We have presented an example of a person who goes fishing. He is going with his four friends, in fact five of them altogether so we have five Indian fishermen, going fishing for the weekend. They have taken all their equipment and fishing gear along with them.

Now when they cast in, on their rod is a line, at the end of the line is the hook. On the hook is a nice, fat, juicy worm. This is a separate issue, that whether it is jaaiz, permissible, to push a worm, a living thing through a hook. If somebody pushes a hook through you like that, how would you feel?  A worm is also Allah’s creation.

The fisherman casts his line into the water. Now, that fat, juicy worm is dangling there. And a small little fish sees it for the first time in his life.

He exclaims, “What a juicy fat worm!” A Ne’mat (bounty) which could never have imagined! I didn’t go and look for my sustenance, rather my sustenance came to me. I am so beloved in the sight of Allah that my sustenance has been delivered to me, right at my doorstep. A fat, juicy worm.”

However, the old-school fish, the grandmother, the nanima type of fish, the dadima type of fish and the Moulana type of fish, all tell that small fish, “You dare go near that worm!” He says, “But why? What a juicy, fat worm. I want to enjoy eating it.”They warn him, “You don’t know what is behind the worm.”

What does that small, inexperienced fish think? They are all sour grapes. Now that you are a dadima, you can’t do anything anymore. You are a nanima, you are Molvi Saheb, you can’t do anything. I am a young little fish. I can enjoy life. Because you can’t enjoy the worm, you are stopping and forbidding me from eating the worm.”

They say to him, “You don’t know. We know the reality behind that worm. Inside that worm is a sharp hook. You will eat and you will be caught in that hook. That hook is joined to a line. That line extends out of the water. And there, is a man standing with a two metre rod. He is holding the rod and feeling the line. The minute he feels you tugging at the worm then he will hook you on. When he hooks you on, he will give you time to play with the worm also.  He will tire you out and finally he will start reeling you in. When he reels you in, know that he has come with four of his friends. There are five of them in all. They come for the weekend and they have brought along their gas stove and their frying pan. Once they pull you out, they will take a sharp knife and cut you in the middle. They will remove and throw out all your intestines and your internal organs. Your eyes will be gorged out. All your fins and scales will be removed. As they are Indian fishermen, they came with their masala and all their spices also. They are going to marinate you. After that, they will light the fire, using firewood or perhaps a gas stove. On the fire, the fishermen will place the frying pan, filled with oil.

When the oil is sizzling hot, they will cut you into pieces, and piece by piece, they will fry you in the hot oil. There are five of them. Each one has ten fingers. Between fifty fingers, they will make even smaller, bite-size pieces out of you. Each angler has thirty-two teeth. That is a hundred and sixty teeth. Some of the teeth are canines, some are the molars, different types of sharp teeth, cutting teeth, crushing teeth, they put you into that and they will mince you. Thereafter, you will go down their food pipe. You will go into their small and large intestines and where you will finally emerge, we can’t even tell you.... And with what odour you will emerge we can’t even tell you....”

They also told the young, inexperienced fish that, “They came with their pet cats or their dogs and they will throw your remains, your eyes and your bones, to the cats and dogs.”After hearing all this, the small fish now got a bit worried.

He was the ‘university type’. He found it necessary to question the wisdom and experience of his elders. His ‘university education’ had taught him that one should experiment and find proof first before accepting any knowledge, “Don’t just accept any information just like that, until you haven’t personally substantiated it with a researched proof. We experiment and we research and only then do we draw our own conclusions.” So he decided to experiment and research. Despite being somewhat worried, he said to himself, “I will research first.”

Firstly, where was he going to research? In the water! He didn’t realise that all this activity, the fishermen waiting for him etc, is happening out of the water. Today we want to research all about Deen and about Aakhirat, in the world. This is not happening here. We are researching and doing studies, where it isn’t happening. We are like that small fish, we can’t reach where it’s all happening.

So it swam around and around in the waters, researching. Finally, he came to this conclusion, “I don’t see any cats and dogs. I don’t see any person. I don’t see fishing rods or anything else which you all have warned me about. First point, what you people are saying: It’s not true. My research has proved that it is all lies.”

Secondly the fish says,

اَلْمَرءُ يَقيس على نَفْسِه

One basis things upon itself (i.e looking at its own condition)

With his limited understanding, he reasoned that all life exists only in water. Out of water, there is no life. According to a fish, the minute it is out of water, it dies.

The small fish challenged the elderly fish by saying, “You say all this is happening out of the water, but there is no life there. Life is only in the water.” This was his understanding of the situation, according to his small, simple brain. By now, that worm looked more tempting than ever. Therefore, he went and took only a small nibble, to make extra sure that nothing happens. And truly, nothing happened. Now having tasted the worm, it enjoyed the juice.

 This can be compared to all the sin, which we get involved in, whether it be with girls, with women with music, interest, backdoor goods, or whatever other Haraam. First, a person tastes only a little, he is cautious. But then, when he feels bold that, “Nothing happened,” he takes a bigger ‘bite’ and before he knows it, the fish is caught on the hook. Now it’s eyes open to reality. It is hauled out of the water. Everything his seniors had warned him about, happens.

Our condition is similar. Nabi e Kareem g told us everything, which will happen in the Hereafter. When we take a small bite (of Haraam), nothing happens. But finally, we get ‘hooked’ onto evil. Look around us in the world; see what hardships people are going through due to their involvement in Haraam. Thereafter in the Qabr, there is no return.

What will happen in the Qabr? What will happen on the day of Qiyaamah? May Allah save us from Jahannam, hell –fire. What will it be like there?

Simply knowing what Nabi g warned us about, is not sufficient. A person who knows all this and who takes heed to the warnings won’t fall into evil. May Allah Ta’ala grant us the Taufeeq of obeying our beloved Rasulullah g by acting upon his advices. Ameen!