Forgiveness and Acceptance

I was at an all lady's gathering some time ago. It was an interesting attempt at uniting women from different cultures, nationalities, languages but shared one faith - Islam. The highlight for me was the focus of a speech made by an invited speaker. Her focus was the topic of forgiveness and acceptance . Let me share with you what she has shared with us and may Allah swt forgive me if I misquote her but this is what I gleaned and heard and remembered, for HE is the Most Merciful.

Story 1:

There were 2 boys who were walking in the desert. They were very hot and tired and thirsty and they started arguing. It became such a heated argument that one of the boys, let's call him A, slapped the other, B. B did not retaliate nor did he utter a word. He wrote in the sand "Today, my friend slapped me." They continued walking and reached an oasis. A chose to rest by the oasis and B jumped into it to have a good swim. Suddenly B started shouting for help. He was drowning because a cramp in his leg made it unable for him to move. A jumped in and gently helped his friend to safety. B immediately wrote on a rock nearby, "Today, my friend saved my life." A's curiosity was piqued. He wanted to know why his friend was writing these phrases and so he asked, "My friend, why do you need to write these words?" B replied simply, "When you slapped me, I wrote the words in the sand so that the winds of forgiveness will blow it away. But when you saved me, I wrote it on the rock because it will remain forever."

Story 2:

Rasullullah (pbuh) was with a group of his friends when he said that the next person to enter would be a man who will have a place in Heaven. Hearing this, his friends began to pay more attention waiting to see who this person was.

As they waited, a man walked in. His beard was wet from having taken his ablution and holding his pair of shoes in one of his hands. There was nothing special or unique or different about this man. The friends wondered why Rasullullah (pbuh) had made the remark. The next day, Rasullullah (pbuh) said the same thing again and the same person walked in again. On the third day, the events repeated itself.

One of the friends decided to find out what made this man so special that Rasullullah (pbuh) had repeated thrice the same comment. So he walked up to the man and asked if he could stay with him for some time as he had quarrelled with his father and did not want to go home. The man agreed to let him stay in his house. For 3 days he stayed with the man. He became even more curious. The man didn't do anything fantastic, or out of the ordinary. He ate, slept, prayed, went about his daily activites as would any other person. He didn't do any extra "good" to gain extra blessings.

Finally on the third day, he could no longer bear with his sense of bafflement. He decided to admit the real reason for staying with the man. He told him that he made up the excuse of having quarrelled so that he could stay with the man and watch him in order to know the secret to being promised a place in Heaven. He told the man how Rasullullah had repeated thrice his statement.

The man replied that he was no extraordinary man. He was a simple man and he lived simply. He was not hiding anything and he had done as he had done as usual. As Rasullullah's friend turned and walked away, the man called him suddenly and said that there was one other thing though. He was happy with what he had and he had no desire to have what others had. And his heart held no grudges.

Hadith 20:

The gates of Paradise will be opened on Mondays and on Thursdays, and every servant [of Allah] who associates nothing with Allah will be forgiven, except for the man who has a grudge against his brother. [About them] it will be said: Delay these two until they are reconciled; delay these two until they are reconciled.

My thoughts?
To forgive and forget...how easily these words are spoken. May my fragile self have the strength to have a clean heart unblemished by grudges, God Willing.