The Warmth of Sincerity

Often times we make use of facilities that are in front of us in our Madrasas, Masaajid, workplaces without the thought ever crossing our minds that these things are not our property. In this section, Hazrat Shaykh (نور الله مرقده) explains that sincerity that some of his Akaabir and contemporaries had in regards to the Madressa's rights on them. This excerpt is about his father, Maulana Yahya (نور الله مرقده).

During my father's time, the Madressa did not yet have a kitchen to supply students, nor was there a cook or restaurant in the vicinity of the Madressa. Because his family was not staying here, his food was coming from a cook who had restaurant near Jamia Masjid. His name was Ismail. From the time that the food arrived till the time that that he ate it, the food used to get cold, especially during the cold days of winter. Then he placed the pot with food in front of the Madressa's hamaam (the fireplace heating the water), not in it, and so the food would become warmed by the hamaam's heat. Then he used to contribute two or three rupees monthly towards the Madressa funds, saying that he had derived some benefit of the fire of Madressa. He never took any salary from the Madressa for services rendered to teaching.