When Prophet Ibrahim ‘alayhis-salaam left his city after his people tried to burn him alive, he was tested again. In Sahih Al-Bukhari 2217 & 3358, it was reported that when he & his wife, Sarah – may Allah be pleased with her, reached Egypt, the soldiers of the ruling tyrant at that time saw Sarah & reported to the tyrant of her incredible beauty.
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Prophet Ibrahim told Sarah about it & to tell them they were brother & sister (in Islam) if they asked what their relationship was (for he may be killed if they knew Sarah had a husband). Imagine his distress when Sarah was eventually taken to the tyrant.
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When she arrived, her beauty mesmerized the tyrant so much that he didn’t even attempt to speak with her. He couldn’t control himself! That was how weak & evil he was. When the tyrant approached Sarah, she made du’a: O Allah, if I’m a true believer in You & in Your Prophet & that I have not allowed any man to touch me except my husband, then please do not let this disbeliever touch me.
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Suddenly the tyrant began to have some extreme sort of seizure, his legs were moving violently! He said: Pray to Allah for me & I will not harm you!
Sarah prayed: O Allah, if he dies, people will accuse me of killing him.
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So Allah removed the hardship from the tyrant. But when the tyrant returned to normal, what did he do? He went back to Sarah! This happened again 2 more times! Each time Sarah made du’a to Allah for protection & each time the tyrant got inflicted with seizure, he’d beg Sarah to pray for him & that he wouldn’t harm her, but he would go back on his words. The third time however, the tyrant said to his soldier: You have not brought me a human, but a devil!
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So they released Sarah & gifted her with a servant (Hajar, may Allah be pleased with her) & both returned to Prophet Ibrahim safely.
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Notice that Sarah made du’a to Allah with a righteous deed – her modesty. She lived all her life with haya’, didn’t look at or touch anything that was haram. The question is, are we able to say that ourselves?
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If we made mistakes in the past, make tawbah to Allah & know that He is the Most Forgiving. We can start a new page, where we too can say the same in our du’a to Allah.
