Hazrat Thanvi RA said that a person narrated to him that there was a Muslim in the army of Gawalyar who used to shave his beard. People used to criticise him a lot for it but he persisted with it. One day the Raja of Gawalyar passed a law that all army personnel would be required to shave their beard from then on. People said to him that you must be happy now. We used to criticise you for shaving your beard but now everybody would be like you. He asked what had happened. People told him about the new law. He said, previously I used to shave my beard because my Nafs (inner self) told me to do so. But now a non-Muslim Raja has ordered me to do it. I will not disobey Shariah because of a non-Muslim Raja's order and I will not shave my beard. I will quit my job and will find some other means of surviving even if I have to cut grass. Everyone saw that he quit his job but didn't shave, and everyone who used to look down upon him and criticise him shaved their beards to keep their jobs.

(There is a Hadith of Rasool Allah SAW that if a person criticises another person with derision for a wrongful act, he will not die until he has himself committed the same act.)

Hazrat Thanvi RA further said that when people looked down upon him who knew how pure his heart was. And Allah SWT gives more weightage to what is inside a person's heart.

Adapted from Malfoozat-e-Ashrafiya

Our society can never be rid of the curse of dowry until the so called rich and affluent people make a commitment that they will get their children married off with simplicity and will curb these wrong rituals that have taken root in our society. It is not possible for a less well-to-do person to challenge the norms of society. A white collar person goes beyond his means to give his daughter an expansive daughter because he is worried that if doesn't do so then the society would look down upon him and his daughter would be ridiculed by her in-laws for not bringing a worthy dowry.