Prophet Ayyoob (Job) (may Allaah exalt his mention) was born in one of the towns of the Levant. His father was Moos Ibn Razaah, a grandson of Prophet Ibraaheem (Abraham), may Allaah exalt his mention, Allaah’s Intimate Friend (Al-Khaleel), and Moos followed the religion of Ibraheem.
From the beginning, Ayyoob (Job), may Allaah exalt his mention, followed the religion of his father and his grandfather Ibraheem, may Allaah exalt his mention. He was rich; he had much money, a thriving business, and a large number of livestock and lands. However, in spite of all this glory and wealth, he was humble and keen to do good and used to give much of his money in charity to the poor and the needy. For this reason, people loved him and appreciated him very much and he held an esteemed position among them.
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and increased his love for doing good.
Prophet Ayyoob, may Allaah exalt his mention, lived in happiness among his people and his children, enjoying the pleasure and wealth that Allaah had bestowed on him as well as fulfilling Allaah’s right in his property to the poor and the needy.
However, that bliss did not remain forever, for it was not long until Ayyoob's circumstances changed and his life became strangely different. Almighty Allaah tested him in his wealth, family, and children, as he lost all his property and children, and nothing remained with him except his wife. Moreover, he was afflicted with an illness that affected all his body and he remained in that condition for a long time to the extent that people kept away from him and his family became fed up with him. No one visited him any more and people were afraid that he might infect them with his illness if they socialized with him. No one felt pity for him except his wife who continued taking care of him.
When his illness grew even more severe, the people drove him out of the town to a far distant place. His wife used to go to him repeatedly to serve him, help him, and fulfill his needs. She was indeed a bright example of devotion and sincerity toward her husband.
The wife of Prophet Ayyoob continued to serve him and take care of him and never failed to do whatever could be done for him until she also became weak and frail. On top of all this, she became short of money so she sold everything she had but eventually she had nothing to support her sick husband with.
She used to serve people in return for money so that she could bring her husband the food he needed. She remained patient in the face of all the troubles that afflicted her, believing in Allaah’s decree and trusting in His mercy and justice. She never lost hope or became discontent or doubtful.
Also on his part, Prophet Ayyoob, may Allaah exalt his mention, was faithful and patient in spite of his illness, the poverty that Allaah had tried him with, and the way people fled away from him. These difficult circumstances did nothing but increase his faith, patience, gratitude and invocations.
Seeing him in that condition, his wife felt great sympathy for him, but when his illness continued she said to him, "Ayyoob! If you invoke your Lord, He will lift your suffering". Prophet Ayyoob, may Allaah exalt his mention, replied to her with true and deep faith, "I lived as a healthy person for seventy years, so would it be too much for me to be patient for (another) seventy years for Allaah's sake?!”
Many years passed while Prophet Ayyoob, may Allaah exalt his mention, remained ill, but always patient and hoping for Allaah’s reward. And his wife, faithful and sincere as she was, used to visit him every day to bring him food, serve him, and take care of him.
Prophet Ayyoob's, may Allaah exalt his mention, illness grew worse and the people feared that they might catch what he had. Therefore, they did not accept his wife to work for them or serve them lest she infects them because of her close relationship with him. As a result, the persevering wife found nothing to spend, so she sold one of her hair braids to a daughter of one of the nobles to decorate her hair. With its price she bought some food for her husband, and when she came to him he was astonished and asked her, “Where did you get this from?” His wife feared that he might be annoyed because of what she had done, so she said to him, “I served some people in return for it”. Prophet Ayyoob, may Allaah exalt his mention, felt that she was hiding something from him but he did not insist on asking her about it.
Days passed and Ayyoob's wife could not find any money to buy food for her husband, so she sold the other hair braid and bought food. When she came to him, he asked her about the food and swore that he would not eat anything unless she told him where she had got it from. The faithful wife could find no answer for her husband, and so she just uncovered her head. Once he saw what she had done to her hair, he looked at her sadly, yet compassionately and tears filled his eyes springing from the deep sadness and misery he felt.
While Prophet Ayyoob, may Allaah exalt his mention, was sad and grieved, two men passed by him but did not approach him because of his illness. One of them said to the other, “If Allaah had known anything good in Ayyoob, He would not have tried him with this!” Prophet Ayyoob, may Allaah exalt his mention, heard them and became very sad, then he invoked Allaah to drive away his distress:
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