We’re going to reflect on the story of Juraij, a story told to us by our beloved Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alaihi wasallam), which came in the Hadith of Abu Hurairah (R.A.). [Riyad as-Salihin 259]

Juraij the Aabid (Worshipper) and his Temple

Rasulallah (SAW) told us the Story of Juraij who was an ‘Aabid. He was a worshipper from the Bani Israel. And he decided to build the temple and to isolate himself, to seclude himself outside of the city just to focus on ibadah, just to focus on worship. And he had been doing this for a long time.

His Mother’s Calling

One day, his mother came and the temple was high up, and she started to call him “Ya Juraij!” (“O Juraij”). And he was in his salah, he was praying. So he said, “Ya Rabbi, my mother, or my salat, what should I do?” So he decided to continue praying and not to answer his mother.

When he finished, he didn’t go to see what she wanted either; he continued to worship Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. That’s what he did every day, all day. And then the next day she came and she called him “Ya Juraij!” (“O Juraij”). He said, “My mother or my prayer, what should I do?” He decided to continue praying and not to answer the call of his mother. She came back the third day and she called him “Ya Juraij!” (“O Juraij”) and he said the same thing to himself: “Ya Rabb, my mother or my prayer?” And he chose to continue his prayer.

His Mother’s Dua

So here she did what is very difficult for a parent to do; she made dua upon her own son. She said, “O Allah, don’t let him die until he sees the faces of the prostitutes.” That will be a fitna for him in his life because he didn’t answer his mother. Time went on and Juraij continued doing what he was doing, worshipping Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala night and day, totally devoted to the ibadah, the worship of Allah.

The Fitnah of Prostitute

One day, the people of Bani Israel were gathered in one of their sittings, and they were talking about Juraij, solely focused on the ibadah, what an amazing guy. As they were saying this, there was a prostitute there with them, and she was a famous prostitute, somebody who was known for her beauty, somebody who nobody could say no to, a big fitna.

She said, “If you want, I’ll distract him from his worship, I’ll do it.” Obviously, she’s gonna get paid. It was like a bet. they said “okay, if you can do it, we’ll pay you this much.” So she goes, and nobody can say no to this lady. She comes to Juraij, he doesn’t even pay attention to her, like she’s not even there. She keeps trying and trying and trying and he’s not paying attention to her. He rejects it, focused on ibadah for Allah SWT.

The Shepherd and the Baby

Here, she became very upset and decided to make a trap for Juraij for the future. She found a shepherd who was out with his goats or his sheep and she went to him and offered herself to him. Now, he couldn’t say no, he didn’t have the same level of iman. Until she became pregnant.

After nine months, she delivered the baby. “Whose baby is this?” They asked, “It’s the baby of Juraij, the ‘Aabid” she said. They said, “Juraij? The one that all of us are praising? the one, the great worshipper, the great pious man amongst us, and he’s fooling us, he’s tricking us.”

Wrongful Allegations on Juraij

The people became enraged; they didn’t go to Juraij to see his side of the story. They immediately went to him. He’s like, “What’s going on? What’s wrong? What happened?” Because everybody respected him, everybody cared for him, “what’s wrong with you people?” And they said, “Juraij, you’ve committed fornication, and the prostitute got pregnant from you. And you’re showing us that you’re pious and you’re this worshipper.” So he said, “Just wait.” He said, “Where’s the boy?” He said, “That’s the way right there.”

Allah’s Help and the Baby’s Testimony

He said, “Let me go and pray and come back.” He goes right to the salat and he prays to Allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala. He comes back and he pokes the boy in the stomach and he says, “Oh boy, who’s your father?” And he says, “The shepherd is my father.” The boy spoke at that age to show the truthfulness of Juraij. Immediately, the people, because they had, they tore down his temple.

They came to him, they started to hug him and kiss him and touch him and ask them to forgive them. And they said, “We want to build your temple back from gold out of respect for you.” He said, “No, build it back from mud just like it was.”

Lessons learned from this Story of Juraij

What do we gain from this story of Juraij? What does this story teach us? First of all, we see the status of parents in Islam and the rights of our parents are upon us. In Islam, what is the most important thing? it is the tawheed of Allah, to worship Allah as one without joining any partners with Him. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says in the Quran, “And your Lord has decreed that you only worship Him.” Immediately after that, to be dutiful to your parents, to be good to your parents.

Also, this story of Juraij teaches us the power of the dua of the parents. And pay attention to this because if you’re a parent, no matter how bad your children might get, no matter how far away they might go, how disobedient they might be, always remember the power of dua. And a lot of times when the children really go astray, it’s because of the way you raise them. But remember the power of dua. He didn’t fulfill her right, she became angry, she made dua upon him. So it’s important for us as parents to remember, always make dua for your children, never on your children, because the power of the parent, the dua of the parent, is strong, it’s powerful.

And then also to the children, to the youngsters, remember the power of the dua of your parents when you are disobedient and you don’t fulfill what you’re supposed to fulfill as a son, as a daughter. If you get them to where they’re so upset, they make dua upon you, you’re in big trouble.

What to do if your Parents call while Praying?

Also in this story of Juraij, there’s an Fiqh issue that we need to reflect on, and what is the ruling if your parents call you when you are praying? First of all, it’s either a Fardh prayer, that which is compulsory, the five daily prayers, or it’s the sunnah prayers. If it’s fardh, you do not leave the salat, but what you do in this situation is the Takhfeef, you shorten the prayer, you lighten the prayer.

Also, and this is confirmed in the sunnah of Rasulallah, from the hadith of the baby crying and he would shorten the prayer, so the woman wouldn’t be distracted, so it wouldn’t be difficult for her while she was praying. Look at the rahmah, the mercy of Rasulallah.

Anas ibn Malik reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Verily, I might begin the prayer and I intend to prolong it, but then I hear the crying of an infant. I will shorten the prayer as I know his crying will distress his mother.”

Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 710, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 470

If it is the sunnah or the nafl prayer, what do you do? First of all, you need to know if your parents will become angry if you don’t answer, or they won’t become angry, or if they’re in dire need or anything of you, or it’s not really that important. Everybody knows their parents, when they call them, what they usually need. If you know they’re not going to become angry, then you finish the prayer, you shorten it but you finish, and then you immediately go to your parents.

But if you know they’re in need and they’re going to become angry if you don’t answer, then you break the prayer and you go and see what your parents, what they need, you serve them, and then you come back to the prayer. When you come back to the prayer, you start from where you start from the beginning, from Allah, from the beginning, and start your prayer all over. This is the sunnah to do, inshallah, if your parents call you when you’re praying.

How to Deal with Evil People

Also, from the things that we benefit from this story of Juraij is how to deal with or the reality of the evil people and how they want to destroy and corrupt the earth. Juraij was not doing anything, he’s not harming anybody, he’s in his temple outside of the city, worshiping Allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala. But here, look at the people of evil. and the people agreed to pay the prostitute, to support her to distract him. And this is how the people of Sharr, the people of evil, always do. They come to the Salihin, to the pious people, to the ones who are practicing their deen, they want to distract them, for them to leave the deen, to enter into kufr, or they want you to fall into sin.

Confirming the Authenticity of a News

Also, what we gain and we benefit from this hadith of Juraij, is the importance of confirming what any news comes to you, “O you who believe, if somebody comes to you with some news, some information, he tells you, this brother says this, this brother does that,'” but you should investigate, make sure to confirm what’s been said.

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِن جَآءَكُمْ فَاسِقٌۢ بِنَبَإٍۢ فَتَبَيَّنُوٓا۟ أَن تُصِيبُوا۟ قَوْمًۢا بِجَهَـٰلَةٍۢ فَتُصْبِحُوا۟ عَلَىٰ مَا فَعَلْتُمْ نَـٰدِمِينَ

If we start to implement this ayah, everything will change for us when it comes to the ones who spread the rumors and the ones who spread the fitnah. If the people came to Juraij, and asked him, it wouldn’t have been these problems.

Also, from the things that we gain from this story of Juraij is how the pious deal with calamities. Here’s somebody devoted everytime to worshiping Allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala. All of a sudden, he’s got people ripping down his temple. What did he do? He knows the only way out is through what? through who? through Allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala. He was calm, he was cool, he returned to Allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala. And this is the sunnah of Rasulallah SAW, that in time of difficulty, the time of challenges, he would go to the prayer. and Allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala promised whoever fears Allah, Allah will find for him a way out. Then we can go to the people for assistance, but first, we need to turn to Allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala alone. And the story reminds us that alhamdulillah, in the end, that the good ending will always be for the true believers, the ones who established the taqwa in their lives.

This was all about the Juraij’s Story in the Hadith. Read more Islamic Blogs or Follow us on social media for daily Islamic reminders.