Rehnuma Bint Anis

Have you heard of Hazrat Abdul Qadir Zilani (R)? When he was eight, his mother sent him abroad to study in a famous madrasah. For his expenses she sewed 80 dinars inside his shirt. On the way, robbers got hold of the caravan and took everything from everybody. Just to joke they asked, 'does anyone have anything else?' The little boy stepped forward and said, 'yes, i have 80 dinars'. They were surprised, how could they miss such a large amount? They searched him again and found nothing. Just when they were about to leave thinking these were the ramblings of a little boy, th eboy tore off his shirt and showed the baffled robbers where the money was hidden. They asked him, 'you could easily save that money from us, why did you tell us about it?' He said, 'because my mother told me never to tell a lie'. The robbers felt ashamed in front of the little boy. They asked Allah's forgiveness for what they had been doing, returned everything they took from everybody and thereafter became good muslims.
So, you see, it is never too early to learn to assume responsibility for ones actions. If you read the chapter that describes how Heathcliff was first brought in by Mr. Earnshaw, you will see how Mrs. Earnshaw indulged Catherine and Hindley to illtreat the little child. Catharine only grew close to Heathcliff after her mother died and her brother became distant. They were brought up without any moral training but they were not interested in morality anyway as you will remember, Cathy used to kick her Bible when the curate came to teach. She never had any moral considerations and even when Nelly discussed the pros and cons of her marriage prospects, Cathy was more concerned about the advantages and disadvantages of each match than she was about what was right and what was wrong. We cannot excuse Catharine for what she did, Heathcliff could not forgive her either because she did it consciously. She wanted the name, wealth and status of the Lintons and the love of Heathcliff all at the same time. So, excusing her actions is out of the question. Just as you cannot excuse a little child who likes to beat other children and you have to punish them in order to correct them, you also cannot forgive Catherine for making a choice that ruined everybody around her and not even trying to make up for it.
Let us learn to take care of our actions for this life and the next.