Lessons From The Life Of Abu Dharr

When I was reading books about Ahl Al-Bayt, there was a book called Abu Dharr Al-Ghifari. It was one of the companions of Rasul Allah. And he was one of the really firm followers of Imam Ali, alayhi as-salam, after the death of Rasul Allah, he stuck with Imam Ali.

He spoke out against the Khalifa of all the previous Caliphs. And his message stuck to me. It was because before he took his Shahada, he was living a life of crime. He was a highway robber. He used to rob all the people that came across the path. His tribe was fierce. Everybody feared them. And nobody wanted to go that way because his whole tribe were like bandits. They lived on the street and they robbed people.

And that made me think, because when he took his Shahada, he went in search, and took his Shahada. And he stuck by Rasul Allah. He even went out and told everybody after he took his Shahada. He went to Mecca and said, La Ilaha illa Allah, Muhammad Rasul Allah and he did it. And they beat him. And then he got back up, and he did it again, and they beat him. He did it three times until Abbas had to jump on top of him and stop it. And say, you know who this man is? He is the fierce tribe and you have to do business and you have to pass through his way. He said you do not want to do that.

Rasul Allah told him to leave, to leave and go back to his tribe, come back later. So when he went back, he taught his whole tribe and everybody converted to Islam. So he came back and everybody was Muslim. Later he said that there was no man more truthful under the sky than Abu Dharr.

So I looked at him. I was like, look, he lived this way. And then he changed and became one of the most truthful people, one of the best of people. He went from somebody who would rob you, to somebody who is the most truthful, one of the best people.

And he stuck by Imam Ali, alayhi as-salam. So it made me look at that andwas like, if he can change, and I looked at his transformation and how he changed. And then I said, hey, if he can change, if somebody can change like that, then that allowed me to see a window, like an open light for change, that I could do the same thing.