Summary
This is a story of a monkey that followed a merchant who cheated people by mixing wine with water.
One day, the monkey snatched the trader’s money that he received from selling wine and went up to the ship’s mast and divided the money justly, throwing one Dinar (a unit of money) into the ship and the other into the sea.
Thus, the monkey sank the money that the merchant received unjustly for mixing wine with water and kept the money that he deserved from the sale of the wine.
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Text of the Hadith
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Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said,
“A man who owned a monkey used to sell wine on board a ship. He used to mix the wine with water. One day, the monkey snatched the merchant’s money bag, climbed up the mast, and started throwing one Dinar into the sea and the other in the ship till it was divided into two halves.”
[Ash-Shaykh Nasir ad-Din al-Albānī mentioned this hadith in his Collection of al-Ahadith as-Sahihah, 6\826, hadith no. 2844, and said about its documentation, “It was narrated by Al-Harbi in Al-Gharib, 5\155\2; Musā told us, “Hammad from Ishaq bin Abi Talhah, from Abi Sālih that Abu Hurayrah narrated it.”
I believe that this documentation is accurate. It was narrated by Ahmad, 2\306,335,407, Al-Harith in his Musnad 50\2, and Al-Bayhaqi in Shu’ab al- Iman, 4\332, 5307. If interested, one can review Al-Albani’s book since he provided a detailed account of the documentation of the hadith.]
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Explanation of the Hadeeth
This is the story of a dishonest merchant who used to dilute wine with water.
One day, his little monkey snatched the money that its master had earned from selling the wine. It threw half of it into the sea and the other half on the ship as stated in the hadeeth above.
This hadeeth shows the punishment of cheaters who mix the good with the bad or the valuable with the worthless during their life.
Such people might mix milk with water, gas with kerosene, or kerosene with water.
By doing so, they are stealing other people’s money unjustly and all the money that they get from that is illegal. They will be held accountable by Allāh and punished for their actions, if they do not repent.
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Animals have many secrets about which we know very little.
Monkeys, in particular the domestic ones, do wonders such as that done by this monkey who threw one Dinar into the sea and another on the ship.
One might ask: How was that man held responsible for mixing wine with water, but not blamed for selling it, although it is forbidden by Allah?
The answer: Wine was not forbidden in the religion of that man, and at the beginning of the advent of Islam, wine was not yet forbidden in Medina.
The prohibition of wine went through three stages.
First, it was cursed without being forbidden, and then, it was forbidden around prayer time without forbidding the sale of it. Finally, the Islamic Law came forbidding the consumption of alcohol all together.
When it was not forbidden yet, Muslims used to sell it.
Some people were cheaters who swindled others by mixing it with water!
This was, of course, considered illegal and perpetrators (criminals) were punished.
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Lessons of the Hadeeth
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1. The hadith warns against cheating, such as mixing milk with water, because the money gained by deceiving others might be lost in this life rather in addition to Hereafter.
2. This hadith illustrates the monkey’s judgment that was fair and just which is surprising.
3. Wine was allowed for the people of that man at that time.
4. It is allowed to travel by sea and have trade on board.
5. Ships and Dinars have existed for ages.
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This has mainly been extracted from the book ‘Authentic Stories by Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ)’ by Dr. ‘Umar Sulayman al-Ashqar
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This story has been edited by SFMK for ease and better understanding, for our young or beginner readers.
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SFMK is sharing this story from:
The “Authentic Stories” Series
By “Precious Gems from the Quran and Sunnah”
Reference:
The Monkey Who Threw Half of His Master’s Earnings Into the Sea – Authentic Stories
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Stories for Muslim Kids 