actual minbar, and so he started to use it instead of the tree. During the Khutbah, the people started to hear sobbing, but no one knew who it was. The Prophet (pbuh) went to the tree and hugged it and told the people that it was crying because it missed him! How beautiful and heart-moving is this tree’s emotions!
If this tree cried for being physically far from the beloved Messenger, then how should we feel?
The story ends with the Prophet (pbuh) burying the tree (like a human!) and promising it that it would be a tree in Jannah❤️
I love the importance of nature in this story; the Prophet(pbuh) recognizes that the plant had emotions and addressed them, not dismissing it as unimportant. Many stories in the seerah show his mercy and care to plants and animals, and of course he is our best example to follow! Some people destroy nature without giving a second thought to it, but the fact is that it is our duty as Muslims to take care of the Earth around us and to take care of the plants and animals on it.
Check out the full heart-moving Hadith:
Within the Sahih of Imam Bukhari there is from Jabir, Allah be well pleased with him:
There was a trunk of a date-palm tree upon which the Prophet ﷺ used to recline while delivering Khutbah. When a pulpit [Minbar] was placed in the Masjid, we heard the trunk crying out like a pregnant she-camel. the Prophet ﷺ came down from the pulpit and put his hand on the trunk and it became quiet.
Another narration is: The Prophet ﷺ used to stand by a tree or a date-palm on Friday (to give the Khutbah). Then an Ansari woman or man said, “O Messenger of Allah! Shall we make a pulpit for you?” He replied, “If you wish.” So they made a pulpit for him and when it was Jumah, the Prophet ﷺ sat on the pulpit [to deliver the Khutbah] and the trunk of the date- palm on which he used to recline cried out as if it would split asunder.
Another narration is: It cried like a child and the Prophet ﷺ descended (from the pulpit) and embraced it while it continued moaning like a child being quietened. The Prophet ﷺ said, “It was crying for (missing) what it used to hear of Dhikr near it.”
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