Few days ago, a family came to me for a problem of theirs. Although their issue was something else, but during conversation they mentioned that: ‘We purchased some goods from a shop just across the street. When they opened the package at home, the stuff in it was not the one which they had paid for. Next day they went to the shopkeeper and tried to get the item changed. But he refused to change the item. We insisted that he should replace the item or give something else in exchange. We do not want the money back and that he should give us the thing worth the amount we had paid.’ He did not only refuse to do the same but also took the item and said: ‘Go away. You have not purchased anything from me.’ To avoid argument and fight, we left the item with him and returned. Months passed by. Although we felt dejected but never went to his shop to avoid quarrelling. One day while we were going to the Bazar, unconsciously we had a look at that shop and saw that its shutter was down and there were burn marks on that shutter as if the shop had been burnt. We enquired the nearby shopkeepers and they told us that this shop caught fire and everything in it burnt overnight. When the owner arrived, nothing was left. Now the shop is closed and there are no finances available with him for future business. He has fallen very sick. Listening to all this, a spontaneous voice came from the heart: ‘Alas! He shouldn’t have done what he did to us that day. No wonder how many other people had gone through the same incident and how many people had gone through the fraud which we underwent.’
The similar incident also occurred with the editor of Ubqari. In Lahore I had to buy a foam mattress for bed. We paid for the foam and came back home. When the mattress was delivered at home, it was not the same that we had paid for. We loaded it back in the vehicle and took it to the shop. The owner refused to exchange or return it. When he declined, I left the foam there and came back. It was expensive. I felt sad but did not curse him. It had been eight years now after this incident when a person visited me who told me that he was an employee in some foam shop. When he told about the address it was the same shop. I asked him about the owner. He said that for the last few years his financial condition is very poor. He is under heavy debt. His life is miserable. Many of the employees have been fired. We are only two salesmen now in the shop. He is suffering from many diseases. The condition at home has also worsened and there is always poverty, quarrels and worries at home. Listening to this I told him as to what happened with me eight years ago. He sighed and said that the owner must have forgotten this incident as he had seen many such incidents during his employment at that shop. Some people fought with the owner and many had left their goods. But nature’s revenge and fate has its own sequence. It is true that Rizq e Halal (legitimate provisions) and care in its obtainment and in the business will ensure continuity of business. Otherwise sooner or later the entire lifetime fortune is totally lost.
